Michelin Pro Race 3 Tire Review

December 28th, 2008 Bill Posted in Tire Reviews | No Comments »

Michelin has been in the tire business for quite some time and in fact, are reputed to be the first company to produce a race ready, high pressure clincher style tire that offered good traction on the road when the speeds went up there. Prior to that the tubular tire was the only option for a racer or performance rider. Michelin is credited with the advent of the clincher style tire becoming so popular with riders of today.

Michelin Pro Race 3

The Michelin Pro Race 3 is the latest incarnation of the venerable Pro Race line and replaces the wildly popular Pro Race 2. The Pro Race 3 specs list it at a very respectable 190g of weight and Michelin claims to have improved rolling resistance by up to 27% over the Pro Race 2. I don't have the kind of sophisticated equipment required to test this claim but I can tell you that they ride great and feel very solid on the road at all speeds. They also corner very nicely in our opinion but much of a road tires feel is very subjective to the rider. I can tell you I like them.

I test rode them on a Trek 5900SL mounted on some Mavic Ksyrium SSC wheels.....typical set up that many riders will encounter. It is not uncommon for tires to behave differently on different wheels so your mileage may vary but my experience is that a tire as good as a Michelin Pro Race tire, will probably perform well on a wide variety of wheels.

The trend of late has been to go as narrow as possible when it comes to racing tires but I can tell you that for me personally, not much can beat the all around effectiveness of the 700 x 23 tire size. I will occasionally even run the 25mm tire as well if it is a crit race or a lot of descending as I want as much contact patch as possible when cornering at high speed. Recent studies have suggested that a higher pressure tire that has a wider cross section of tread in contact with the ground can actually improve rolling resistance.

I have ridden the Michelin Pro Race 3 tire for a few weeks now and it would seem that the tire is getting better with a little bit of mileage on it. I don't know this for sure, but my butt-o-meter tells me that they have more grip, especially in damp conditions. Maybe some residue from construction? I don't know....but you can't beat a tire that gets better with age.

A few other big tire manufacturers such as Continental and Schwalbe, have begun producing front/rear specific tire combinations. Michelin Pro Race 3 is not that way, the front and rear are the same design and quite frankly with a slick design tread, I see no need for a front and rear specific. The whole point of a race tire is to keep a nice rounded profile that minimizes rolling resistance yet maximizes grip. This was always the advantage of a tubular tire but the Michelin has overcome the issue with the Pro Race line of tires. The "slick" design keeps the rounded profile and the rubber compound they are using is very sticky. The only downside to the Pro Race 3 is that it wears fairly quickly compared to a training style tire. This is not a flaw, but rather something inherent in most race style tires.

Conclusion

In conclusion, tires are a very personal choice for most people and what one loves, another might despise. It all depends on what you are used to riding. What can be said for a tire that is designed as well as the Michelin Pro Race 3 is that it performs well at almost everything it does, making it very hard to develop a bias against it. I put it through it's paces from Greenway trails to street conditions to wet weather and the tire works well in every condition. I would estimate that after testing the Michelin Pro Race 3 tires under almost every condition I could produce, they work best at 120PSI in dry conditions and I could duplicate the grip in wet conditions by reducing pressure about 10-15 lbs.

The wear was quite acceptable, even for a race tire and they held up very well under training mileage. I personally would even use them as a training tire but others opinions may vary. I typically race Schwalbe Evolution tires and I would consider them the very best tire on the market for racing, but the Michelin Pro Race 3 tire may be changing my mind. I would at least put their performance in the same category as the Schwalbe Evolution and THAT is some rarified air up there.