Motorsport stalwart Pirelli has taken its Scorpion range of mountain bike tyres back to the drawing board. Now with a much simpler naming convention, each tyre benefits from more rubber and casing options, and the brand has answered calls for a faster-rolling tyre. Here are all of the details.
With the updated Scorpion range, Pirelli is suggesting something of a customer journey as they choose their tyres. Rather than pick a model and be done with it, the brand says that riders should first pick a tread pattern for their riding style and terrain, then choose a casing for the level of support and protection riders are after, and then pick the rubber compound by balancing their desired grip, rolling resistance and resistance to wear.
The brand has also been cleverer with how each tyre is named. The three tyres in the range are named after scorpion species, rather than the T, M and S names of old. Starting off with the Red Claw, it’s pretty much the T with a widely spaced but aggressive tread pattern. This one’s built for traction in soft and loose terrain, while producing a supportive but controlled ride.
The Emperor takes the pattern found on the M, and it’s the all-rounder in the range. Pirelli has shaped this tyre to suit a wide range of trails with a balanced but predictable feel.
Lastly, the Black Sting uses an all-new tread pattern and is built to address the slow-rolling criticisms of tyres prior. This one gets a tightly packed and lower-profile tread that’s shaped for hardpack and dry conditions.
Casings and compounds
The range benefits from four casing options, and they all follow the names we’ve become accustomed to from Pirelli. ProWALL is the lightest casing on offer that’s designed for trail and light enduro terrain, but it offers the least protection and damping of the range, says the brand.
HardWALL ups the ante, and the weight, for more aggressive riding; DualWALL dials things up another notch by introducing a dual-ply construction for enduro race and bikepark applications, whereas DH+WALL is built for the burliest riding there is. Of course, more protection means more weight and, in Pirelli’s case, more damping, apparently.
On top of all that, Pirelli has shaken up how it names its rubber compounds. Gone are the SmartGRIP and SmartEVODH names; instead, it’s the classic Medium, Soft and Supersoft, perhaps a nod to its F1 heritage. These are all pretty self-explanatory, with the Medium compound promising the least wear but ‘balanced’ grip. Soft sacrifices some of that wear resistance in pursuit of a boost in grip, while Supersoft is all about traction, so expect this one to wear a little faster.
However, Pirelli hasn’t completely erased all of the confusion has each tyre isn’t available in every option. For example, the Red Claw comes in DualWALL and DH+WALL casings but only with Soft and Supersoft rubbers, respectively. And that theme runs throughout the range, although the other tyres benefit from more options. This does make sense, though, as Pirelli has predicted which tyre of user is most likely to pick which tyre, with downhillers likely to choose stickier rubber and better-protected casings.
If something from Pirelli’s revamped Scorpion range sounds like your next tyre, prices start at £54.99 and go up to £79.99.
