Pirelli makes tyres for a wide range of performance applications so we've come to their factory near Milan to take a look at how they're combining expertise from other fields into their mountain and road bike tyres. In 2020, the Pirelli factory at Bollate was converted into somewhat of a bike tyre specialist facility, using a combination of clever engineering and automation in its various processes. Follow Ollie inside as he seeks out the #prototype models adorning several race bikes at the Strada Bianche.
In association with Pirelli: gcn.eu/Pirelli
⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00 - Introduction
00:49 - History Of Pirelli
02:29 - Cutting A Bike Tyre To Length
03:41 - The Importance Of Tyre Tread & Compound
05:18 - Making The Tread
05:42 - Assembling The Tyre
05:58 - Applying Graphics/Barcodes To The Tyres
06:58 - Vulcanisation Process Of Rubber
08:29 - Quality Control & Inspection
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Thanks to Pirelli for having us and allowing us to visit the facilities! Did you know that all of this went into a single tyre?
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Thanks to Pirelli for having us and allowing us to visit the facilities! Did you know that all of this went into a single tyre?
I never get tyred of these factory tour videos.
I'm only here for the puns
Comment of the week
I'm glad you spoke, but you need to tread carefully.
You should go do l'aventure Michelin in person it's the best factory tour ever 🎉
Ayyyyye! The pressure was on here to make a good pun, shame we didn't think of this one ourselves... we're feeling deflated now 😉
8:43 Dr. Bridgewood: "It's incredible how before it went in, it was all floppy and now, I mean, it's just really really hard..."
😂
I just heard that, gosh I laughed so hard
yes he is a great science communicator
😂😂😂
With deadpan, straight up delivery 😂
Friend working for Pirelli has told me that last robot in the vulcanization process, blesses the tire by saying "Ride Long And Prosper" and that's how the tire gets its long durability 🖖
Pirelli: Builds special machines to minimize human contact on materials Ollie: *Proceeds to touch everything*
Hahahaha he just can't help himself 🛞
Ollie's excitement for cycling, the sport and its tech is awesome.
Sheer passion. A sight to behold.
That's what we're all about here at GCN 🙌 It's great to hear that our passion for cycling is coming through the content 👌
Always love seeing Ollie in science nerd mode. He must be fun at parties and pub quizzes!
Irony is so last year.
Oh he's a hoot! 🤣
Ollie going for the slick Italian hair style, when in Rome etc. on another note anyone else get excited with these kind in Tech videos, my wife asked “what are you watching?” When I said a tyre video firstly she didn’t believe me secondly she said ‘ you are weird.. bit hard I thought.
I noticed that he combed his hair back once he started talking about bike tire manufacturing. Time to get serious here!
Hahaha cyclist nerds will understand 🤣
I love these factory videos! Please cover Vittoria as well
You guys have the best gig in the world. Love the company your videos.
I just love Ollie’s enthusiasm when doing these tour videos
I am quite aware that, while educational and entertaining, these kinds of videos are advertising. That being said, anything Ollie says is good, I end up buying. Eventually.
Thanks to michelin for sponsoring this pirelli video !
When i was a teenager, one of my friends was super excited about getting new performance car tires from Firelli cause he didnt realize the logo wasnt just a stylized P
Very fascinating. Very good to allow us to have a look inside, especially at something that is so vital. No tire...no bikes, trucks, cars, no bandsaws...on it goes.
I like videos like this. I think they go a long way in explaining to people why quality products cost what they cost.
That's great to hear 🙌 Products like tyres seem so simple, yet so much work goes into each and every one 🤓
Very well done!! Thank you for this!
I really love my race 4s tires. Amazing handling and grippy in the rain. The rolling resistance is up there with the best of them and they feel great.
Great vid Ollie very interesting, love Pirelli tyres for cycling always rode impeccably for me have various versions 😊 well done guys 🚴🏻👍😃😃 Pete
I recently bought Pirelli Race 26mm clinchers - frankly amazing. Nice to see behind the scenes of this company - history, tradition, perfection all still at home in Italy. Excellent.
A true Italian cycling power house 👌
Interesting video! :)
I didn't think I would enjoy watching a tyre factory tour that much. I was wrong.
Glad we could change you mind 👀
Really liked this. I didn’t realize how high tech these factories are. Btw, where is your factory host, you’re just walking around their factory alone? I suspect no one was comfortable speaking in English and didn’t want to appear on camera.
All in the Y . Thanks!
After Ollie off-the-cuff was able to name the bird in the recent episode of the bike vault, I half believed his story about where vulcanisation was invented. Regardless, Ollie is a massive nerd and his not alone because I’ve done some work at a Goodyear tyre factory and I found the entire process pretty fascinating. I’m glad I’m not the only nerd.
We're all a little nerdy really! 🤣
Damn we couldnt see the only part i wanted to see. Still learned some interesting things!
Which bit did you want to see?
@@gcntech the part where they make the tire 🤣
very nice
Thanks for this very interesting video ! It's more and more difficult to know the actual manufacturer with the rebranding done by bike manufacturer , Giant and Trek/Bontrager for exemple. Info about that are wellcome!😊
digging the content ...
We're glad to hear it 🙌
mr. spock made some wonderful tires
Nice to see beautiful things are still made in🎉 Italy. Perhaps Colnago might return?
I only rode Pirellis on my motorcycles both on track and street. They are phenomenal for being predictable and consistent. I finally put some TLR Race on my road bike after wearing out the OEM tires and so far so good. I don't race my roadie, just casual fitness. But I like having Pirellis back under me.
Gives you that little extra boost doesn't it 😉
You should go to the Shimano museum in Sako, Japan which is just a stone's throw from central Osaka
They have an amazing range of bikes from the earliest bikes to the most modern.
Oooo that would make for a fun video 👀
Pirelli just sorta came out of nowhere in 2018 huh? They went from not having any bike products to making the best urban commuting tire ever created, the Cinturato Velo.
they certainly made a big impact (again) in the cycling world!
After watching a GCN Tech Show, it looks like those prototype tyres are now called P Zero TLR.
But how does the long strip of tire stuff get turned into a hoop? The is just an extended ad to impress us with mysterious wonders. Go to an old factory without so many secrets.
I’d love to speak to his childhood teachers to see what kind of student he was. “No, don’t touch that!” Ollie: *boop*
Oddly enough, this video started with an ad for Michelin tires
👀
Ollie contaminating our tires. I'm happy I'm not getting any new Pirelli's for a few months
we promise he washed his hands!
Suppose you can’t mention Goodyear as the inventor of vulcanised rubber in the Pirelli factory
I knew that the actual tire making process wouldn’t be shown as it is proprietary. I just bought a set of Pirelli PZero tires at a good price. We will see if they are better than Continental GP 5000 tires I have on my bike right now?
The only tyres I've had with the tread rubber not properly fixed to the carcass.
I wonder if the new tire is the P ZERO™ Race RS. Received an email from Pirelli this morning and got a 404 error when I clicked on the link...
Best tyres in the world 🍀
Can I ask for mullet (tuna) tyres comparison, I run 38 front 32 back, I call it the tuna, it's fast and comfortable and confident inspiring at speed,
is it technically possibly for different parts of the tyre to have different levels of vulcanisation? A bit like how Japanese katanas are made with varying thicknesses of clay along the blade to allow a variety of cooling speeds (making the blade both flexible and sharp)
Add Katanas in and it makes it sounds very cool 🤣
👍
I’ve had four Pirelli tyres for first one blew off the rim the next two the outer rubber was blistering these went back to the shop I never heard anymore the next one blew a hole in the side of the tyre needless to say I don’t use them any more
Looks like they were sabotaged by the Michelin Man lol...
Are these tires compatible with hookless rims?
I can tell you about all these processes but then I would have to put you in the Vulcanization machine.
"They can use their F1 knowledge...from Formula 1!" :D
Michelin makes some serious good tires too
7:00 What a sly way to avoid mentioning a competitor (Goodyear) while talking about the invention of vulcanization
2:00 They have energy labels? 😳
🖖
Hopefully its not awkward like that time he met Mr. pinarello 😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭
Yep....makes a lot of sense...Pirelli tire show with... Michelin ads....
Did Ollie forget his Iron again? 😃
We think we're going to have to get a packable Iron for our presenters 🤣
I know everyone will say the same thing. Still why do they cost as much as a car tire, as in comparison they are so small. Thanks though neat to see.
I'm a GP5000 man but have used Pirelli TPU inner tubes at £25 a pop. Unfortunately they are nowhere near as good as Cyclami ones at £6.50 a pop. The valve stems on Pirelli tubes are unreliable in my experience whereas the valve stems on cyclami are standard aluminium without removable valve cores.
Oli is wrong, Spoc works for TREK, not Pirelli.
08:44. Pause.
Hahahah we don't see anything wrong here 👀
VREDESTEINS??? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one riding Fortezzas. Literally no one in my group ride rides VREDESTEINS.
Pirelli: Dose all of this…. Still can’t touch GP5000……..
Vulcanized is done by a guy named Spock?
Most of Pirelli bike tires are made by Vittoria and some by others.
7:00 Wasnt' vulcanisation invented by a guy called Dunlop? Aren't you allowed to mention his name, when you are inside the Pirelli factory? Btw, as far as I know, the company Dunlop has nothing to do with the inventor Dunlop, except that the company was named in his honor, just as the company Tesla is named in honor of the inventor Tesla, but - apart from that - has nothing to do with him.
Im staring to look like A michelin man 😂😂 😭🇪🇭😭
I never knew British people spelled tire- Tyre
Yes, we never tire of tyres 😅
720p... nc
Just bought a pair of Pirelli Cinturato Allroad and whoever measures them needs their tools recalibrating, they are supposed to be 700x40 but when I finally managed to wrestle them onto to wheel they barely measure 36mm now I don't expect tyres to be exact because of the use of different inner rim sizes but this is the worst discrepancy I've ever experienced in 30 years of buying tyres sadly it was too much hassle to return them but it has made me think twice before buying any other tyres by them
Wheel rim width will impact the final measurement of any tire. You can mount the exact same tire on a wide rim, then on a narrow rim, and get completely different width measurements of that same tire.
I have 40mm in the same tyre and the measure 41mm on the rim. Your rim width has more to do with tyre width than anything.
Not easy to find a pirelli dealer for bike tires
If only there was a way to search online for things 😊
Maybe talk to your local shop about stocking them 👀
imagine if pirelli will make condoms and name it B Zero.
I thought Pirelli bike tires were made by Veloflex.
My neighbour says that the Pirelli car tyres are bad quality. (??)
ollie!! iron the sweatshirt!!!😂
lol the making of the actual tire is the one thing that can't be shown
prefer Continental GP5000 ….,….
Now, if you could just explain why bike tyres cost more than car tyres for my Fiesta......
A lot of it goes in to R&D. Bike tyres like this are at the cutting edge of tyre technology, We imagine your car tyres are not performance focused?
@@gcntech And no R&D goes into car tyres? Bike tyres are just like the rest of the industry - a complete rip-off
@@MadMarchTaffyyou can buy cheap tyres for your bike also (from about £12), just as you can buy expensive, premium tyres for your car. It’s no different
Still don't know how a bike tyre is made
Talking at length about a conveyor belt as the rest of the making of is secret. Afraid this is a massive miss for me.
So we learn nothing because it is all top seeecccrettt. However, good to know they only started in 2020. That is something learned. Pirelli did not exist in the cycle trade whatsoever during the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, like many others they forgot where they started and became car dependent. Now they are trading on their F1 image and pretending they did not abandon the cyclist for half a century. There is good money in bike tyres when you have people willing to spend £10k on a bike. In 1990 it was near impossible to spend more than £500 on a bike. But that was peak car dependency.
Pirellis on the tires, they said 22s wouldn't fit but they liars.
Any tubs lying about?
Not moving over to tubeless?
@gcntech As long as the Gatorskin exist I will stick with Tubulars. Had very good luck with Mavic and now Velocity rims. Just too Cool.
Pirelli made the best tires in the industry. This is fact
One thing I always wondered: How effective is the body's metabolism in using these vast amount of calories? In theory, he should have gained almost a kg of body fat from this video. I'm absolutely sure he hasn't. Theory says 90g of carbohydrates an hour. Maybe more if mixing glucose and fructose due to different receptors. Of course the meal wasn't just carbs. But if we stick with the carbs: What happens to everything over 90g? Do these just flush through without any impact in metabolism? Always wondered at the all you can eat chinese. #askgcntech
It's effective lol. I get fat easily, I had 8 tacos for dinner tonight and a burrito but I'm not fat because I ride 200 miles a week. All my meals are like that and I'm almost 50.
its tire not tyre
We want to see how tubular tyres are made, especially how they are SEWN up!
No
@@dainiusvysniauskas2049 Yes
Agreed. Given I started cycling after tubulars were a mainstream thing, I'm curious.
Here is a factory tour but we can't show you any tour because it's all top secret 💩
their inner tube is ass
Can never afford Pirelli - their prices are inflated.
I can find them starting at £19 so hardly a huge price.
@@awab789 tyres, inflated? Oh never mind 😂
There is no other tire out there like the Cinturato Velo. I don't think their racing tires are anything special, but their urban commuting tire is amazing, there is nothing that comes even close to it.
#comment of the week for sure 😜
Eightch Q? Ollie isn't even British!
Ah Pirelli, and their shocking WRC tyres; may as well be made of cheese......And their MTB tyres cost Trek a few wins last MTB World Cup season.......
WRC tyres and made to a spec provided by either the FIA and WRC themselves, Same with there F1 and WSBK tyres. Pirelli have little say in it and they just manufacture them to the spec provided. The Trek team lost those races as the riders choose the fastest version of the tyres, the ones that have zero durability.
pirellis don't last
Rubber tires are everything wrong with modern technology: 1. thousands of people in desperate poverty harvest raw rubber, 2. The millions of used tires are an ecological disaster, 3. For the most part we simply ignore this and enjoy our toys and privileged lives.
You need to reinvent the wheel and get back to us on what you come up with.
Ask the Indian Govt - who have a space programme - yet incredible poverty across the Sub-continent. Stop being judgemental.
@@paulgrimshaw8334 The fuck I do. 😄
@@wotexpat9367 Judgemental, seriously? What does that ave to do with a statement of facts?
Enjoy eating a carrot stick while I enjoy a filet mignon LOL
Good info but can't take bloke with hair band seriously...
Why not?