With access to the Alps and Dolomites, you would expect an Italian tire brand to be aware of how steep and rocky terrain impacts tire design. Pirelli’s Scorpion mountain bike range is proof of how this environment can help shape a complete range of tires.
Engineers and product specialists at Pirelli have used the company’s impressive R&D resources and love of riding, to produce a selection of Scorpion tires for every type of riding. Whether you are an efficiency-obsessed XC rider or daring enduro descender, there is a Scorpion tire in the new Pirelli mountain bike portfolio that will appeal.
With a legacy of tire engineering that dates back to 1872 and 480 motorsport world championships, Pirelli’s development engineers have access to a treasure of technical data, which benefited the development of its Scorpion range.
One of Pirelli’s strongest product pillars is the company’s SmartGRIP design philosophy. Increasing tear resistance, enhancing mechanical traction and delivering superior grip on wet trail features, are all outcomes of the SmartGRIP engineering concept and present on Pirelli’s entire Scorpion range.
For those mountain bikers who relish the challenge of rolling huge distances and climbing the steepest gradients, Pirelli has formulated the Scorpion XC. As its suffix indicates, this is a low-resistance tire, making it easier for you to convert to those watts to ground speed.
Pirelli realizes an XC tire with all the benefits of rolling efficiency, is of no use with a weak and vulnerable casing. To ensure that the fast-rolling Pirelli Scorpion XC range is confidently robust on those occasional technical descents, with sharp rock edges and sniper roots, there are ProWALL casings.
By using this nylon fabric reinforcement technology, Pirelli’s ProWALL not only strengthens the puncture resistance of your Scorpion XC tire but also gives it lateral support when negotiating high-speed corners. The Scorpion XC ProWALL tire has a 120TPI carcass, making it tough enough to allow for any line choice through a sequence of technical trail features.
Riders who want to reduce their rotational mass, for a pure race day tire on manicured trails, can opt for the ‘LITE’ casing, with a 50g lower weight classification.
If you are more given to singletrack riding and technical descents, Pirelli’s Scorpion Trail is ideal. It integrates the brand’s ProWALL casing support, but in a 60TPI construction, and features a more pronounced tread pattern.
Recognizing the diversity of terrain tires that riders encounter, Pirelli’s Scorpion Trail is available in an array of tread patterns. There are H (hardpack) and M (mixed conditions) Scorpion Trail tire treads, with knob size, shape and spacing patterns to deliver confidence and excellent feedback on all trail surfaces.
Also in the range, the Scorpion S (for soft conditions) has large asymmetrically spaced edge blocks, to give riders all the required confidence, when leaning the bike through fast corners. Generously sized center tread blocks aid braking and with precisely shaped sipes, on each point of the Scorpion Trail S contact patch optimizes grip, even on tricky trail features.
For those trail riders who want a rear-specific tire that has low rolling resistance, but confident cornering grip when leaning the bike, Pirelli provides the Scorpion Trail R. Its ramped center tread blocks won’t rob you of rolling speed on those fast hardpack trails, but large edge tread blocks give excellent rear feedback and secure cornering.
With its ProWALL structure and 60TPI casing, the Scorpion Trail R delivers great stability and terrain feedback when piloting the bike through high-speed corners.
If you seek the most technically challenging descents, Pirelli’s Scorpion Enduro range is what should be rolling on your long-travel bike.
These tires use Pirelli’s HardWALL casing, which offers comprehensive bead-to-bead puncture protection. An additional rubber insert strengthens the Scorpion Enduro’s bead structure, allowing you to run to those low tire pressures which are most suitable for optimizing grip on treacherous descent, without an increased risk of pinch flats.
Beyond the enhanced puncture resistance and casing support during extreme cornering, delivered by Pirelli’s HardWALL, its Scorpion Enduro tires have an appropriately aggressive tread pattern. Oversized tread blocks dig into any terrain type, securing your steering and braking inputs, whilst also delivering great self-cleaning properties, perfect for when you are negotiating those intensely challenging double-black descents.
Keen to engage with the trail and enduro riding community, Pirelli will be a sponsor of the 2021 Tweedlove Enduro series. On the gravity side, downhill and EWS racing legend Fabien Barel, has been employed as a consultant for Pirelli’s most extreme mountain bike tires.
The Pirelli Scorpion name can mean everything to any mountain biker. With its comprehensive Scorpion tire range, there is a casing and tread pattern for all disciplines and terrain types. From XC to trail, enduro to downhill, Pirelli's Scorpion range has a tire to keep you in control.
