Road Bike Tire Test: Michelin Power Endurance 25

The Power Endurance is the most versatile member of the new Michelin Power road bike tires. Compared to the Power Competition, the Power Endurance offers more grip, more longevity, and better puncture resistance at the cost of increased rolling resistance. To improve those aspects of the tire, the carcass has gone down to 3x110 TPI instead of 3x180 TPI, it uses a dual compound Power X-Miles compound instead of Power Race compound, and a + version of the Aramid Protek breaker has been used.

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I'm not sure how the new compound compares to the older bi-compound that was used on the Pro 4 tires, but Michelin claims the shoulder compound of the X-Miles compound offers improved grip on wet roads while the center compound is optimized to provide a low rolling resistance. They also claim the new Aramid Protek+ breaker offers improved cut resistance over the HD protection that was used on the Pro 4 tires.

I've already tested the Competition version of the new Power tires and, as promised by Michelin, rolling resistance was very low. In the Competition review, I also mentioned the Competition was more of a successor to the Pro 4 Comp than the Pro 4 Service Course (read review). When comparing all specs, The Power Endurance seems to be the real successor of the Pro 4 Service Course. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a true successor of the Pro 4 Endurance (read review) as the Power Endurance doesn't have the reinforced sidewalls the Pro 4 Endurance had. Those strong sidewalls made it a truly great and unique tire IMO.

The specified weight of the 25-622 version of the Power Endurance is 230 grams, my sample comes in at 235 grams which is a bit less than the Pro 4 Endurance but a bit more than the Pro 4 Service Course. Just like the Power Competition, the Power Endurance now measures 27 mm wide and 24 mm high on a 17C rim.

The total measured thickness at the center of the tread is 2.8 mm. While the Power Competition came in a bit lower at 2.6 mm, the 2.8 mm thickness is a bit less than the Pro 4 Service Course and Pro 4 Endurance which both came in at 2.9 mm. The sidewalls have a thickness of 0.6 mm, which is a bit more than the Power Competition which came in at 0.5 mm, but in line with other similar tires from other brands.

To me, rolling resistance of the Power Endurance is a bit disappointing. While the Power Endurance doesn't have the reinforced sidewalls the Pro 4 Endurance (v2) (read review) had, rolling resistance has actually gone up. What's even more disappointing is the rolling resistance at lower air pressures. At the high air pressure of 120 psi, rolling resistance of the Endurance has increased by 0.3 watts. At 80 psi, this disadvantage grows to 1.6 watts.

When purely looking at the specifications of both the Power Endurance and Pro 4 Endurance, rolling resistance of the Power Endurance should be lower. When rolling resistance hasn't improved, there must be big improvements in grip and wear of the new Power tires as Michelin claims these tires are better than their predecessors.

Just like the rolling resistance test, the Power Endurance disappoints in the puncture tests. Puncture resistance of the tread has decreased to 13 points from the 15 points the Pro 4 Endurance scored. I must add the difference of 2 points is more of a rounding problem, if you look at the unrounded scores the difference isn't that bad as the Pro 4 scores 14.6 and the Power Endurance scores 13.4. I think it's safe to say puncture resistance of the tread hasn't increased (at least not with the 1 mm needle)

As expected, sidewall puncture resistance has decreased to 5 points from the 8 points the Pro 4 Endurance scored. This is the result of not using the reinforced sidewalls anymore.

Like I already mentioned, the Power Endurance definitely isn't the successor of the Pro 4 Endurance as the reinforced sidewalls have been dropped in the design of the Power Endurance. The Power Endurance is now the more versatile choice and should be considered as the successor of the Pro 4 Service Course (read review). My opinion is the Power Endurance disappoints a bit, I was expecting rolling resistance to be closer to 13.0 watts after the great performance of the Power Competition.

Michelin spent 2 years on the new Power range of road bike tires, I'm sure they've made other improvements that I'm not able to test. It's possible these new Endurance tires have much better grip, longer life, and better real-life durability. I find it hard to judge this tire but have gone for 3/5 instead of 4/5 because they dropped the reinforced sidewalls which I liked.