You’re absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting a new set of hoops for your pride and joy. There’re plenty of tried-and-tested options from the old guard of established tyre firms, but there’s also a growing range of more affordable rubber up for grabs. Here’s one firm you need to know about.
Unless you’re particularly clued up on the goings on of the tyre industry, there’s a pretty good chance you won’t have heard of EuroGrip before. Despite not being a household name just yet, they are a big deal. They’ve been doing their thing for over three decades, are owned by Indian automotive giant TVS, and have recently opened a European design facility in Italy. They’re also providing the OE rubber for Aprilia’s feisty new RS 457.
It’s a cool bike. The lightweight sportbike market is booming. After a few years of quiet, the biggest firms in the game are beginning to roll out a range of funky, cost-effective supersport rides which are whetting the appetites of leather-clad riders on their way to snagging a full licence and a full-on superbike. Aprilia’s RS 457’s one of the latest to emerge; and with the prestige of the iconic RS name, classy looks and plenty of performance for an A2-licence-legal bike, it’s pipped to do very well. But if you’re considering splashing the cash, you’ll likely want to know about the tyres that come fitted as standard that’ll be responsible for keeping you the right way up on the road and racetrack.
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The EuroGrip Protorq Extremes are high-performance radial tyres for middleweight sportbikes, that focus on outright cornering grip. The set fitted to the RS 457 have actually been developed in collaboration with Aprilia.
Unlike a cross ply tyre, which features crisscrossing plies to form the carcass of the tyre, a radial runs plies from bead-to-bead of the tyre, parallel to the axis. There’s also an additional layer of plies under the tread, which run parallel to the rotational direction of the tyre. Radial tyres run cooler, are softer, and have more flex in the sidewalls. Basically, they offer better grip.
They’re constructed from an advanced tri-polymer tread compound with high-structure carbon and silica and feature a 0° steel belt. The steel helps the tyres to offer better traction; improved ride comfort; better high-speed stability; more consistent braking performance; a wider and more constant contact patch; and a longer life, too. EuroGrip reckon they’ve achieved the optimal balance between grip, warm-up time and durability. Sounds good, right?
The tread’s pretty minimal – but there’s enough going on to help disperse water efficiently. And ultimately, these are supersport tyres and not sport touring ones, which means that cornering ability is the priority. The RS 457 takes a 110/70 ZR17 tyre up front and a 150/60 ZR17 at the rear, but there’s a big range of sizes to suit other bikes.
While some may doubt the outright performance of a ‘budget-friendly’ tyre, initial reports have been positive. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as Aprilia’ve spent a good chunk of time putting them through their paces on Italian tracks and roads, before being happy to fit them to their sorted RS 457.
We’re already lining one up for a supersport bike head-to-head later this year, so if you want to hear how the bike and tyres perform on British roads, be sure to keep your eyes on MoreBikes.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
www.tvseurogrip.com www.micheldever.co.uk
