Panaracer Agilest Duro TLR
Value: £65 / $79.99
Weight: 296 grams
Widths out there: 25c, 28c, 30c, 32c
Measured width (28mm): 25.9mm
Tubeless prepared: Sure
Hookless suitable: Sure
The Panaracer Agilest Duro TLR builds on the Japanese model’s Agilest line of tyres by introducing an all-season providing with enhanced puncture safety. This places it according to the likes of the Vittoria Corsa N.EXT, Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 4S, and Continental GP5000 AS TR as a 4 seasons tyre however with a heavy concentrate on efficiency and velocity too.
Panaracer claims that the Agilest Duro has been made with what it calls The Panaracer Ratio. A mix of low weight, quick rolling, and excessive sturdiness with out compromise to any of these three elements. In comparison with the usual Agilest, the brand new Duro does seem to compromise in some areas although. The burden is round 50g per tyre heavier, due to the brand new puncture safety belt and thicker tread, which itself is prone to negatively influence rolling resistance. Nonetheless this does improve the sturdiness, whereas the tread itself maintains the identical cheesy, slick rubber as earlier than.
The Panaracer Agilest Duro can be barely cheaper than the Agilest TLR, however solely by £5. At £65 they’re under no circumstances the most costly tyres on this class, undercutting a lot of the competitors, however they don’t seem to be the most cost effective providing on the market. In relation to combining efficiency, sturdiness, and value although, the place do they arrive out?
Design and specs
Panaracer’s earlier efficiency focussed street tyres, the Agilest TLR and Agilest Quick, are impressively light-weight choices even when in comparison with different excessive efficiency street race tyres. A part of how that is achieved is because of a scarcity of puncture safety, which is the place the Agilest Duro has been designed to fill the hole.
The principle tyre tread is identical ZSG (Zero Slip Grip) Agile compound discovered on the opposite Agilest fashions, which has been designed to keep up efficiency throughout totally different temperature circumstances. These tyres additionally characteristic a slick non-patterned tread throughout the whole profile. Many tyres go down the route of that includes tread patterns, usually claiming to enhance moist climate efficiency. The fact is that because of the comparatively skinny profile of a street bike tyre, aquaplaning is just not a difficulty, so grooves to displace water are usually not obligatory.
Having a totally slick tread implies that the contact patch on the tyre whereas corning stays as massive as potential on the tarmac, ideally enhancing grip, although the grooves (also called ‘sipes’) permit the rubber to deform extra and due to this fact warmth up a little bit, growing grip in idea.
To reinforce the puncture safety, Panaracer has added the Professional Tite Belt together with the 120 thread per inch casing. Given the opposite Agilest fashions characteristic no puncture safety belt, it’s in all probability truthful to take Panaracer’s declare that the Duro is twice as puncture resistant with optimism. From our rolling resistance testing, we are able to additionally safely say that including extra puncture safety may also have elevated the rolling resistance, a standard development we discovered throughout tyres. Panaracer nonetheless claims that the Agilest Duro are sooner rolling than its Race Evo Tyre, due to the inclusion of the ZSG Agile compound.
Sizing sensible the tyres are available 25, 28, 30 and 32mm widths, with all of them being listed as hookless suitable, and are available black or tan or gum/tan sidewall choices. Becoming the tyres to my take a look at wheels, they do come up narrower at 25.9mm for the 28mm model. Though it’s price noting that the take a look at wheels are fairly slender, Shimano RS170 wheels which measure 23mm exterior and 17mm inner, usually 28mm tyres come out nearer to true dimension on them.
Efficiency
First issues first with any pair of tyres, becoming. This was an space the Panaracer Agilest Duro excelled, as becoming them to the take a look at wheels was an absolute breeze compared with different tyres. The ZSG Agile tread and casing are properly supple so are comparatively simple to manoeuvre onto wheels, whereas the bead was in a position to be pressured over with restricted extra power.
My massive gripe throughout this course of nevertheless is the cheesy coating used throughout everything of the tread. Within the strategy of becoming the tyres, I eliminated just about all this coating on the wheels, which made a little bit of a large number the place I used to be doing this. What remained on the tyre got here away on the primary experience, so I’m undecided the advantage of this cheesy coating. It’s solely a difficulty when becoming the tyre for the primary time, however a ache nonetheless.
As soon as the tyres have been truly on the rim although, they seated simply with a observe pump and sealed no downside. They do nevertheless come up a bit slender, at 25.9mm in comparison with 28mm. The take a look at wheels are slender at 17mm inner, which does usually result in a smaller measured width. Nonetheless most tyres fitted on them haven’t been 2mm narrower, so it’s protected to say the Panaracer do come up on the slender facet.
Out on the street for testing, it’s largely been pretty moist and wintery driving circumstances. Excellent for testing all-weather grip and efficiency, however chilly climate can have an effect on tyre rolling resistance resulting from hardening the rubber and making the tyres much less supple. Panaracer does declare nevertheless that the ZSG Agile compound preserve extra grip and rolling efficiency throughout a wider vary of temperatures, together with when it will get colder, though no actual figures or temperatures have been quoted.
It is arduous to quantify tyre rolling resistance with out particular lab testing similar to in our rolling resistance testing. Nonetheless, there are some educated inferences that we are able to make from that. We did take a look at each the Agilest TLR and Agilest Quick, however each carried out very otherwise with the tube-only Quick model being one of many quickest, and the TLR possibility being fairly a bit slower. The compounds used are the identical throughout these and the Duro, however with the Duro being a tubeless tyre, we are able to assume it’s much like the Agilest TLR, however with a puncture safety belt. We noticed that fashions with elevated puncture safety have been slower than their extra race day counterparts. This all tracks with subjective perceptions, that the Agilest Duro are usually not gradual, however they don’t seem to be as quick because the likes of the Continental GP5000 AS TR.
The place the Duro does carry out nicely is grip. That slick tread and cheesy rubber feeling seems to translate nicely to cornering efficiency throughout all climate circumstances. Performing some race simulations on the Darley Moor observe within the UK, I used to be in a position to push spherical corners fairly comfortably, even within the damp circumstances. Even steep climbs, pushing 15% or extra within the moist, I had no points with tyre slip when out of the saddle.
Weight is one other sturdy level for the Agilest Duro, coming in at 20-40g lighter than many different all-seasons tyre choices for a pair. It’s not an enormous quantity, however being on the outdoors of a rotational mass does imply they’ve decrease inertia. This could in flip make them simpler to speed up from decrease speeds, and which will even have contributed to their higher feeling on steep inclines on the extra excessive finish of the spectrum.
As is customary with my tyre testing, I actively went out of my technique to search out some really terrible roads to find out puncture safety. A mixture of hedge trimmings, farm tracks, within the gutter with shrapnel and glass, plus lot of storm particles, all made for the right puncture testing grounds. In all my ventures into these roads, the Panaracer Duros didn’t have any points with punctures, with not a single thorn or shard of glass making their means by the thread and the carcass.
Clearly punctures are generally simply all the way down to luck, or lack of it somewhat, however the Duros have confirmed to be fairly sturdy throughout testing.
Worth
Within the area of interest of upper efficiency street tyres which are quick but sturdy for all season driving, the Panaracer Agilest TLR performs pretty nicely. £65 for a tyre continues to be some huge cash, however taking a look at comparable types of tyres just like the Vittoria Corsa Professional Management, Vittoria Corsa N.EXT, and Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 4S, they’re throughout the identical form of value determine. What we are able to’t touch upon is rolling resistance, however given the usual Agilest tyres use an identical compound to those, the presence of a puncture safety belt probably provides to that rolling resistance a bit.
The place the Agilest Duro does outperform these opponents although is the load, as a pair of the Agilest Duros comes out greater than 20-40g lighter than all of those different choices. Given this weight is on the outer level of rotation on the wheel, it makes a extra discernible influence when accelerating or slowing down than weight wherever else on the bike. These aren’t any tremendous light-weight tyres by any means, nevertheless it may give a barely extra spritely experience really feel. The grip can be excellent, akin to the likes of Continental BlackChilli tyres which have lengthy set a really excessive customary for street grip. If something, the Panaracer are barely higher on the subject of traction underneath load similar to steep climbs within the moist. That’s one space the place they outperform each tyre I’ve beforehand used.
Verdict
The Panaracer Agilest Duro TLR are in some methods a little bit of an unknown amount. By way of rolling resistance, we are able to solely take inferences from different checks, and subjective knowledge, neither of that are probably the most correct. Given they use the identical compound because the Agilest TLR however characteristic a puncture safety belt, it’s extremely probably they’re slower rolling than different all-season tyres we examined. However the Agilest Quick, non-tubeless, was one of many quickest.
What we may give a extra discerning opinion on are elements similar to weight, grip, becoming, and puncture safety. Throughout all these elements the tyres have carried out brilliantly, being the grippiest tyre I’ve used on steep climbs within the moist. Though punctures could be a little bit of a lottery, exercise in search of them out has but to convey one about.
The cheesy coating used on the tyres is a ache when becoming because it does make a large number although, and the worth is sweet, however not nice by way of general worth for cash. They make for a compelling possibility should you’re prepared to sacrifice some potential out and out velocity for enhanced all-weather grip. The decrease weight does give them a slight edge on the subject of effort notion up steep inclines as nicely.
| Attributes | Notes | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Design and aesthetics | I’m an enormous fan of choices for tan or gum partitions, with black as an providing for many who favor that. The slick tread additionally seems smooth. That preliminary cheesy coating does detract although | 8/10 |
| Efficiency | Actually grippy tyres that carry out nicely in any situation. Nonetheless they not the quickest on the subject of rolling resistance. No punctures but although, even in foul climate driving | 7/10 |
| Tubeless setup | 10 very simple to do with only a observe pump. Once more, that cheesy coating makes a large number throughout setup although in any other case they’d be 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Weight | Lighter than most different sturdy efficiency tyres for all season use, however no featherweight | 8/10 |
| Worth | It’s not the worst worth tyre in our testing, however for close to £70 it’s nowhere close to nearly as good worth as sooner or extra sturdy tyres which are cheaper | 6/10 |
| Total ranking | Row 5 – Cell 1 | 74% |