Suppleness

The first casualty of winter can be tyre suppleness. Much of a tyre’s ‘feel’ is dependent upon the carcass – the casing that lies beneath the rubber compound – which is measured in threads per inch, or TPI. High-performance racing tyres typically have a TPI count running into the hundreds. More durable offerings can have a TPI as low as the late twenties.

Michelin’s PRO4 Endurance, to return to one of the many tyres currently on test, has a TPI count of 110, some 40 TPI lower than its more race oriented cousins. This is still highly respectable, however, and still likely to offer a supple ride; compare and contrast with the the Panaracer RibMO, tested earlier this year, which had a carcass of just 67tpi and felt as if rigour mortis had taken hold. It had 100 per cent success rate in warding off punctures, however, despite a trip to the cobbles of Flanders.