Rubber composition for tread and pneumatic tire using the same

The present invention provides a rubber composition for a tread, in which both wet grip performance and low heat generating properties can be achieved while maintaining the excellent properties of epoxidized natural rubber such as mechanical properties and abrasion resistance, and a pneumatic tire using the rubber composition. Specifically, the present invention relates to a rubber composition for a tread comprising 5 to 150 parts by weight of silica having nitrogen-adsorbing specific surface area of 100 to 300 m/g and/or carbon black having nitrogen-adsorbing specific surface area of 70 to 300 m/g, based on 100 parts of a rubber component containing 5 to 100 % by weight of a modified epoxidized natural rubber obtained by reacting epoxidized natural rubber with a compound selected from the group consisting of a Lewis acid, an amine compound, a thiol compound, an amide compound and an imidazole compound to conduct ring opening of an epoxy group, and a pneumatic tire comprising the rubber composition for a tread.