Tyre compatibility question.

Got home on Friday to find a small section of my rear tyre with short horizontal cracks across the centre of the tread area and a bit that looks like I've locked the rear wheel. Tyre is squared but tread generally looks ok but they do have a fairly slick centre line as standard. I suspect the signs may be the famed sudden death throes of a pirelli tyre and bare threads will soon follow.

Anyway, after all that my quick question... I know the recommendation is to have matching pairs. I currently have Angel STs front and rear. Any reason I can't go for an Angel GT on the rear and keep an ST up front? Unlike other mix and match options although the tyre is strictly different even the tread pattern is (I think) the same. What, if anything, can go wrong?

Don't mix radials with bias ply tires, otherwise, buy a new rear tire and try it out. I've mixed brands for many years, and run sport fronts with sport touring rears. Some tires I like better than others, but I never had a 'bad' combination.

[johnnyrod]

Mixing tyres is like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters, the world will explode. Only kidding, maybe they do work better as a pair but I've rarely tried it. Last Pirelli I had went the same way as yours, rather alarmingly, and it was still legal for tread depth.

[SIII]

It seams to be the way Pirelli's go.

I got a pair of strada's and then replaced rear with an Angel GT and strangely enough the world didn't explode then either!!! I have never bothered my **** about mixing tyre. As long as they are sports / touring tyres I don't see how we will get anywhere near the limits on normal road riding and therefore unlikely to encounter problems.

It's a bl@@dy con set up by tyre manufactures to make you buy a pair everytime you wear out the rear.

The only time it didn't work was using a storm on the rear made me realise how awful the oem dunlop D220 was!!!