Advice Regarding New Back Tyre

Hi All

Sorry to ask this, I know it has been asked before, could not seem to find a definate answer though.

I have Metzler Sportec M1's on my curvy at the moment, they seem really good, but I have nearly wore out the centre of the rear tyre (too much 2's up riding I think) can I fit a harder wearing rear tyre, is it ok to mix tyres?

Thanks

[Stu]

Think the best mileage is from Z6 or maybe now the Pilot Road 2. Personally I don't see the problem mixing. I mean what's the front wheel got to do with the rear wheel? (unless you are relying on the front wheel doing all the rain clearing for the rear tyre like a Diablo Strada- but surely any front should be clearing water as much as possible)

Don't see how 2 up riding wears a tyre, it's just mileage and esp. acceleration & braking I suppose there's more weight that needs to gain/lose momentum, but you shouldn't be sliding so much at the rear 2 up. More down to riding style.
And you're always going to wear the centre of a rear tyre. The 2CT properties of the pilot road 2 try to allieviate it though.

To add to Stu's post, if you have Sports tyres on, they don't shed as much water, so your rear end grip could suffer coming out of bends etc.

If you're going to mix & match, it's always generally a good idea to have more rubber on the front than on the back (you're more dependant on the front end being stable than you are the back), and I'd always stick to the same genre of tyre (eg, sports, sports-touring etc).

As Stu said, milage, Z6 or Pilot Road 2. Grip, I'm not sure, but then, I use my bike to commute silly distances, so distance counts most. Out of those two though, I personally prefer the PR2s.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Baph

If you're going to mix & match, it's always generally a good idea to have more rubber on the front than on the back (you're more dependant on the front end being stable than you are the back),

I know that is the conventional wisdom, but it means if taken to extreme - 'I can push my front tyre as hard as I like as long as the rear tyre is not sliding' WTF!

and I'd always stick to the same genre of tyre (eg, sports, sports-touring etc).Agreed obviously

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone tried an M1 on the front and a Z6 on the back? If so how was the ride?

[Stu]

Originally Posted by pups3000

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone tried an M1 on the front and a Z6 on the back? If so how was the ride?

BluePete

Mixing tyres these days I have been informed is all a matter of technology. Steady riding won't matter one jot but faster riding needs careful balance at the speeds and lean angles bikes are capable of these days. Different types of tyre from different manufacturers flex in different ways and they are designed to work together, the profile must be the same as the manufacturer recommends also the pressure. The tread pattern shouldn't make any difference to the handling except, as has been mentioned, less tread means less water clearance so this has to be of concern, but the exact 'type' of tyre is so important because the compound may be different. We all know what its like when we have a fairly new tyre on the front and a fairly worn tyre on the rear, the bike just doesn't seem to want to go around corners any more. Mixing different compounds from different manufacturers may cause the same problem but with two new tyres which would be terrible! So there doesn't really seem much point mixing them.

Excessive wear in the centre of the rear tyre usually points to the pressure being too high. Always set this to the manufacturers setting for that particular bike, not the pressure marked on the side of the tyre which is the 'maximum' safe pressure. A very common mistake! Most bikes using a certain tyre size and type use the same pressures these days so the tyre manufacturer ought to point this out on the tyre itself. A nominal pressure and a maximum, that way less people would over inflate, ah but then they wouldn't sell so many tyres would they? hehehe!