New tyres? Be careful.

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

I rubbed mine down to get some of that shinyness off, then go for a gentle poodle to scrub them in; my dads also always followed this, and never had an off.

Matt

You're wasting your time scrubbing the shiny bit off before riding. Talk to any of the manufacturers and they'll tell you the tyre needs heat build up to finish of the final curing of the rubber. The shiny stuff is not mould release agent, it's just normal rubber that hasn't touched tarmac yet. 60 to 70 miles of moderate riding will see the tyres ready for full use. Just build up lean angle gradually as you go and don't be harsh with the brakes, throttle or steering. I tend to scrub tyres in over one decent trip so the heat builds up and stays in the tyre.

Racers take brand new tyres (even road legal tyres like Pirelli SuperCorsas and Metzeler Racetechs), stick them in tyre warmers until they are hot and then go out and do fast laps without 50 miles of scrubbing in or taking sandpaper to the shiny bits - doesn't that tell you something?

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Talk to any of the manufacturers and they'll tell you the tyre needs heat build up to finish of the final curing of the rubber.

Call me stupid but then why don't manufacturers heat the tyres before sending them out to fitters?

Time..money, I dunno.

You could also ask why the manufacturers don't scrub off the shiny part with Scotchbrite pads.

Do you want to pay even more for your tyres? I'd rather do the 'heat them up and scrub them in on the road' thing and save a few bob.

You can scrub tyres all you like, you can even rub them down with glasspaper. all you are doing is wasting time and money. Tyres are manufactured using oil. I carry tyres from the factory to the distributors. I have also delivered the oils and chemicals used in manufacture. The oils need to be used to give elasticity.

The simplest advice is to ride steady for 50 miles

Originally Posted by wheelnut

You can scrub tyres all you like, you can even rub them down with glasspaper. all you are doing is wasting time and money. Tyres are manufactured using oil. I carry tyres from the factory to the distributors. I have also delivered the oils and chemicals used in manufacture. The oils need to be used to give elasticity.

The simplest advice is to ride steady for 50 miles

That'd be the big plant in Burton then, I used to deliver packaging materials to there when I was driving trucks?