Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Michelin PR2's

Well my current set of PR2's (2nd set I've had on the Connie) have just hit the 12,000km mark and it's about time to consign them to the bin. Since changing from Pirelli Strada's I've been very impressed with the PR2's and certainly would recommend them for their performance and longevity on a large heavy tourer.

From the pictures below (damn hard to get a decent picture showing tread depth) you can see that there is possibly still a little more life in them. But I'm replacing them for a the following reasons:
  • The profile on the front tyre is pretty much gone and the tyre is starting to not feel so nice on initial turn-in. Basically the effect feels like a slowing of turn-in and this takes away a bit of confidence when getting amongst it in the corners.
  • The rear still has a reasonable amount of tread on the sides but it starting to look a little thin in the centre and I don't really want a puncture in the boonies if it can be avoided. (I was a little concerned riding on gravel the other day).
  • We're well into autumn and chances are I'm going to riding in the rain soon enough
Front
Rear
So what am I replacing them with? Well, it was a toss up between another set of PR2's and the new Pirrelli Angel ST's. I've been keen to try the Angel's as they appear to be Pirelli's answer to the PR2 (both dual compound tyres) and also have heard that they're pretty good in the wet - Brian is also happy with his set on his Connie.

Initially it looked like price-wise that PR2's were going to be the go but I managed to get a decent price on some Angels so a set will be going on this week. I look forward to trying them out and seeing how they perform against the PR2's - should know in about another 12,000kms...The worst thing that can happen is I go back to PR2's if not happy with the Pirelli's.

3 comments:

  1. Will be very interested in your evaluation of the Angels. I always used Avons on the Blackbird and was very satisfied with grip but they wouldn't come anywhere near the life of your PR2's.

    I'll need new rubber for the Grand Challenge as my soft compound Dunlops will be stuffed by then. Will follow your experiences with interest as I'm not sure what the choice will be yet.

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  2. The Angels go on tomorrow and hopefully they'll still be on for the Grand Challenge...

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  3. I've had brand new tires with weird front profiles. I hate that feeling of tipping into a corner and feeling the tires resist the turn. Suddenly they finally roll onto the crown and now the bike feels like it's falling into the turn.

    I'm always up for input on tires for sport touring bikes!

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