Re: oilheads-digest V3 #186

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello John,

From: "Dancoe, John" <jdan@xxxxxxxx>

> What's the conventional wisdom for tires these days: sport-touring, R11RS.

According to an evaluation I read in Cycle Canada magazine, the following 
applies to *street* use of tires:

o Today's name brand tires are really good (following comments
  apply to these)

o The difference between the #1 spot and the #5 spot are small

o Different tires have different strong points. For example, one may
  perform a little better in wet than another, but at the price of taking
  a little longer to warm up.

o A lot of what makes one tire "better" than another, all around,
  is more a matter of personal preferences rather than objective
  metrics.

If your riding style has you scraping knee pucks around corners, then do by 
all means look for the ultimate performance tire. I'm sure some folks will 
disagree with what I'm telling you.

Example of where beliefs overshadow facts: Folks who ride R1100Ses will tell 
you that all other things being equal, a 5.5" wide rear wheel tends to 
"walk" more when pushed as compared to a 5" wheel. If a rider does not know 
this, and he rides two different sets of tires, one on a 5" rear and the 
other on a 5.5" rear, and he gets better grip on the 5", he may incorrectly 
conclude that the tire makes all the difference, in *spite* of being 
narrower (based on the incorrect belief that the 5.5" rear will grip better, 
all other things being equal).

Have fun.

- -Steve Makohin
 '01 R1100S/ABS
 Oakville, Ontario, Canada 

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