Tyre choice for adventure riding? (Mixing road and off-road)

[Woodman]

its recycled and it may not be rubber

Funny as I was talking to a guy today who owns a rubber band and rubberglove factory and he says that the price of rubber has gone through the roof lately because of the Chinese demand or something.(slight language barrier issue but i think I got the gist of it).

will be interesting to see what happens to tyre prices.

[jafar]

Funny as I was talking to a guy today who owns a rubber band and rubberglove factory and he says that the price of rubber has gone through the roof lately because of the Chinese demand or something.(slight language barrier issue but i think I got the gist of it).

will be interesting to see what happens to tyre prices.

Do the chinese put rubber into their tyres ?

[dino3310]

Do the chinese put rubber into their tyres ?

yeah just very little as possible

[cold comfort]

many years ago in another lifetime (as a youth anyway) I refused to run anything other than rubber tyres (Metzelers as it happens) and my pompous flatmate chose ?Lin Shin (some crappy Chinese plastic tires). In the dead of winter on a shaded corner in the Rai Valley i stayed up right- he traveled home horizontally in an ambulance with a permanently trashed/broken knee after taking out a marker post and finishing in a ditch! Not sure if his tyres were overinflated but his ego sure as hell was as i recall. Good tyres- cheap insurance against a lifetime of disability.

[ADVGD]

Go for the TrackMasters (760). Cheaper and knobblier than the 244's but wear well and handy to have round just in case.

Your numerous comments on these tyres has gotten the better of my curiosity Nordieboy, I just ordered one, interested to see how they go

Ordered over the phone, Cycletreads seem like a friendly crew...

Good tyres- cheap insurance against a lifetime of disability.

Good point, I run E09's and feel really comfortable pushing them fully laden on and off road, not what you would call a high priced tyre but seem to have a good rep with many on this forum

[Woodman]

Okay then possibly I need educating, but how much rubber do tyres have? and if not rubber, what are they made from?

[warewolf]

Okay then possibly I need educating, but how much rubber do tyres have? and if not rubber, what are they made from?

Natural rubber is sub-optimal for wear & grip, so they are made from a complex compound of lots of stuff - just like petrol. Silicates have been in the marketing materials lately, supposedly to improve wet grip. I'm sure you can google as well as the rest of us if you want to know more.

Mitas (pronounced "mee-tas" not "my-tas", I'm told) is a joint venture between Michelin (the "mee") from the west and a Czech consortium from the former Eastern bloc that includes the very reputable Trelleborg line. So although they are cheaper than the leading brands, quality is up there. They are not down at the same level as the cheapie Asians.

The giveaway that the cheapie Asian brands are yet to "grow up" is that they have very few tyres in big bike sizes (eg the 140/80 for my 640A or the 150/70 for the 9x0 or the Star Wars brigade) and lots in the piddling sizes, which reflects their home market demands not those of western capitalist pigs.

To continue the trivia, Shinko although Korean bought the Japanese Yokohama company's bike tyre business when Yokohama decided to be rid of it, so Shinko has a good base.

[ADVGD]

Natural rubber is...

Interesting, good post, good info, nice job warewolf

[NordieBoy]

20% off Shinko's at www.bits4bikes.co.nz 'till the end of the month.

Just got me another 705 rear for $98

[ADVGD]

20% off Shinko's at www.bits4bikes.co.nz 'till the end of the month.

Just got me another 705 rear for $98

Hi Nordieboy, those 705's look like they have a pretty tame pattern, how do you find them off road?

Any experience with the 700's?

[NordieBoy]

Hi Nordieboy, those 705's look like they have a pretty tame pattern, how do you find them off road?

Any experience with the 700's?

Haven't used the 700's but the 705's go remarkably well off road. Jatz used them on the dusty and I used them all last winter up in Hira. The only downsides are mud and steep downhill loose shale.

The front has done 21,000km and will out last another rear.

Pressures at 20f/18r and it'll go anywhere. There's some in Nelson a bit pissed where I got to with them and they didn't with knobs on

Road I use 24f/26r and get about 10,000km out of a rear.

[ADVGD]

Haven't used the 700's but the 705's go remarkably well off road. Jatz used them on the dusty and I used them all last winter up in Hira. The only downsides are mud and steep downhill loose shale.

The front has done 21,000km and will out last another rear.

Pressures at 20f/18r and it'll go anywhere. There's some in Nelson a bit pissed where I got to with them and they didn't with knobs on

Road I use 24f/26r and get about 10,000km out of a rear.

Cheers Nordieboy, 10,000km... that's good, very good

[NordieBoy]

Cheers Nordieboy, 10,000km... that's good, very good

They've actually got a really deep tread pattern.

I use the 120x17 on the DR.

[Taz]

Haven't used the 700's but the 705's go remarkably well off road. Jatz used them on the dusty and I used them all last winter up in Hira. The only downsides are mud and steep downhill loose shale.

The front has done 21,000km and will out last another rear.

Pressures at 20f/18r and it'll go anywhere. There's some in Nelson a bit pissed where I got to with them and they didn't with knobs on

Road I use 24f/26r and get about 10,000km out of a rear.

I was surprised at how well you did with them when I was down there. I think I was only slightly better off on padmei's klr with the near bald E07 on the rear.

[NordieBoy]

I was surprised at how well you did with them when I was down there. I think I was only slightly better off on padmei's klr with the near bald E07 on the rear.

The E07 just gets more grip as it gets balder.
Finally it grips soooo much you've got to replace it just to get the bike out of the shed.