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

[Transalper]

Not personally but have heard several people down here run their front E07s like that and reckon it gives better tracking in gravel.
There must be a down side to it all though since they do have a direction arrow I assume related to their construction.
Question; What suffers when a front tyre goes on backwards? Sealed road cornering or hard braking performance, tyre life? I wonder.

[Padmei]

What size is your rear (tyre), the E-08's sitting in the shed at the moment.
Yer mor 'n welcome to take it for a burn and see what you think.
It's o.k. on gravel and I did the Maunga twice with it with no problems, course it might've been different in the wet

How come you aren't wearing them at the mo? Saving them for the big dance?

[NordieBoy]

What suffers when a front tyre goes on backwards? Sealed road cornering or hard braking performance, tyre life? I wonder.

Braking traction?

Some of the directional mtb tyres have arrows going one way for front and the other way if used on the rear.

[NordieBoy]

Anyone had any experience with mounting front EO7's "backwards"? I've just fitted a new front with the chevron pattern facing forward (sidewall says it should face to the rear), anyone else mounted them this way?

I think it'd preform better the right way and look better backwards.

Take your pick

[NordieBoy]

How come you aren't wearing them at the mo? Saving them for the big dance?

They're road tyres.
You want cleats on for dancing.

[Ally67]

How come you aren't wearing them at the mo? Saving them for the big dance?

Nah, I think I was doing sumfin else and thought I'd change them just for something to do.
Bike looks much beterer with a big knobly on the back anyway.it is all about looks you know.
If I was going on a longish road trip I'd put them back on, Trackmaster sounds like a swarm of bees on the seal

[topo]

Certainly looks better "backwards", find out tomorrow if they can handle the jandle.

[warewolf]

There must be a down side to it all though since they do have a direction arrow I assume related to their construction.
Question; What suffers when a front tyre goes on backwards? Sealed road cornering or hard braking performance, tyre life? I wonder.

My recollection, which could just be an urban myth, is that it is related to the construction. Way back when, high-speed race tyres were coming apart seemingly at random. They discovered eventually that the ones that failed had the carcass joins facing one particular way, so now they are made aligned in one direction with the carcass so stamped. Lower speed tyres don't get so stressed, so often aren't constructed that way or marked, eg off-road tyres.

Alternatively, I could understand that directional tread patterns might only be tested for the load/speed ratings while facing the way the manufacturer intended, so are thus marked. This because either the manufacturer doesn't want to pay for the tyre to be tested both ways, or the tyre fails when reversed.

Years ago -err, late eighties- my mtb had a simple chevron-like tread pattern on the tyres. They were supposed to face different ways, front vs rear, to act like a scoop for front braking or rear drive. I experimented with reversing them; IIRC the front hung on a bit better until you touched the brakes, at which point things got seriously alarming with the point-leading chevron cutting a swathe through the track surface.

So the obvious warning applies: if you do reverse a directional-tread tyre, be on the lookout for atypical behaviour.

[warewolf]

Certainly looks better "backwards"

This is closer to the truth than you may realise. Tread patterns are a sales 'point of difference' and are designed to appeal to the eye as much as improve grip (more so for street tyres than off-road). Tyres like the Metzeler ME33 Laser's (now Lasertec) simple herringbone pattern work very, very well in the wet. But they aren't very sexy and certainly don't look new! and improved! so most manufacturers dick about constantly with pretty designs. In fact Metzeler have changed the name, carcass and compound, but not the tread:

LASERTEC The newest materials and compound technology applied to a classic tread pattern design for enhanced performance out of your bike New compound with high Silica developed for outstanding grip both in dry and in wet enhancing riding performance "Sport Touring" carcass design with lighter, more resistant Polyester fibre giving higher comfort and improving handling "Classic" tread pattern design ensuring effective water dispersal for safe wet riding and wear regularity with long-lasting mileage

[Mystic13]

This thread is on the too long side for finding info and I guess it's always subjective.

Which tyres do you recommend based on my bike, experience etc

I bought a dr250 to see if I'd like adventure riding, did two days of gravel riding and one of them was 8 hours followed immediately by the 42nd traverse. On gravel I was always lagging the bigger adventure bikes I was with which ranged from 650-1000. On the 42nd I was quicker and didn't drop the thing.

At the end of the 42nd I decided this is me and sold the 250 and bought 400.
The 250 had knobblies and i don't know what.

The DRZ doesn't have road legal knobblies right now. It has rim locks and riding from Hamilton to Auck's I thought I would lose several fillings.

- I intend to go back to the 42nd and spend the day or two riding all the off side tracks
- I've found some guys who ride farms, beach etc and will join them as well
- I want to ride there even if it's the other end of the island, then ride off road and ride back (yes the seat has to be dealt with)
- I don't get the back out on gravel in corners (intentionally - yet).
- I have no problems with the bike sliding around under braking
- what tyres do you recommend?

I found I have a D605 front in the garage (it came with the dr250 as a spare). it's a much more road orientated tread than I had.

I was about to through a set of MT21's on till I read the thread. Now the T63's look like an option.

I'm not so worried about wear and price and more concerned with grip while I'm learning. So wet road grip is important.

Cheers.

[Rosie]

A question for the resident tyre experts:

My current TW301/2 setup works well on seal and gravel roads, but occasionally I need a bit more grip for riding on trails etc. So I'm thinking about a second set of tyres to be used for more technical riding.

The sherp is no trailer queen, so whatever I got would need to be able to do 30-40 min stretches on the seal to get to trails. Clint thinks that any cheap knobbly would be fine, but I'm suspicious of taking non-DOT approved tyres on the road.

So, I need either;
a) suggestions of an inexpensive, road legal, agressive knobbly tyre
or
b) to be told to stop being a blouse and just get some proper knobblies, since I wouldn't be taking them on the road much.

[Oscar]

A question for the resident tyre experts:

My current TW301/2 setup works well on seal and gravel roads, but occasionally I need a bit more grip for riding on trails etc. So I'm thinking about a second set of tyres to be used for more technical riding.

The sherp is no trailer queen, so whatever I got would need to be able to do 30-40 min stretches on the seal to get to trails. Clint thinks that any cheap knobbly would be fine, but I'm suspicious of taking non-DOT approved tyres on the road.

So, I need either;
a) suggestions of an inexpensive, road legal, agressive knobbly tyre
or
b) to be told to stop being a blouse and just get some proper knobblies, since I wouldn't be taking them on the road much.

Depends on yer definition of cheap.
I've using road legal pirelli scorpions on my 640, at about $100 each.

[Bass]

I found I have a D605 front in the garage (it came with the dr250 as a spare). it's a much more road orientated tread than I had.

Cheers.

Doing my big Oz thing earlier this year, I dropped a duet of D 605's on the DR in Darwin. (Jeez, after that, I feel a limerick coming on)
The rear one wore out in no time at all, but performed pretty well on seal, gravel and medium sand until it did so.

The front one is still on the bike. I'm not qualified to comment on its performance in mud or deep loose stuff, but I have been very pleasantly surprised at how planted it is in the gravel. I think the next one will be same again.

[MXNUT]

A question for the resident tyre experts:

My current TW301/2 setup works well on seal and gravel roads, but occasionally I need a bit more grip for riding on trails etc. So I'm thinking about a second set of tyres to be used for more technical riding.

The sherp is no trailer queen, so whatever I got would need to be able to do 30-40 min stretches on the seal to get to trails. Clint thinks that any cheap knobbly would be fine, but I'm suspicious of taking non-DOT approved tyres on the road.

So, I need either;
a) suggestions of an inexpensive, road legal, agressive knobbly tyre
or
b) to be told to stop being a blouse and just get some proper knobblies, since I wouldn't be taking them on the road much.

KENDA K760 TRACKMASTER from Cycletreads in Auckland for around $65 - $70
are a very aggressive tyre and are dot legal.

[warewolf]

So, I need either;
a) suggestions of an inexpensive, road legal, agressive knobbly tyre
or
b) to be told to stop being a blouse and just get some proper knobblies, since I wouldn't be taking them on the road much.

I would think that mx knobblies would be overkill, especially with indicators and mirrors on-road, on a sherpa, and not necessarily cheaper. Cheap asian or eastern euro DOT-knobblies would be a good bet. DOT-knobblies tend to last longer at the expense of extreme traction, so the value is the same as a cheaper non-DOT.

Kenda Trakmaster, BF Goodrich Crossengo, IRC Battle Rally, Vee Rubber something?