GS Tyres

My bike has now done 15200 km with it's original set of tyres. The rear tyre is now a slick (0.5 mm) Bridgestone Wing Trail 152, which needs replacing soon, like in next week. I am not sure if I got good mileage out of the tyre. The front is still god for at least another 5000 km.

The bike is also my commuting transport that often includes riding in the rain in summer. What tyre would you recommend I should get.

That's good tyre mileage - especially the rear!

Tyres are often a very personal choice.
I run Michelin Tourances...

Michelin Anakees are good for the 650.

HPGS wrote:Michelin Anakees are good for the 650.

+1

The Bridgestone Trailwings that your bike came out with are also very good tyres. I have them on my 650 as well and I commute 120km each day. I have done over 75,000km on Trailwings, with a mix of tar commuting, many many dirt roads, Mozambique sand, Sani Pass and the Drakensberg Escarpment, and I only had one puncture. But when I did the GS Challenge, I fitted proper knobblies (TKC - R, and Karoo - F)

So my verdict is eto get ither Anakees or Trailwings.

Hope it helps

Have them now on for both wheels. See how they perform.

Which ones, the Anakees?

Anakees

What tyre pressure should one run with the Trailwings on Level 1/2 dirt roads?

Kiteman wrote:What tyre pressure should one run with the Trailwings on Level 1/2 dirt roads?

On my 650, I never bother to reduce tyre pressure for Level 1/2 dirt roads, but for thick sand, I go down to about 1.2 front and 1.4 rear.

The reason I don't bother to drop pressure on the 650, is that the bike is light and the lower pressure does not really make a difference. On a normal dirt road you might hit a few rocks, so if the pressure is too low, you can end up with a dented rim. So on level 1/2 dirt, just keep them at 2.1 rear and 1.9 front. The difference is minimal. But for sand, drop the pressure.

Hope this helps.

Agree with what Knopkop said... 1.9 & 2.1, but in more technical terrain you can drop the pressure to 1.5bar front and back, providing that you don't hit rocks at speed (can pinch the tube an/or bend the rim).

Thanks guys,

This is helpful, at least I know that its more down to my lack of skill than riding with the wrong tyre pressures on a very corrugated dirt road this past longweekend that made the bike a handfull at times.

Is there any other tyre options apart from the Bridgestone Trailwing & Michelin Anakees, i.e. somewhere between these "compormise on/off-road tyres" and full-on knobblies to be fitted to 650?

The Heidenhau K60 have had some good reviews and some bad ones due to de-laminating on 1200's at high speed, but for 650's they have had no problems at all.

The de-laminating was due to a first batch and the problems have been sorted out. BON has done over 12,000km on his 1200 without problems. Deon Dry (Dakar) and Drix (800) also have them, and they are happy.

When my Metzler Sahara's on the X-Challenge are moeg, I will fit a Heidie K60 on the back and a TKC on the front = Happy Times !!!!

I've also decided that when my TKC's go to heaven, they will be reincarnated as Heidies!

C'mon Drix, give me applause!

Marnus....
Welcome on board !!!!!!!!
I told you about the Germany's

Something I did pick up from the Heidenhaus is that they do not enlarge the tyre footprint as much as with other tyres due to the stiffer carcass. Thus in very soft sand you might battle to get traction.

The jury is still out on this one

Mud Pooh-bah wrote:. Thus in very soft sand you might battle to get traction.

Bad comment.....rsrsrs
Bad Guy....rsrsrsrs
Bad remind....rs

...
Let's do our best not to side-track this thread!

Marnus wrote:I've also decided that when my TKC's go to heaven, they will be reincarnated as Heidies!

C'mon Drix, give me applause!

...not that I'm the one who can talk about tyres and sand.... think giraffe on ice skates...

I got a Michelin AC10 front tyre from a friend. Will this be too hardcore offroad for my dakar?


It apparently complies to DOT standards for what it’s worth…

Nothing can be too hardcore for off-road... It's the tar that could be the problem. But if you got one try it, just slow down on the corner and be EXTREMELY careful when it rains.

But hey, should be fine for EXTREME riding, as long as it is not too far. Oh wait, EXTREME means far, so the tyre is not good for EXTREME rides.

How "extreme" will this tyre go then? Given that I commute on tar daily...

Going straight should be fine...

I did over 9,000km with a set of Michelin T63's on the Dakar, a very aggressive knobbly. The guy who bought the bike early this year still rides with them - rear one is probably shot, but the front just goes and goes...

dakardrix wrote:

But hey, should be fine for EXTREME riding, as long as it is not too far. Oh wait, EXTREME means far, so the tyre is not good for EXTREMELY FAR rides.

Fixed!!

DaveS wrote:

Fixed!!

Listen, when I see that pot all I'm thinking about is a broken boere jacuzzi!