Hi all,
Have Bridgestone BT021s on at the moment, 120/70 and 180/55.
Over a distance of about 150 miles (a week's riding) the handling has gone from OK to absolutely lethal. White lines and bad road surfaces cause trouser-staining changes of direction and when cornering I have to fight with the bars to keep the bike from nose-diving into the tarmac.
I think it's the front tyre in particular. Looks like it's worn really badly. This is the second one I've had that's done this. Cupping and rough rubber covering about half the tread all the way round both sides of the tyre.
I have heard that more recent BT021s have been improved. Anyone know if this is true? I've used Bridgestones exclusively for years and years but am now thinking of switching to another make, especially as last time this happened I spoke to their customer services who were far from helpful.
I know tyre choice has been discussed to death but what's good for urban commuting?
Thanks folks.

 

Pics?

What pressures are you running?

What kind of riding do you do in percentages?

 

There were 021's on my bike when I bought it, I rode them until there were 2 bald strips dividing the tread into 3rds on the front, and changed them on Monday.

I put on a set of Pilot Road 3's after reading a lot of happy stories with people on 2's, and liking the idea of the 2 compound thing, I like to do a lot of miles on this bike so the centre always takes a beating.

The day I bought the new tyres I went for a ride with a buddy around a 400km loop that I think is some of the best riding in this country.there is about 100km of slow mountain passes and the rest is windy country and back roads.

Byt he halfway point the chicken strips were down to less than a qrtr inch and the tyre still had the little rubber hairs on it! I should have taken a photo... I decided it was scrubbed in by then and turned it up a bit to shave the hairs...

Anyway, I didn't really have any complaints about the 021's. though they did wear into a bit of a flat spot with all the straight riding I do, They never seemed to loose traction, but I don;t really push it. The pr3s felt instantly better, but that is to be expected swapping such clapped out tyres for newies.

IN conclusion I guess I am saying that I approve of the Pilot Road 3's, even though I've only put 400 k's on them...

Tim.

PS I freaking hate the painted lines on roads, I remember reading somewhere in the specs that they paid special attention to getting them to grip on wet paint. I'm not going to test it but if it's true they will have me as a customer for life!

 

"Be the day" when a tire sticks good to wet paint lines in my opinion, don't care what a
manufacturer claims , wet manhole covers & wet painted street lines are no friends of
rubber tires with horsepower applied.

But hey those PR3's sound about as good as you can get these days .... on my short
order list soon too I hope. Maybe you can do a review after you crank out a few grand
in miles on 'em.

 

I should have a few thousand on by the end of the month, but I'm not technical enough of a rider to help you much with a review. sometimes I read those things and think "wtf drugs are try on? I just ride the damn thing and the tyres turn..."

Turns out they just mention them. No special "anti painted line"technology. Looks like it's back to falling over on painted lines for me!


"MICHELIN XST Technology increases tyre performance even where grip is reduced (water puddles, painted road markings, etc…)"

 

How many miles in total do you have on your tyres OP? If it's only the 150 miles you mention I doubt it's the tyres.

Check tyre pressures and make sure everything is properly tightened up.

 

That's what I was thinking, these tires are new so shouldn't behave like this.

 

Please note that the BT021 was not as good in the wet as the BT020 that it replaced. BS has now come out with the BT023 to correct the wet handling.
I've been running BT016's for the last two years. I got 7-8K miles on the first front. I replced it when the wear bars on the outer edges showed. The center was still good. The rear has about 5k miles on it and is starting to wear flat in the center dispite the triple compoung.
BS has acknowledged the poor wet handling of the BT016 and have a BT016PRO in Europe that corrects the problem.
If the 016PRO is not available when I replace the rear tire I'll probably put on an 023 for longer wear and the possibility that I may force myself to right in the wet this summer to save on gas, 44mpg vs. 22mpg.

 

hmm reading this again I'm wondering if the OP's front forks need checking
for fluid levels and or leaks etc. ?? !!! might need new springs too maybe

 

I've had a set of Metzelers on for about 4000K's and they show NO signs of wear and are excellent in the rain. I've had 020's, 021's, Bridgestone PR2's - I'd say these Z6's are as good if not better than all of them.
FWIW
Once a tyre starts to go, it's only 100 miles or so before it becomes LETHAL.
My 021's went from OK to canvas in 100 miles
But they did have 14000+ k's up.
I got nearly 20000 out of the PR2's