Bridgestone vs Pirelli

[rivas]

Hi fellow riders,

It's time to replace my rear tire. Currently I have the Battlax BT-023 tires installed. I've done more that 20 000km on them and I only have to replace them now so I'm very happy with the life I got out of them. Bridgestone released a new range called the T30 Evo which, according to reports, been much improved.

The only reason why I'm not sure if I should go for them is because I would like better performance on dirt roads. The Battlax is a superb road tire but not so much for dirt roads. I'm considering to go for the Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tires. From what I've read they offer a very good mixture of on and off road performance. My only concern is that I might not get the same mileage out of them as on the Battlax. I didn't come across many reports but from what I could gather, riders got between 11 000 to 15 000km out of them. This is obviously subjected to riding style as well as the weight of the bike.

Any opinions / experiences with the Pirelli Scorpion Trail II?


Thanks!

[goingslowly]

I would guess the Pirelli Scorpion Trail II will give better mileage because it would be harder compound to cater for off road. Whatever you decide on, STAY AWAY from the Pirelli MT60 - great traction but shockingly low mileage, I only got 6k!

[Hannes]

Hi Rivas. It is really important to consider how often you will take the bike offroad. If it is fairly regularly, then a tyre like the Scorpions or Michelin Anakee would be beneficial. You may get slightly less mileage when you use them onroad, but they are not full offroad tyres, so should last fairly long. I have Michelin PR4s, which is an onroad tyre, but I have been on a number of dirt roads without any problem. They will be fairly useless going full offroad or sand roads, but I only do dirt roads occasionally. No matter what people say and have done with this bike, it technically is not an offroad bike, so dirt roads are really the worst that you should do with it.
If you're certain you will go offroad enough, then get the more offroad biased tyres because it will be safer. Mileage should then not be a concern. Enjoy!

[Deleted]

PR4 for the win. Have done sandy road with a friend and his Tenere 1200 and I just had to go a bit slower on certain parts. Granted it was no wet mud... PR4 will be useless in just a little bit of mud.

Then again you need to weigh up how much off-road you will be doing and normal road driving.