Tire Recommendations

[Major Softie]

I meant to refer to any given tire/brake combo the most output it can achieve is at lock-up (actually most prefer the near lock up with very good tires in which the system's maximum is just where a driver/rider would want it - tire(s) going wee bit slower than pavement as a flat spotted tire on a bike or car is no good)

I have no argument with that.

[chasbmw]

I think that the Bridgestone and Michelin tyres available now in vintage 70s sizes are very much better than the conti, metzler and Avon tyres that we fitted back in the day. I still seem to get roughly the same mileage as I did then, despite the feel that the tyres grip better in a variety of conditions. Both my bikes are improved from stock and are fast enough to keep up with today's traffic conditions. Tryres are important!

[dwire]

Hope the OP got your tire recommendations. I am a poor multi-tasker which is what I am doing and should not ever do, but are those tires anything that looks vintage by design as the OP was asking, or are they simply something different entirely? I think they had "looks" on the list somewhere and their "list" is what started this flame-a-thon anyhow. lol

[ME 109]

Damn! A satellite just crashed into my see-ment pond!

[dwire]

Good, that one will be an easily spotted one. I hope it still transmits; or was that a Georgia Satellite instead?

[ME 109]

For the record, I think it was Russian.
I went outside to see if it was still transmitting, and it appears to have been set alight.

[chasbmw]

When it comes to tyres, then 'looks' are not one of my criteria. Performance is.

I have not a clue if the period looking tyres by Metzler, conti and heidenau(?), benefit from the changes in tyre tech over the last 30 years.

[dwire]

I think that the Bridgestone and Michelin tyres available now in vintage 70s sizes are very much better than the conti, metzler and Avon tyres that we fitted back in the day. I still seem to get roughly the same mileage as I did then, despite the feel that the tyres grip better in a variety of conditions. Both my bikes are improved from stock and are fast enough to keep up with today's traffic conditions. Tryres are important!

I have not a clue if the period looking tyres by Metzler, conti and heidenau(?), benefit from the changes in tyre tech over the last 30 years.

-->These above two posts are simple contradictions, maybe just vague typing as MS busted me on yesterday evening???

You then changed your post adding this sentence to the top of your last statement.

When it comes to tyres, then 'looks' are not one of my criteria. Performance is.

I don't know why you amended your post to add this, but you should have amended one of the other two so they were not contradictions instead... We all know your opinion, with regards to that; many have expressed this ad nauseum; the OP asked about vintage looks and the like as part of his criteria.

Personally I don't care how much others would like flame back and forth; it is not productive and the only reason I ever posted at the very get-go was to hopefully help stave off the OP being run off. I see that was done rather effectively early on, so I have no other reason to post nor be tied up in this from a tire standpoint which now is almost entirely an opinionated subject, as I don't think very many if any have done any comparative tire testing on either old or new tire compounds and designs fresh out of their molds in 2012 and then run them though the millions of dollars worth of testing that goes into them before hitting the market.

[Major Softie]

I think that the Bridgestone and Michelin tyres available now in vintage 70s sizes are very much better than the conti, metzler and Avon tyres that we fitted back in the day. I still seem to get roughly the same mileage as I did then, despite the feel that the tyres grip better in a variety of conditions. Both my bikes are improved from stock and are fast enough to keep up with today's traffic conditions. Tryres are important!

I have not a clue if the period looking tyres by Metzler, conti and heidenau(?), benefit from the changes in tyre tech over the last 30 years.

-->These above two posts are simple contradictions, maybe just vague typing as MS busted me on yesterday evening???

They do not read as contrary to me because he specifies Bridgestone and Michelins in "vintage 70's sizes" vs "period looking" by the others, but I see your problem. Let me adjust his language just a tiny bit and see if it works for you:

I think that the modern design Bridgestone and Michelin tyres available now in vintage 70s sizes are very much better than the conti, metzler and Avon tyres that we fitted back in the day . . . I have not a clue if the older model name tires by these other manufacturers are still built to the original specs of the day, or if they have benefited from the changes in tire tech over the last 30 years.

And, in answer to his point, I don't know if the tire carcasses are constructed the same, but I doubt it. They are probably using newer materials even if the basic design of the carcass is unaltered. I know that some of them are using more modern rubber for the tread, and I suspect they all are.

[chasbmw]

I agree with the Major's edits.

The last Metzler tyre I bought was made in Brazil, which can often be as a result of out of date production equipment being exported to a relatifly low wage economy, whilst the Hi tech stuff remains at home.