best front tire?

Metzeler can suck my balls. I hate those tires.

wardentm wrote:

I struggle to see, for my style, why I should pay an extra hundred bucks for a more well known brand

 

Hopefully your skin is worth more than an extra 100 clams. The Metzlers seem to get universal bad reviews while the Michelin PR4s never seem to get any negative reviews. There are other tires that come up that are well liked by some but not all. My read is; higher performance tires "stickier" wear out sooner. Cheap tires are generally lousy tires. It is possible to find expensive tires that are totally unsuitable for your style; but in my opinion a quality tire will enhance your enjoyment and safety no matter if you ride like an old man or not.

So, are we saying that the more expensive a tire is the better it is ?

wardentm wrote:

So, are we saying that the more expensive a tire is the better it is ?

NO!! You can spend more and still get a product that is not suitable for your use. I haven't priced the Metzlers that came as stock but I am sure they don't fall in the inexpensive category. My opinion of them is not very high and I see few jumping to their defense. I spent a fair amount of time doing research before deciding to buy the PR4s for my last bike. I was not disappointed in them in any way. In the world of things they were not a huge investment.
You don't have to blow your wad, but tires are not the place to pinch pennies. They are literally, "where the rubber meets the road".

I bought the Michelin Road Pilot 4s and scuffed them in today at a moderate pace in the canyons. Even at a conservative pace I felt they were much easier to turn in than the 7K mile old stock Metzlers.
I also got a great price on the pair, installed of around $420. I do need to go back there to get right angle valve stems, as they didn't have the right size stems handy.