Tyres on GSA

Welcome to the forum. Wishing you many happy, safe kms on your GSA.

GSA's typically come "standard" with Continental TKC or Metzeler Karoo knobblies. However, many buyers request the dealer to fit more road oriented tyres, such as Metzeler Tourance.

A set of Tourance's should get close to 20,000km of mixed tar/gravel riding - assumimg your right wrist is not too active . Your front should be good for another couple of 1000.

There are many differing views on tyres - basically it's a compromise between traction and tyre life when riding on both tar and offroad. Many use a more road oriented rear tyre together with a knobbly front - the Tourance / TKC combination is fairly popular.

Thanks Tony

Note there is quite an active discussion on Heidenau tyres (old vs new tread). Your suggestion makes sense - since the front tyre is not too far from replacement, might be time to start shopping around for good deal on new TKC80!

as I said, lots of different views on tyres.

I commute (200km per week) and ride a fair amount of fairly good gravel roads - about 20,000km per year. I've done about 60,000km on Tourance rear and front without problems. I've used knobblies (Mitas E10) on two long tours where the road conditions were worse and there was a good chance of having to ride in rainy, muddy conditions.

I now ride a 2011 GSA with the Tourance/TKC combo and am very happy with the "performance" in varying road conditions.

Bear in mind that I'm probably not a good enough rider ro be making recommendations about which tyre is better than another. I guess what I'm saying is that you need to choose a tyre (or combo) that's best suited to your individual riding conditions.

I have the GS1200 and do a lot of touring and long distances on both tar and dirt. I need to qualify though that my dirt riding are not on tracks so the tourance combo front and back has been fantastic. I have thought I needed a more grip in front in the wet on dirt at times though.  

My next set will be with the knobbly in front, makes sense to me so I'll give that a try.

Ater

My views on tyres are well-documented on this site.  Consider the Mitas E10 for your front - that will be my next foray away from the TKC80 in front.

I have a Heidenau for the rear - but also want to try the E10 there.  Whatever you do, DO NOT ride sand with Tourance at the back.

It all depends on what riding you intend to do.  If it is only weekend off-road riding, then I would go with knobblies front and back.  If it involves only long-distance tar touring, or commuting, Tourance is great.  If it involves both, then the Heidenau K60 at the back is a winner, with E10 or TKC80 in front.

And ignore the 80/20 tar/dirt ratio rubbish that people quote - if your mountain climb involves 80% walking, and 20% climbing a cliff, do you take a rope that supports only 20% of your weight?

Thanks Charles.

Came across this post - http://www.bmwmccc.org.za/mitas-e10-tyre-test

Do you know if there has been an improvement on the E10 since then? This post seem to recommend th TKC?

I don't know whether it was an improvement, but Mitas has been testing tyres and compounds in SA for a while.  So the new tyres are different and worth another try.  Also, the main critic of the tyre in that test is an extreme rider, whose bike also didn't survive the red routes he was scouting (the subframe broke), so the conditions he exposed the tyre to are not normal.

I have also learned that no matter how good a tyre is, there is always somebody who thinks it is rubbish and will publish their opinion all over the web.  I like the experience of trying different tyres from time to time and dealing with their idiosyncrasies.

It's often a case of what's available.  I was quite happy with the Maxxis that I used through Namibia and the TKCs I used in Transkei.

Must be honest, make has never made a huge difference to me except for cost and durability.  The main difference for me is knobblies (confidence on dirt) and tar oriented (confidence in corners and wet weather).

Neil Terry has done tons of testing on different tyres (last time I was at his place people in the flats were complaining that they struggled to get through the gates because of his mountain of perfectly good tyres that he was testing )  Have a look at some of his posts.

Just remember the front tyre lasts about 3x as long as the back tyre and use whatever gives you a feeling of confidence.

I'll just keep my trap shut. I'll just smile and stay quiet....