Cold Angels!!!

I was very coservative in my riding , granted the tires were old and the suspension needed some attention -but now I am really starting to enjoy the VFR , better feel altogether

 

Just my 2 cents here... Tires have a compromise built in, performance vs longevity. I dont know how fast your friends ride or how much of a "huge pussy" (your words not mine) you are, but if you dont need a high performance tire there is a large selection of tires a step or two down in performance that will "hold up" alot longer.

How do your tires wear? I follow the rule that if the tires are wearing out in the center significantly faster than the sides, the rider has the wrong tire for their riding style.

That said. I am guessing you bought a VFR because you anticipate some spirited riding. As most people will tell you, having old or mismatched tires will not inspire confidence. Try trading bikes with one of your faster friends one day and compare notes.

 

Hi all....I'm back to post.
So I have well over 2100 miles on the Angels, and now that it is warming up out, I have to say that I'm extremely happen with them. On a warm day (60+ degrees), the tires are totally warmed up and sticking in about 2 miles from leaving my garage. Sticky enough for spirited riding with confidence; feedback awesome, line corrections with no drama, very supple in ride quality, very stable, break away is predictable and the tires let you know whats going on under the contact patches. I took a break from riding the last month or so due to needing to use my cage more for work purposes, but I'm about to use my bike as the primary mode of transpo, so I'll be able to report back on how they wear. I have over 5500 miles on the clock sinces getting her in Oct 09, so I do alot of riding (and I didn't ride much in January and February due to lots of snow and ice in my area). With that, we'll see how they wear in and perform as they wear. But for now, I'm looking for much warmer days cause they are a really good quality tire. I really wish someone who has some experience with the Conti Road Attacks tries these so that they could give us some feedback about the pros and cons of each, as I only have experience with these Angels and the stock Metzler ME4's.

 

Just had my Angels spooned onto the rims. With a little under100 miles on these tires I can tell they feel a hellava lot better than any tire I have ridden on. i am not as adventureous as Eurojuce so I haven't tried any figure 8's . . .yet. they handle bumps very well and she feels a bit more responsive. My 2001 vfr feels like a new bike.

 

Wait till you get them fully scrubbed in. Sticky sticky....enough for me and my level of riding! By the way Foxxbatt, I won the dyno shootout I entered my car in a couple of weeks ago. How does 444whp on a Mustang Dyno grab ya? From a 1.9L 4cyl VW! I'm thinking about spooning on a tiny turbo to my Viffer!

 

now i would like to see that lolol

 

So about 3000 miles later, still lovin' em! One issue though, is that I've noticed that the rear has some minor squaring going on down the center. I frequently ride as you can tell (almost 6700 miles since 1st ride in October 2009) and alot of that is slab riding for commuting, and sometimes my lady rides with me. We just finished a Charleston trip from Charlotte (481m round trip) a couple of weekends ago, and she's 5'10 (easily over 6 with her riding heals on, and 128lbs) and I'm 215lbs. I guess if you're a two up, or relatively heavy pilot and have to find some good snakey roads just to escape the slabs, these might be alittle soft. Especially considering that our bikes are also somewhat "clydesdale" (cycling term) in terms of overall weight. I haven't been able to tell a different from riding (no falling into corners, weird handling etc); I was cleaning her after a rain filled week of riding and noticed it while washing the underbody. By the way, they handle well enough for me to feel confident in their wet performance, although I am not the type to try and recreate the magazine's stunts to prove their wet grip (wheeling and doing stoppies; I don't even do those in the dry). So, after these are toast (or at least looks like the back tire will dictate that), I'll probably spoon on some of the Conti Road Attacks. I've heard similar praise about their stick, compliance and wet performance, but with a relatively high mileage count before people begin to notice any squaring or excessive rubber loss. Then I'll be able to compare the two brands. Wasn't really wanting that to be so soon, but I'll see how many miles I can get out of these safely! Damn good tires, just might be too soft for 75% upright riding.

 

I'm still loving my Pirelli Angels ST !!! I'll have to look and repost the actual mileage, but I'm sure I'm over the 5k mark on mine and they still ride comfortably (and give lots of feedback), warm up quickly and stick reeeeallllllyyyyy well in a wide temperature range!!! I have very minimal chicken strips (all but totally gone) and at times ride quite aggressively. I'm sure that if I got sticker compounds/tires, I could find the limits of my stock suspension bits, but with the Angels, they move the Viffer waayyyy over into the Sport side of the Sport Touring abilities, but with really good mileage so far. I thought at one time I was seeing a flat spot down the middle, but I guess my aging eyes were playing games...I cannot discern a noticeable flat spot and I check my tires before each ride. I'm sure it's prob time for some squaring, but I haven't notice any. I'm gonna take it in next week to let my buddy lay eyes on it too just for another set of OCD eyes. I did have the 8k mile service done about a month ago (I now have over 9500 miles on her)and the tech didn't mention squaring either. So either my pressures were a tad low when I thought I saw squaring, or I was really tired!!! I was contemplating doing the Cont Road Attacks for my next tire change, but I like the way these roll so much when cruising and chasing, I'm prob just gonna spoon another set on when it's time. I'm familiar with how they handle and see no real reason to introduce another learning curve with trying a new set of tires other than just to compare brands. Although, I would like someone to post up their mileage on those new Pirelli Diablo Rosso's. Same family, just much stickier

 

Just read this thread - GREAT review and updates eurojuce! Thanks!!

 

Okay...I'm posting my actual mileage as promised. I now have 9712mi on the odometer, and I spooned on the Angels at 3762mi. If my math is correct (don't need no stinkin' calculator!!!), that's 5950 miles on the Angels so far!!! Again, I'm going by the shop today to have them inspected for wear characteristics. I'm 214lbs (I'll have to weigh myself with all my gear on cause I get heavy when I gear up!!!), ride my share of superslab, two up frequently, with a tail trunk, and beat them pretty well on the twisty stuff. So I'll report on how they are wearing under a "Clydesdale's" daily and spirited abuse. Later!!!

 

Just returned from a "mini' road trip (had a conference in Raleigh, NC). Total mileage on the Angels is now 6994mi. I do have some squaring on both the front and rear (of course, more so on the rears). So to be real conservative, I would say that I have gotten a solid 5500-6000 miles on them before any noticeable squaring. I haven't noticed any adverse handling or graininess in the feedback department yet, although the ride is a tad bit more "rough". I say rough as in like comparing tub margarine to a stick of soft margarine...brand new, the tires are "super soft" and as they age, they move to being being "soft". So I'm happy with them. Again, I'm right at 7k miles on these tires and even though they are sporttouring categorized and should optimally see upwards of maybe 9k without squaring (so I've been told other makes have), they are worth the compromise when the roads get twisty! I would love to see Pirelli update the tires to have like a "heavy" version of this tire or something for longer mileage with with all the same stick. In the meantime, I'll keep reporting on the wear because as of right now...there is very little (aside from the squaring issue).
L8R!!!

 

I got about 7500 miles out of mine and then out of nowhere the belts started showing. I did one 800 mile trip which was unfortunatly lacking the twisties and did a 6 day trip at deals gap where there were plenty of twisties. When the tread in the middle of the rear starts to disappear the belts will be showing soon. Over all I love the angles and bought another set for the vfr.

 

I'll definitely keep an eye on the center tread depth for the belts. As for now, 7248miles and counting on the Angels!!! Out of curiosity and for comparison sakes, who has worn the ContiRoadAttacks and the Angels? Or who has worn the ContiRoadAttacks and gotten what mileage before performance goes south and tires needed replacement?

 

Dang! I thought $60 was a rip off. I needed new tires and I saw the Angels, but pulled the trigger on some Shinko 010 Apex. It's one of their new tires. Thought I'd give them a review since there are hardly any Shinko reviews.

 

Just me, but I've always considered Shinkos to be a second rate tire manufacturer. Two things I never skimp on are tires and toilet paper. My 2 cents.

Flash