Mis-matched tyres, bad idea?

[Phatty]

Been running Michelin Road 2's ever since I bought the bike (aside from an awful spell on some old metzlers when i changed the wheels).

Happy with them, but I've squared off 2 rears on the 28 mile a day commute to work.

More recently I've done 2 track days and felt the rear slide under power at the end of the 2end day, so I'm now thinking I need something a little more track orientated.

Thing is, the Road 2 front still ahs a lot of tread left on it. Would it be a bad idea to buy just a rear and move up to a Pilot Pure or Pilot One and leave the road 2 on the front?

I'm hoping the combined use of daily and track use might help it wear more evenly than the horrid D shaped thing I've got on now.

Alternatively, I have a spare rear wheel, so could just use an even stickier tyre on track and continue to wear out the Road 2 on the road until it's due replacing with a better all weather tyre. Or would that still be a bad idea leaving the Road 2 on the front for track use?

[slob]

I would recommend Pilot Power 2CTs (I'd be very worried about using a Pilot One on the road if there was any chance of rain... have you seen the tread?!) I'd also try to avoid putting a gripper tyre on the rear, as it may 'push' the front under power. Other way round no problem, I used to use a BT010/020 combination to get front grip and rear life, before the 2CT BT014 came out.

[Zimbo]

As Slob says, you can use a gripper tyre of a similar profile on the front, but a gripper rear can leade to trouble.
I don't have a problem with mismatched tyres, as long as the profile is similar and the front is gripper!

[Phatty]

Managed to get another wheel so got a spare set now. will leave the Road 2's on until they're dead and get a matched pair of new ones for track.

cheers

[gary tompkins]

If most of your riding is road/commute then Michelin PR3's may be a good compromise

Should still grip better than PR2's on track but dual compound will wear more evenly on road

Michelin don't push the PR3 as 'track capable' but that's only because there are dedicated track compound tyres in the range

[utopia]

So......if I had a pair of PR2s, and needed to replace the rear, but the front was still fine.
And....if I fancied PR3s this time, but was considering just replacing the rear for now.
Would the general consensus be that this would be ill-advised because the new PR3 rear would be grippier than the old PR2 on the front (and perhaps would warm up faster to even higher levels of grip) ?
Might I be better off fitting another PR2 on the rear if I want the economy of keeping the existing front ?

And sorry for the slight hijack.

[Phatty]

^^^ that's exactly what I'm going to be doing on the road wheels. The front has loads of tread, the rear not so, want a set of PR3's but wont be replacing the decent PR2 front one in a hurry.

I never get anywhere near the limits of grip on the road, and extra help in the wet is a bonus, I won't be pushing hard enough to lose the front due to extra confidence in the rear as I'm petrfied of wet roads.

[Zimbo]

So......if I had a pair of PR2s, and needed to replace the rear, but the front was still fine.
And....if I fancied PR3s this time, but was considering just replacing the rear for now.
Would the general consensus be that this would be ill-advised because the new PR3 rear would be grippier than the old PR2 on the front (and perhaps would warm up faster to even higher levels of grip) ?
Might I be better off fitting another PR2 on the rear if I want the economy of keeping the existing front ?

And sorry for the slight hijack.

I wouldn't worry about that, the PR3 won't be that different to the PR2.
I would avoid a Pilot Power Race tyre for the back though!

[gary tompkins]

The PR3's are ace in the wet