Mounted SHinko Verge 011s

[millsan1]

OK, so I ride my bike pretty hard, example rear tire worn out to the edges

I got 7600 miles out of the stock tires.  More accurately, I should say I got about 7300 miles, I was at Americade and planned on replacing tires when I got home, I rode a lot more than I anticipated, and the tires were more worn than they should have been, seen here

Ooops.

Anyway, I decided to go with Shinko Verge 011s.  They are supposed to be made for bikes such as ours.  We shall see.  I also decided to mount and balance myself, with a friend, who has more tools than I.  I bought this balancer on eBay

Using this tool, some spoons and a bead breaker, we changed both tires in about an hour or so.  The rear tire was an MF to get on the rim, but the front went on in a minute.  Stayed with stock tire sizes front and rear. 

Using the balancer, I ended up moving the stock wheel weight that was on the rear tire (20 grams) to a new location and ended up with a dead on balanced tire.  For the front, I had no weight on there and ended up with a bit less than 3/4 of an oz of weight on the rim.  I say slightly less as I used a 1/4 oz weight and a ground down 1/2 oz weight (maybe 10% ground down).  Why do I say ground down?  Because I ended up with steel weights.  PITA.  I miss lead.  My friend made fun of me for being so anal about getting the weight so exact, but it is my tire and my life, so told him to suck it and we got it dead on.

It took about 5 minutes per tire to get it dead on solid. On my ride home, I hit speeds up to 140 and never had a vibration of any kind.  Static balancer rocks.  Cost me $80, basically what getting one set of tires mounted and balanced would cost, on bike.  As a bonus, I now have a tool for life for that price.

I know they don't exist without proof, so here they are, on the bike

My VERY initial impressions of the tires:

They tip in quicker than the stock tires.  Nice and predicatable, they do not seem to give up anything in stability on the slab.  They hold a lean angle cleanly.  Of course, being fresh and it being a night ride, I did not tear it up in the corners, but an indicator of how good they felt is this: 

There is an off ramp near my house I take every day.  It is marked as a 20 MPH curve.  I regularly take it at around 50 - 55, which is aggressive, but not nuts.  I knew the tires were fresh, and it was cool, so I decided to reel it in for this corner, so I went through at what I would have estimated to be about 35 MPH.  Thing is, when I peeked down, I was going about 45.  So they seem more stable and planted than stockers, which I really did not have any issue with, btw.

I will be riding this weekend and will evaluate them to see how they feel when I am pushing the bike harder.  But as of now, I am happy with the purchase.  Of course it is very early (60 miles), with limited riding.  Obviously mileage will be reported as I use the tire.  I would be happy with 5000 miles and thrilled with 7500.

 

[COGnosticator]

I got 2,950 miles on the rear 011 and 6000 from the front. 

I have the 009 Raven on the rear now with 3000 miles, I might get 4500 out of it.

 

[millsan1]

Update

Crap weather has kept me from riding until today.

I went out for a ride with my GF, and when I am with her, I tend to take it easier.  I still managed to get her into a few turns at a sporting pace, however.  She definitely turns  in faster than when on the stock tires.  Once leaned over, she is is well planted.  I found the stock tires wanted to stand up and lean back down when in a turn.  These tires are the exact opposite.  Once I have her leaned over, she stay planted.  Very happy with the purchase so far.

One down side, the front tire is noisy at speed.  Once above 70 or so, the noise is intrusive.  Besides that, all good.

 

[millsan1]

Update #2

So I am now riding the tires in the fashion I prefer.  I could not be happier with the performance so far.  Tires tip in quickly and stay planted.  My original rear was worn down to the edges.  Riding the same corner at the same speeds, I am left with 1/4 chicken strip.  The tires have very good grip and inspire confidence.  I will next be stepping up the pace in some of the corners I ride regularly to explore limits.

About 700 miles and no noticeable wear.

 

[millsan1]

Another update.

These are great tires.  They stick very well, and all signs of chicken strips have been removed.

Have almost 2500 miles on them and wearing very well.

Only complaint is the howl at 75 MPH.  It is something between a drone and a howl, but it is annoying.  70 or 80 and greatly reduced.  75 and loud.  Of course that is my preferred riding speed, ah well.

 

[COGnosticator]

Another update.

These are great tires.  They stick very well, and all signs of chicken strips have been removed.

Have almost 2500 miles on them and wearing very well.

Wow, mine were toast at 2950 miles, at least the rear.  I just took the front off at 7400 miles and put on a set of Conti Motion F & R

I did love the handling of those tires and pushed them as hard as my limit would allow me

 

[millsan1]

Yeah, I see a lot of threads where people went through the stockers in 3K, went through other tires in 2K, I really do not understand it.

My stockers lasted a good 7K.

These Shinkos are holding up very well at 2500 miles.

I am a big guy, 250lbs.  I used to race, and I ride very aggressively.  There are zero chicken strips on my tires, and after spirited rides, there are gummy bits on the edges.  I brake hard and accelerate hard a lot, and do 100 miles of commuting on the slabs every day, so I would say I should be wearing tires out.

The only thing I can think of is the aggregate in the roads where we all ride.  Must be less abrasive out here.

 

[cablebandit]

and do 100 miles of commuting on the slabs every day, so I would say I should be wearing tires out.

The only thing I can think of is the aggregate in the roads where we all ride.  Must be less abrasive out here.

Those two are probably the biggest factors.  Several guys had over 13,000 on PR3's in the IBR this year and they look new.  The most I've gotten is 4300 on a rear because I stay off the interstate.

 

[millsan1]

I hear you about the slab work, but of the 2500 miles on these, at least 700 are very spirited back roads.

Ah well, I will just thank my good luck for getting good mileage so far.

 

[necron99]

8k on my stockers, i'm at almost 4 on the Verge, and there is a lot of life left.  I admit I'm not an aggressive rider.

 

[millsan1]

Update 3500 miles and no disappointments.  I did get a chance to ride in the rain last week.  I do not push in the rain, so I can not comment on "performance" in the rain, but as for normal riding, they performed fine.  No issues.

At thsi mileage, it looks like I have at least 70% tire life left.

 

[millsan1]

Another update.

Over 4500 miles on the tires now.  Still looking good.  Looks like they will wear about the same as the stockers, which was 7,000 miles.

Over this weekend I got the opportunity to ride about 6 hours in a torrential downpour.  Good news is that the tires were planted and never game me a reason to be nervous, upwards of 90 MPH in the drizzle and 70 or so in the downpours.

Unless something changes dramatically, I will replace these tires with the same tires when they wear out.  No reservations recommending these tires, and when my girlfriends bike needs a set, she will get these as well.