FORGIVING FAZER & TYRES THAT TALK

[Phil TK]

Not noticed the same after having a 023 fitted on the front, used to have an 021 on.

I've just completed my first week on Metzeler Z8s and I like them a lot. For once the advertising blurb is fairly accurate and yes they have much less bump steer and roll over white lines and mastic banding as if it isn't there, utterly perfect for filtering between lanes on the commute. Rain performance and especially 'damp' performance is outstanding, I found myself riding at 'dry' pace in the wet more than once before calming meself down a bit and going slower, but I'm not surprised these tyres were a massive 3 seconds quicker per lap than other ST tyres in the MCN test. The feel of these tyres is really really good, like you can feel every bit of gravel and undulation of the tarmac but they give a 'comfy' ride, nice and stable with neutral steering and what I'd call medium roll in to corners (about the same as PR2s, certainly not as rapier like as the Road Attack2 front). The blurb says the construction of the tyres is a new technology using different tensions in the belts to distribute heat, I don't know how that works but the tyres feel very different to any other I've used.
It's easy to favour and prefer a new tyre coming off a worn pair of some other make but on balance I do like the Z8s over my PR2s -for a winter tyre at least.
I'm doing 400 miles a week on these, I'll report back on wear rate at a later date.