Pirelli Angel Gt2
Mrx Wylie
@supercurio and @gon2fast provoked me to do this. I had ZERO intentions of upgrading the sheman rim or tire. I had no issues from the v1 rim and the offroad tire is GREAT! I can't forget to also blame @RetroThruster for pointing out that I seem to be a street demon primarily and perhaps a street tire would suit. @Dennis Hagov also provoked me with well recieved advice.
2) the sound of tiny rocks on pavement. The tire is sticky and tiny rocks get tossed around. This is a GOOD thing, as it indicates I have a nice tacky compound for traction on pavement. Gravel seems loud as the tire is so quiet otherwise. Even brand new, tacky and inspires confidence.
5)It simply feels planted. Its not a matter of feeling all the vibrations in the road (you dont), it just a mere solid planted feeling. As if the tire was simply firmly on the ground and you can just FEEL the contact patch sticking/rolling along smoothly. Like the feel of a good warm racing slick... planted.
6)Not quite as soft. It didnt 'boing' at 35psi, but it didnt soak up the bumps either. Of course, Im 130lbs and dont ride 35psi. Once lowered to 20psi, I lost a little bit of that sensitivity to rider input, but got back a soft ride. It didnt feel washy at lower psi, simply less responsive and more comfortable. During the hop hop hop, test, I would say it feels 5psi harder than the offroad at a given pressure. I dropped it to 15psi and it gained more plush feel, but began to feel sluggish. I found 20psi to be the answer. I ride the offroad at 20psi. The angel at 20psi is a little 'harder' than the OffRoad at 20psi, but more of a solid bounce than an unpredictable one. I found it didnt continue to bounce at all, so the little bumps were a one and done w/o carryover. The OR tire seemed to like to bounce less, but settle later. Neither tire seeem to be a jarring hit at these pressures. The angel does instill more confidence that a hard hit would be mitigated and protect the rim better, at same or lower pressure than the OR tire. I could easily see running 15psi without issue.
8)More stable slow/low/no speed. Even mounting the wheel was smooth. I gained a year of skill in a simple tire change. I went from sketchy and tolerable starting, to ease like it was my ks18L. I dont understand it, as the profile is more narrow.
10) 180 turnarounds, 360 on a dime, easily same lane. Stop and go... ALL easier and less pedal scrape. I have NO idea why, as my pedals should be 'lower' now. Because of the profile, turn arounds with MAJOR wheel lean, are predictable! My old OR tire had a habit of going a little unpredictable at no speed 180's and kind of liked to fall over too far on me. Rider error I'm sure, but I dont suffer this on the angel. When you lean it WAY over, it just keeps doing what you would expect. End result... playing around more like its a nimble wheel and ENJOYING turning around now.
11) No opinion on gyro effect at speed. I havent ridden it thru turns at speed enough to comment on the 30mph+ gyro effect. I did notice that if you play with low speed 180's and dont commit to the turn, it will try to right itself very easily. Maybe the OR tire just liked to stay leaned once it reached a certain point, and the angel doesnt have this habit? I just know that once you dedicate to the slow speed lean and put faith in the linear response of the profile, the angel works great. I'll have to go on a proper ride at speed to evaluate its turning response. So far it seems to be similar to the OR in terms of rider input needed, but perhaps more predictable? I'll expand on this once I have any REAL experience with it.
14)Tolerable on grass. I cant say if its great or not on grass, but i did ride thru my yard and it didnt slip. This is the same yard that my mten doesnt like. I'll have to ride around until I slip and fall off in the grass, to comment much further. I also have ZERO opinion on offroad traction, tho I will collect data on that soon. I doubt it will be very good, honestly.
15)Its only $40. I didnt care about the cost. I was quite shocked to find it so cheap. It could have been double the price and I wouldnt have worrried. For a mere $40, it runs damn true, and I can't see it wearing out very quickly at all. Fwiw, China owns 40% of Pirelli now, go figure!
17)I am keeping it and am VERY excited about it. I have my old tire and will change back if I EVER think the angel is not performing. For now, its just a win win win for my riding preferences. Unless I encounter instability at max speeds, I can't fathom switching back. For you off road riders, this doesnt apply.
And there you have it. Somehow a 'harder' and 'shorter' tire, is enabling me to control the wheel and NOT scrape pedals near as easily. I was worried about it being too hard, but tire pressure variances and how it responds to them, mitigates that worry. I think the 80/80/14 size IS the proper size for my needs. Tho it's 13mm (or so) shorter and 3mm wider, it doesnt act like you would suspect, based on those values alone. Pedal dip is pretty bad. This is a failing of the wheel, and i think its worse because I am IN FACT turning around faster and acting more irradic in how I CHOOSE to ride it. Now that I CAN flip around smoothly much easier, i AM. This relates to even more pedal dip, tho the way the tire behaves so well, pedal dip isnt nearly as unmanageable.
I hope to get a more thorough idea of the tire, once I suit up and 'fly' to the local gas station. SO far, I have little worry that it won't perform as expected. Hopefully I'll have a boring video to capture my further testing/rides.
Shameless plug.. Anyone need an euc themed t-shirt with their own logo or color/image ideas? How about one designed by MY scatter brain? Or maybe you just want to chase my affiliate link to ewheels and get your own wheel? Cmon, do it, what are you waiting for?
I am surprised, but glad, that the MC tyre hasn't seemed to have increased the harshness beyond acceptable levels. I appreciate that this is subjective but it's good to hear your thoughts. Pics and/or video please!
Nail on the head. The knobby profile must not be what I am expecting in tire response. It behaves more like a motorcycle now. I think I may be underestimating how FAR over we lean at times, especially low speed. This would explain why I kept nearly falling down while attempting 180's at a crawl. I was surprised to see how I've already used nearly the entire profile. Much more similar to a road bike. To be fair tho, my dirtbike has knobbies WITH an actual profile too.
But already, it's really promising; I had concerns about the tire rigidity especially for a lighter rider. It doesn't seem to be too much of an issue then! Probably the Sherman weight helps here, and your willingness to go low enough in tire pressure.
Great write up Shane and glad you are already thoroughly enjoying the New set up. Will be looking out for more details as and when you update your ongoing thoughts in the various riding situations you mention are still to come!
Not sure if it applies on the sherman, but on the s18 the pirelli is not a tight fit, running at pressures lower that 20, with the tire being so stiff, I would worry about the tire getting off the rim on a big impact.
Thanks for the info. I didnt notice the angel being overly tight when mounting. It wasnt loose enough that I really worried, but it wasnt the worst to put on by far. I didnt remove my stock tire from my v1 rim, so i can't compare how tight it seemed. I was running my knobby on the v1 rim at 20psi and didnt have an issue. Fingers crossed, I won't with this setup either. For now, it seems that 20psi is MY magic number for the sherm on either tire I use. ONly one way to find out "FULL SEND"! Now if the 40mph winds would settle and the sun stay out, I could go test the theory. Hopefully the only big impacts my tire sees, is minor holes at speed and maybe the impact of when it decides to run my ass over. Im a light guy, I absorb with the knees, but sometimes you just get caught off guard too.
Yup. I serviced and aligned and did suspension work on some of the LEO county vehicles in our private shop. I also worked on the undercover cars. The county garage wasn't exactly stellar for certain repairs/maintenance. There were a few times I had to burnout test a cruiser's car tires in the local drive thru. You know, in the interests of data collection and testing of course. Lived just south of Bristol Speedway at the time too. Lotsa race-car magic happening, cash only no warranty. I put in 8 yrs or so there, with a dealership break in the middle. Eventually it was just time to go. They closed shortly after. Man, I have had a GREAT life
@ShanesPlanet looking at your pic, it looks like your pirelli is mounted oppostie way from all the pics I see of the tire alone. Which is correct way?? I got the tire in for my s18. Wheel is so new I'm tempted to hold off the swap until stock tire is worn tho, but I'll still need to know correct orientation to run the tread.
I explain the reasoning of my decision in the direction along with the motor orientation starting at here. _lXmT2X4?t=571 There's a LOT of information that justifies either direction, so I chalk it up to mere preferance.
Just a comment on your thoughts on water channels usage:
If you place it the way the arrow tells you, the other way than you did, then water gets away to the sides and back. The instant the center part touches the surface, the side grooves should be behind it, so water can be forced backwards and to the sides.