Front Bridgestone BT-021 short life

My experience thus far with the front BT-021 seems to concur with others'. My tire handled well as long as it retained its shape. It definitely is not multi-compound like the rear, and Bridgestone clearly states that.

I had to purposely combine a balanced mixture of slab, sweepers and tight twisty roads in order to avoid the "trapezoid" shape that was showing up. That shape was caused by running slabs (flat middle) and then twisties (flat sides). This made the front turn-in with a definite "twitch". So I picked an hour or so of sweepers and purposely pushed hard. The front tire ground itself back into the nicely rounded profile similar to the original one.

At 2,900 miles, the front BT-021 is clearly into the wear bars, has most of its original profile intact, and will soon be worn completely out and off my list of tires to be tested.

The rear BT-021 still looks good and is showing great promise for both mileage and performance. I'm thinking a Strada front and a BT-021 rear might make a good cold weather performance combination.

More to come...

I'm thinking a Strada front and a BT-021 rear might make a good cold weather performance combination

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Thanks for confirming the wear I got on the round-trip to Park City.
I've also thought about a Strada on the front to use up the rest of the rear tire. But I won't be changing that and riding until New Years.....time for you to do more testing and reporting! :yahoo:

Thanks for that update! I was prepared to order a pair of 21s; back to scouring Ashe reviews.

Jeff,

Your tire reports are priceless. A great service to the community.

With apologies to Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi --

"Shop smart.......shop Ashe-mart!"

ps: BTW, may be going to ME880s sooner than anticipated...picked up a foot-long chunk of Romex in my rear Avon yesterday. Bought the pair about 8k miles ago and they're definitely squaring off from communting, so the Metz's may be at more door sooner than anticipated.

I will be very disappointed if 2900 is all I get from my new front BT-021. If that's it, then I'll be looking for another brand when the front is "done."

brazos parker said:

I will be very disappointed if 2900 is all I get from my new front BT-021. If that's it, then I'll be looking for another brand when the front is "done."

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I wouldn't count on much more than that, I squeezed 3,400 out of mine.

I have a PR2 front with the Bridgestone rear & it seems to be a good combination.

I'm looking forward to trying the PR2 rear but won't need it until next spring.

brazos parker said:

I will be very disappointed if 2900 is all I get from my new front BT-021. If that's it, then I'll be looking for another brand when the front is "done."

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Let us know. I have 3500 on mine (parked since my KLR get off). There is some space above the wearbars, but the profile is so ground "V" shaped it falls into corners. And that isn't riding "hard" like Jeff, but spirited, yet safe, while heavily loaded going from Sacramento, CA to WFO and back. Er...no grinding footpegs while still enjoying the mountain roads through NorCal, ID, WY, UT and back thru OR and CA coastal mountains. I expectd better, though they stick quite well.

Wait, I thought these tires where supposed to be the shiznit? Triangled at 3,500 mi? That sucks. My set just came in and I'll have them mounted Saturday... We'll see how they run compared to the Storms.

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.

I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

TriggerT said:

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.
I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

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Yes, as anyone who follows my tire testing can attest, road conditions in my area eats tires for lunch. That's why I test more tires than most anyone else on the forum.

:angry2:

My biggest concern about the front going at 2,900, is that the rear looks like it will last another 1,000. That's a 25% difference in tire life with the front being LESS than the rear. That's a big difference than any other tire combo I have ever run or heard of, thus the reason I posted this thread.

JeffAshe said:

TriggerT said:

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.
I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

Click to expand...

Yes, as anyone who follow my tire testing can attest, road conditions in my area eat tires for lunch. That's why I test more tires than most anyone else on the forum.

:angry2:

My biggest concern about the front going at 2,900, is that the rear looks like it will last another 1,000. That's a 25% difference in tire life with the front being LESS than the rear. That's a big difference than any other tire combo I have ever run or heard of, thus the reason I posted this thread.

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Well, if ya would just quit turning so damn much, you wouldn't be eatin tires like TDub going through Ho-Ho's. Or is it Ho's? Can't recall. Anyway, go straight, like me, tires go forever. Stones, Avons, IRC's, Sumitomos, JimBobs Recap City, don't matter, mine all seem to last three times as long as any mentioned often here.

TriggerT said:

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.
I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

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I just put a new set of 021's on the bike last Saturday. I sure hope I at least get out of them what I got on my Storms (10k).

TriggerT, I'm curious as to what tire pressures are you running for our Illinois flat roads?

I'll have to agree with JeffAshe on the 021 front tire wear. My rear tire looks good but the front is close to the wear bars with under 4k on it.

radman said:

JeffAshe said:

TriggerT said:

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.
I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

Click to expand...

Yes, as anyone who follow my tire testing can attest, road conditions in my area eat tires for lunch. That's why I test more tires than most anyone else on the forum.

:angry2:

My biggest concern about the front going at 2,900, is that the rear looks like it will last another 1,000. That's a 25% difference in tire life with the front being LESS than the rear. That's a big difference than any other tire combo I have ever run or heard of, thus the reason I posted this thread.

Click to expand...

Well, if ya would just quit turning so damn much, you wouldn't be eatin tires like TDub going through Ho-Ho's. Or is it Ho's? Can't recall. Anyway, go straight, like me, tires go forever. Stones, Avons, IRC's, Sumitomos, JimBobs Recap City, don't matter, mine all seem to last three times as long as any mentioned often here.

Click to expand...

So come back for a visit and we'll put some wear on the sides of your tires!

Jim

Hey Jeff ...

I switched to the 021's as soon as they came out and have now gone through 5 sets. Your front tire wear is consistent with my experience too. The wear was fast and a bit odd, but I've never had the twitch you describe, perhaps becuase I've typically got a good mix. I did notice a bit of improvement when I up'd the front tire to 39/40'ish range, -which is pound or two more than I've run other front tires and it did help considerably. Still, the 021front is a bit odd.

Typically I get about 1.5 front tires for each rear, but not with the 021. First time there was still tread, but it was into the wear bars and there was a NOTICEABLE decrease in the tire's performance. Out of habit I left th front on for another couple thousand and it got way worse. I now change the front with the rear. My (rear) mileage has been between 3500 and the most5000 the 5K was mild riding by my standards ...my average is 4000 with the likelyhood that I could take it to 4500 if i had to press it to the cords.

I've got most of my old tires still in the garage(lazy) ...I'll shoot a few pics of how the fronts have worn.

I REALLY like this tire, I have no plans to change to another tire ...front or rear.

anyway ...some confirmation on your thoughts and $0.02

from reno ..john

smokeFJR06 said:

TriggerT said:

All I can say is that road conditions in the area where you ride the most must have a HUGE impact on tire life. I have 4500 miles on my 021's, and they are not even close to the wear bars. They are starting to get a little flat in the middle from slab riding, but from what I have seen so far I expect to get nothing less than 8k out of these tires.
I do expect to have to replace my front at the same time as the rear, but I had to do that with the OEM 020's as well.

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I just put a new set of 021's on the bike last Saturday. I sure hope I at least get out of them what I got on my Storms (10k).

TriggerT, I'm curious as to what tire pressures are you running for our Illinois flat roads?

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41 on the front, and 42 on the rear. It probably varies a little bit, since I don't check them as often as I should.

Thanks for your reassuring comments on the 021's. It isn't just me. I looked at my "new" front tire last week to discover that in 2000 miles I had worn out the edges!! At least 500 of those miles were straight up riding. The real issue is that these tires stick so well that I have been increasing cornering speeds because I can. But my purpose for riding is to enjoy the wonderful twisties in our high mountains here in California. I'll probably stay with these tires for safety. But that makes them twice as expensive as the OEM.

Alan

JeffAshe said:

<snip>That's a 25% difference in tire life with the front being LESS than the rear. That's a big difference than any other tire combo I have ever run or heard of, thus the reason I posted this thread.

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My 021 results are similar in that the front has gone away with the rear still having many good miles left. With almost 5K miles my front is at the wear bars, looks funny and feels funky -- the rear looks great and (maybe?) only half worn. In countless thousands of s-t miles (and tire $$$), I think this is a first for me? Altho I traditionally replace tires as a set, I'm thinking of getting another 021 front in order to use-up the rest of the 021 rear.....?? :huh: :blink:

I just hooped up my BT021's today. Scrub-in ride was not as refreshing as when I spoon on Storms. We'll see how things go.