Where do you buy your tires online?

[Scat E46]

Local prices are a little intense for my liking, I'm all for supporting local businesses (trust me, deal with on-line people all the time at my store), but when local prices are more than double, I start to question.

I know revzilla is awesome, but they don't ship tires to Canada.

Post em up

[roopi]

TireRack

[dj_rice]

1010tires. Based out of BC

[japan_us]

Look into baysideperformance.ca (http://www.baysideperformance.ca/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1951) - I've purchased a couple of items from there and have no complaints. The tire prices seem alright (although I'm not sure what shipping would be).

[nobb]

For my 18" and 19" tires...I found that Costco pricing is actually very competitive considering they do the install for you.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Just have a local shop match pricing. That's what I've always done and it seems to work. I get the same deal online except with a local store to deal with should I have issues. Unless the deal is absolutely insane, you shouldn't have trouble getting a match.

[max_boost]

I didn't realize local shops will price match. Any shops you can name?

[TYMSMNY]

FYI... the topic is BIKE tires. Motorcycle tires.

Baysideperformance (BC) , revzilla like you said, or kneedraggers (american)

[roopi]

Originally posted by TYMSMNY
FYI... the topic is BIKE tires. Motorcycle tires.

Baysideperformance (BC) , revzilla like you said, or kneedraggers (american)

Never noticed it was under 'Bike Talk'. Might want have the title of the thread changed.

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by roopi


Never noticed it was under 'Bike Talk'. Might want have the title of the thread changed.

Because the fact that it's under "Bike Talk" wasn't enough for people to realize we're talking about bikes?

I buy my tires locally from Redline Motorsports. Good prices including install makes up most if not all of the price difference. And in the end I'll pay a couple bucks to support a real brick and mortar store run by good guys.

http://www.redlinecalgary.com

[Scat E46]

Originally posted by roopi
TireRack



Originally posted by dj_rice
1010tires. Based out of BC



Originally posted by nobb
For my 18" and 19" tires...I found that Costco pricing is actually very competitive considering they do the install for you.



Originally posted by roopi


Never noticed it was under 'Bike Talk'. Might want have the title of the thread changed.

Guys it's under bike talk. I shouldn't have to rename the title if it's in the right section!



I also found http://www.discountmotorcycletires.ca/

Also discussed with TireBob today and he said bayside as well. Both had same pricing. He can get michelins but not the bike tires, because shops have them only, and to keep the prices jacked up I guess. (110% vs 50% markup)

Another suggestion came from groundpilots was petes superbike in east coast. Seemed pretty good too.

[swak]

Bow Cycle always has dece prices. That and I've bought a bit from redline as well, and they price match online retailers.

Both rad shops.

Edit: talking online though, I'm sure bayside is cheap shipping being canadian. I ordered a plate mount from them, don't remember what I paid in shipping, but it wasn't significant.
But I recently bought from cyclegear.com and have nothing but good things to say. Only $25 for shipping anything (free in us over $80 bought). And wil ldefinitely be buying the rest of my gear from them. Insanely good prices. Plus they got a store in spokane, good for a road trip

[Graham_A_M]

I usually buy mine as slightly used race take offs for $90-$100/ pair. For a set of Pirelli supercorsa dragons (or) diablos that's a pretty good deal. I check various bike race websites (cmra), and get them from a fair bit of local racers. Angus MacNeil is a very good local hookup. Pm me if anybody wants his number.

[dimi]

Around 5 years ago when I still had my bike I would get Pilot Powers for around 300-320 a set when they were on sale. Prices still around the same?

[BrknFngrs]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
I usually buy mine as slightly used race take offs for $90-$100/ pair. For a set of Pirelli supercorsa dragons (or) diablos that's a pretty good deal. I check various bike race websites (cmra), and get them from a fair bit of local racers. Angus MacNeil is a very good local hookup. Pm me if anybody wants his number.

Ditto on race take-offs, great tires for cruising around at a really good price.

[Go4Long]

as a caution to people reading this that might not know/understand...race take offs react very differently to temperatures than a normal street tire. if you're someone that likes to lean your bike over at random intervals that's never ridden on a race tire, don't, it will act like a cold tire until it gets far hotter than any normal street tire.

They're designed for sustained side loading at high speed, and there for don't start being gummy until a much higher temperature than street tires.

[Scat E46]

Originally posted by swak
Bow Cycle always has dece prices. That and I've bought a bit from redline as well, and they price match online retailers.

Both rad shops.

Edit: talking online though, I'm sure bayside is cheap shipping being canadian. I ordered a plate mount from them, don't remember what I paid in shipping, but it wasn't significant.
But I recently bought from cyclegear.com and have nothing but good things to say. Only $25 for shipping anything (free in us over $80 bought). And wil ldefinitely be buying the rest of my gear from them. Insanely good prices. Plus they got a store in spokane, good for a road trip

Then they screw you over on balancing/mounting. They charge you the "tire isnt from us fee" of 55 and 65. So 120 just to mount is fucking stupid.

Redline, for a set of 2ct's, is 430+gst+fees installed and balanced.

Bayside is 314, mounting at TireBob for 30 dollars and I'll balance myself. (Super easy) I'll take the hundred dollars to my new jacket.


I am buying from Baysideperformance, they said 100% for sure new tires (not old ones). Woot.

[Colin_R6]

I ordered front and rear Pilot Road 2's from Superbike Toy Store in the US for $250 Can. Picked them up at Montana shipping depot and had them installed & dynamically balanced by a guy in Airdrie for $20 each.

Local bike stores can suck my balls when it comes to buying/installing rubber.

[swak]

Originally posted by Scat E46


Then they screw you over on balancing/mounting. They charge you the "tire isnt from us fee" of 55 and 65. So 120 just to mount is fucking stupid.

Redline, for a set of 2ct's, is 430+gst+fees installed and balanced.

Bayside is 314, mounting at TireBob for 30 dollars and I'll balance myself. (Super easy) I'll take the hundred dollars to my new jacket.


I am buying from Baysideperformance, they said 100% for sure new tires (not old ones). Woot.

Ive never had tire service at Bow before... but i'll keep that in mind!
How come tirebob can't balance? Is it different for motorcycles than cars?

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by Go4Long
as a caution to people reading this that might not know/understand...race take offs react very differently to temperatures than a normal street tire. if you're someone that likes to lean your bike over at random intervals that's never ridden on a race tire, don't, it will act like a cold tire until it gets far hotter than any normal street tire.

They're designed for sustained side loading at high speed, and there for don't start being gummy until a much higher temperature than street tires.
Im quite sure you're thinking of actual (non DOT/Street legal) slicks. No I dont use slicks for street use. You're definitely right about the whole tire temp thing, and yes its absolutely stupid to use actual slicks for street use, for all the reasons you mentioned.

The tires I get are the same DOT street tires that are available to everybody. Specifically I use the Pirelli SuperCorsa Dragon's & Diablo's. Only they were used for track use for a number of laps before taken off, to which I buy them. They react no differently then any regular over the counter tire, only they were scrubbed in quite well before taken off. :dunno:

I think one thing you may be thinking of (which is characteristic of slick tires) is the problem of heat cycling. Each race connotates a heat cycle, and any dedicated race slick (for car or bike) typically has a max of 4-6 heat cycles before the tire becomes quite hard. So yes most slicks are horrendous when cold, leave alone if they're near the end of their life cycle. Slicks use a very different compound then street tires, and they typically come in 16.5" sizes, rather then the 17" we use. With the 16.5 sizing; that means a slightly larger contact patch of rubber at full lean. Another thing is; our DOT street legal tires dont heat cycle, they just typically wear & offer related traction in accordance to their compound.

Racers need their tires to be at 100%, and for soft and super soft compound tires after X amount of laps the tires start to fade. So they pull them off and replace them with brand new ones, which is fine by me as that translates to great tires at a fraction of the cost.
For regular street riding even if the tires are 80% they'll still offer an unworldly level of traction that surpasses what I'll need them to do in almost all situations.
The only time I push my take-offs is going very hard into a clover leaf at full lean, but I make sure they're at proper operating temp before I push them. Asides from that the only times I ever pushed mine were doing a few track days, but much like anybody; I dont generally push the super-softs & softs if they're more then half worn. The mediums almost come into their peak at about 70-80% life, so thats that.

Hard tires are very slow to come to life, but come into their own at about 55-70% life, but they taper off sharply after about 30%. The softness of the compound doesn't state how long the tire will last, just where & when the rider can expect the most performance out of it. Softs & Super softs taper down dramatically after the initial 20-30%. All compounds within the same tire model will die completely within the same amount of use, but how it performs until it gets there is what calls for the variety of compounds we have.

So you have to keep that in mind with how hard you push them if they're getting somewhat close to the tread gauge.

EDIT: I usually shop around for deals like this
http://alberta.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-motorcycle-parts-accessories-Pirelli-Diablo-Supercorsas-120-70-17-180-55-17-180-60-17-W0QQAdIdZ311754108

http://alberta.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-motorcycle-parts-accessories-Pirelli-diablo-supercorsas-W0QQAdIdZ330055179
$90 or $50/pair, count me in!

[Abeo]

I get some dirt stuff from gnarlyparts.ca, they are pretty competitive compared to the US sites and blow Canadian dirt retailers away. I'm not familiar with street bike prices, how do they compare for you guys?

[RiceMonkey]

Originally posted by Colin_R6
I ordered front and rear Pilot Road 2's from Superbike Toy Store in the US for $250 Can. Picked them up at Montana shipping depot and had them installed & dynamically balanced by a guy in Airdrie for $20 each.

Local bike stores can suck my balls when it comes to buying/installing rubber.

Why not just buy here.. ?
http://www.petes-superbike.com/english/

[Colin_R6]

I didn't buy them at Petes Superbike because I bought them 8 months ago and that was the cheapest deal I could find at the time - which was STILL less expensive than the deal you linked..
Not to mention that Petes appears to only has the Road 3 which wasn't as tested and proven as the Road 2 was at that time.

[TurboMedic]

Angus is still around?? I thought he left town?

I ordered my last set from Canada's Motorcycle. Great deal, fast shipping, far cheaper than local.

As for install, I've installed my own tires for the past couple years now. Buy some good irons, some rim protectors, and some soapy water. I can do a set now in less than 30 min, theres no reason to pay a shop 65-100 to do it. As for balancing, static works just fine. You can buy a static balancer, but really all you need is two jack stands and the axle. I have found that on the last 3 bikes, if you buy high end tires, its usually the rim that is off balance. Tires are marked with a dot on the sidewall indicating the "light spot" (or to be mounted by the valve stem). I've rarely added or subtracted weight that was on the rim with the previous tires (obviously I start balancing without any weight), they usually balance the same......

[Graham_A_M]

^ Good to know. An old friend used to install mine with his tire machine, but thats cool you do it yourself. I'll have to start doing mine then.

Last I know Angus is still in town. He's a big part of the AMRA (mini-roadracing) so just so long as thats going (at least a few more years with that track) he should be here.
:thumbsup:

[TurboMedic]

I should add, the hardest part is breaking the bead.....if you get down to the US, harbour freight used to have a great bead breaker tool. If not, theres lots of fabbed up ones all over the net.....Don't drive over your tire like the one video you may come across....