Pirelli Angel GT: long-term tyre test

It’s not often I get a year out of a set of tyres. In fact, I generally run a set through the summer months, another through the winter, and new set again the following summer.

This year, however, things have been a little different. Regular readers of bikesales.com.au will note a series of rather irregular long-term tyre tests on the Pirelli Angel GTs on these pages dating back to the end of July last year (2013). That’s right, these are the same set we’ve had fitted to my Triumph Street Triple R for a full 12 months — and it’s not like the bike has been locked away in the garage.

Nope. Since last we spoke I’ve dialled another 7300km on the Stripler’s odometer, bringing the grand total placed on the Angel GTs to 13,900km. And you know what? They’re not done yet.

Indeed I reckon I’d comfortably get another 2000-3000km from the tyres before they got to a point I’d consider changing them. But with a mild flat spot beginning to wear across the rear’s centre — the results of far too many straight-line rides — and a new set of tyres awaiting a long-term test, the time has come to bid a fond adieu to the Pirelli hoops.

But why have the updates been so irregular?

Well, the short answer is because there was really nothing to report. The Angel GTs have performed per spec, and lived up to the manufacturer’s claim of high mileage. Wet and dry performance has been nothing short of exemplary, though there are a couple of caveats to the tyres’ overall performance, which I’d say are fair considering the breath of their capabilities.

The first is that when ridden really hard in dry weather, there is a finite limit to the grip on offer. Compared to the softer compound rubber fitted to the bike from factory, which just never seem to quite, the Angel GTs have a ceiling at which they start to become a little slippery. It’s mainly the rear, and only when you’re really getting stuck-in, but it is a limit; though one we think is not unreasonable considering the amount of sipes across the tyre and the harder compound used to ensure its longevity.

The second, and it's something I’m only just now starting to notice, is that as the tyres have begun to reach around 40 per cent of their tread depth they are taking longer to reach temperature. It’s an odd, and admittedly small decrease in the behaviour of the tyre when new, though one we can’t say too many would notice, or let bother them.

I guess it’s a trait of a silica compound I’m not yet entirely familiar with. But given the tyres have exceeded the additional 30 per cent life-span the manufacturer claimed by a factor of three (in my instance at least), I can’t really complain.

The feedback and communication from the hoops is still excellent, and I’d say the braking performance is only marginally worse than when the tyres were new (the brake pads were replaced around 8000km ago).

I’ve been really happy with the wet-weather performance of the Angel GTs and, as mentioned, the trade-off in higher limit riding in dry weather is negligible considering the benefits of the return on your investment.

Would I recommend the tyres?

Damn right. Unless you’re a dry-weather rider pushing the limits every weekend, these will make you pretty happy.

Would I buy another set after the next long-termers are done?

Bloody oath. I’ve already recommended the Angel GTs to rides of equipment with much more power than mine and their appraisal is much the same as my own.

I’ll definitely be coming back to these at some point in the future. Probably not as far ahead as 13,900km, but at some point….

Pirelli Angel GT price guide (as tested):