Hey guys! so I've got a Strada. the OEM tres are great for the road. I got 18k miles out of them and decided to go with another set of them. They work just fine in packed dirt, gravel, rocks, and mildly loose dirt. As soon as it's wet, tough, the Tourance tires blow hard. I'm looking for a 50/50-ish tire that fits the Strada rims, can handle mild mud, and (hopefully) would last long enough to ride around 2-6k miles. i'm trying to plan a trip to Moab from Washington state area and back and I'd like to avoid swapping tires mid-trip. Alternatively, I could have bring tires with me, or mail them to a shop nearby and have it swapped there, but that's an extra step mid-trip that I don't want to take. Anywhos, I've used loads of pure dirt tires and sport/track tires, but I don't have much experience with Moab, or dual sport tires. Any advice is appreciated!
I'm running a Strada in Washington State and just got done with a 2200 mile ride around Vancouver Island a new Mitas E-07 rear and tread wear was minimal visually....I can imagine this rear running 10K with me as a beefy rider and adventure camping for 6 days. And I'm ordering another E-07 for the front as I finally killed up the stocker on the trip. They perform and feel much like the Heidenau K60 in my opinion....although I'm not sure yet on longevity. Mitas are maybe a smidge cheaper and not in the U.S. market as long....so it's just hard to beat the Heidenaus for mileage, ride quality on road, and reasonable off-road performance. Don't know about T63. But I've also rand the Twinduro (sucky IMO) and Dunlop 606 (great off-road, but very little mileage)
Everything is a compromise with a dual sport tire. I think the Heidenau K60 rear is the consensus best rear tire as they last a long time and do great in the dirt and on the road. Some say they're not great in mud, but I never ride in mud, so I won't comment on that. I've had the K60 rear/ TKC80 front for a few months now and I love the combo offroad. However, the front end now wobbles pretty badly if I go over 65mph. It had no wobble with the stock Metzlers.
I'm happy with my strada on mitas e07s. EDIT: note that I have the dakar versions on both front and rear.
I have run T63s and Heidenaus on the Strada. Both with spokes and with cast rims. T63s make for good rear tires, but I can't get more than 3000 miles out of them. They are excellent in all conditions, balance well, and are cheap, so the mileage doesn't bother me. The front T63 is not great. I have had one, and my buddy had one. Neither of us could keep it balanced up front. It took huge amounts of weight even when new, and reputable shops were unable to get it perfect. It always had a bit of up down wobble between 40-45mph. I finally pulled it and put on a Kenda K270 up front. The k270 has been a great front tire, get's great mileage and I plan to buy another when this one finally wears out. My current rear is a Heidenau Scout. It has about 5k miles and would not currently pass inspection--though there is still some meat left. I plan to keep running it until the fall. I could have had 2.5 of the T63s for the price of this tire. They both handle well in all conditions. Since I do my own tire changes now the T63 is actually the better deal fiscally, and both tires are very similar traction wise. That said, I am so happy with the Kenda K270 up front that I plan to buy one of those and see how it is as a rear tire. All of this said, I would recommend avoiding the t63 on the front. I have had good experience with both the Kenda Big Blocks and the Continental TKC80 on the front. Unless you are dragging a knee on your Strada have no fear of mixing brands and tires. I was skeptical of this my first 10+ years of riding, however I am constantly riding very twisty roads (dirt and paved) at a decent little clip and never have issues with traction. I almost always have one brand out front, and another tire out back these days with no issues.
I had the TKC's front and rear. They are awesome off road and around town. I was getting a really bad wobble on the highway though. I started by changing the rear to see if it would solve the problem. I replaced it with a 170 wide Shinko. The wobble is still there, telling me that it's the front tire that is causing it. I will be replacing that one with a Shinko to match the rear for now.
I have over 4000km on my E07's and will eventually go back for another set when these wear out. Also ran the Mitas E09's for awhile and foundmthem great, but only gotmabout 4000km out of them.
