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3 way tire Comparo! .......... Conti vs 2ct vs Q2

40K views 37 replies 15 participants last post by  festa 
#1 · (Edited)
Link to the blog: http://socalsupermoto.com/blog/2011...lop-q2-vs-conti-sm-supermoto-tire-comparison/

We have 3 nearly identical drz400sm's, all fitted with fresh tires, so we're in a unique position to do a 3 way tire comparrison! All were fitted with 120/70 - 160/50 tires running 22f/24r tire pressue. I did 8 back to back laps on each of the bikes.
These tires are so close performance wise, that the fastest lap times will come down to the tires that you have the most confidence in. For that reason much of this review will be rating the tires on subjective "feel" of each.



Warmup
Evaluating warmup times is easy. All I do when I warm up my bikes for my students is run laps until I start getting squeling/chirping from the rears while on the brakes. As soon as I start hearing the rear hook up, that's when I bring the bike in and start warming up the next one.

1) Pilot Powers 2ct - Warm up quick! within two laps these start hooking up. They are by far the tire that I have the most confidence in while cold. By far the fastest warm up tire, which has a huge advantage for street riding since lightweight supermoto bikes often have a hard time with warm up. Winner.

2) Dunlop: The dunlop took about 4 laps to get up to temp. Not bad, not great, not a particular worry.

3) Conti's: Took about 4-5 laps to get some heat in them. However while the other bikes had a trackday on em, the conti's only had a street ride. So the tires may have been still working on getting some flex into them. We'll call it even with the q2's on warmup.



On the brakes:

1) Pilot Powers 2ct: I liked the feel I got from the rear tire on the 2ct's. While sliding (I'm not a big backitiner) the tire had good feel, and you could tell where it was and what it was doing. Transitioning from the brakes into the turn was also very good. The front did not feel as stable as the q2, but still very good. Winner

2) Q2: The rounded profile of the dunlop felt a bit more stable getting hard on the front brake. It still dipped in well. Perhaps the pressure at 24 was too high, or maybe it had something to do with the suspension, but I didn't have the feel for the rear like I did with the 2ct's. I'd let out the clutch fast, and didn't feel like it was hooking up and giving as much engine braking. It fell like I had a clutch that was slipping and not providing the compression braking. I didn't experience this on the same bike with other tires.

3) Conti's: Same exact thing as the q2's. It didn't feel like the rear was hooking up as much on the brakes, and didn't have as much feel from the rear tire as the 2ct.

student Alex having fun:


Flickability

1) Power 2ct's: Due to their profile, these are exactly halfway between a very v dunlop slick and a roundish street tire like the q2. It flips relatively easy from side to side and then once there likes to stay there. It was also the easiest to change lines mid turn. Ruling is very flickable but not too much to not feel stable. Winner.

2) Dunlop: These were the least flickable of the batch. The flipside is that they felt rock solid and very stable mid corner. Steering is the most predictable with these. They didn't feel like they were going to give you any surprises. I suspect this is due to more rubber overall and the more round profile. They definitly felt like a heavier tire. Winner if you prefer and nice stable tire.

3) The most flickable of the batch. The tire looks roundish when you look at them, but I suspect this is due to the circle pattern of the tread. On the bike they feel very light and flickable. The front end felt very light and not as planted as the others, but it was a piece of cake to throw into a turn. My guess is that these have less rubber on em than the q2's, This would fit with their reputation as a good tire that tends to wear a bit quicker than others. Winner if you simply want the lightest feeling tire of the group. I still prefer the 2ct.



Grip:

I'm still nursing a rotator cuff injury, so grip was evaluated at a very spirited track pace, not race pace. I did ride hard enough to get occasional slips, and enough to evaluate overall feel and trust in the tires.

1) Power 2ct's: Great grip. As mentioned at the start of this review, how fast you'll be will depend upon your trust in the tire. The 2ct's always felt nice and planted. Only downside is that after ridden very very hard on a hot day, they're know to get "greasy". I didn't run enough laps to experience this, and can only experienced this after 20 or so laps on a very hot day. On the street this would be a non issue, and could probably be solved on the track by running a few extra psi. Grip was very good, and when it did step out on the gas it did so in a very predictable way. The tire was very confidence inspiring. Winner.

2) Q2's: Also very very good grip. Only reason it's not a winner is because it didn't seem to have as much feel as the 2ct's. On the high speed sweeper it did feel very planted. No problems here, great grip.

3) Conti's. Also had good grip, but didn't feel as planted. On the highspeed sweeper I could feel a little push/chatter from the front which made me back off it a little bit. While running wide I didn't have the confidence in the grip to push it down to correct the line. Still overall, sticky tire I just preferred the grip of the others.



Feel:

The 2ct's were the best compromise of feeling both flickable and planted. The conti's had good grip and felt very light but didn't feel as planted. The q2's felt nice and planted but were harder to feel what the tire was doing vs the power 2ct's. Overall winner: Michelin pilot powers 2ct, The only tire I like as much are the supercorsa's which is a great tire but are twice the price.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
great comparo....great thread ! question... you had mentioned they were all the same size as well profile, but you refered to some tires as being rounder or a different profile which conflicts with the title all being the same....are you finding the same with what we have found over the years for sizing...? that one mfg's tire profile is different from another... so a 120/70 from one is different than that of a different mfg...? are the three sets you put on the bikes all about the same price... BTW BRAVO on your school... it looks to me that you have done a excellent job and have seen some great growth... keep up the good work B :bowdown: although I hate you because you can ride in 80 degree weather while we are freezing our @@##**%% off....:rofl:
hope you don't mind but this thread is more than worthy to be stuck,
 
#3 ·
I understand your confusion. I used the term profile two different ways. one way as describing the tire dimensions, ie 120/70. But also used profile to describe the actual shape of the tire. Ie the 2ct's and q2's have the same tire size/profile 160/60, but have a different profile shape, ie V shaped vs D shaped. The tires despite the size description aren't the same widths. The q2's are the fattest with lots of chain rub. next widest is the conti's that barely touch the chain, then the 2ct's which have some good clearance. I don't worry about it anymore, I run 160 regardless of manufacturer and actual size.

The school is going great! It's a lot of work, and I won't get rich but every day I go to the track is one less day I go to my "real" job. I don't actually get to ride much, but get a few laps in warming up the bikes, then a few more in the afternoon showing lines. Summer gets insanely hot since it's basically out in the desert, plenty of 100+ days, but now is perfect. Last wednesday was 76 and sunny all day! Plus with recent rains the dirt hooks up nicely. I think my clients finally figured this out cuz we're doing 5 trackdays in 3.5 weeks. There's a bike gassed and ready for you if you wanna fly down for a weekend and play! :thumbup:
 
#4 ·
I added the grip assesment of the conti's. Also I tried another bike with bt003rs, which is a tire I used to run. Same feelings as our earlier review. Basically that it has good grip and wear but has crap feeling. You can't tell what that tire is doing!
http://socalsupermoto.com/blog/socal-supermoto-bt003rs-review/
 
#5 ·
Perfect Thanks B ! It's funny how much wider DOT's are from Slicks...next time at the track I'm gonna measure each brand and see who is smokin what...:D great info on the profiles after all the reading i should have assumed that :anim_peep:

I'd love to come down.. I have only been threatening you for 5 years now....My dream is to pull off my canopy and load the bike no trailor and grab the wife and header....:D
Thanks again for the great info..will chat soon.. sorry to thread jack..:D
 
#6 ·
Least popular sticky of all time :laughingr

had another trackday testing all three tires. Despite this picture, the conti's are by far the weakest on grip according to myself and students.



The most predictable, sticky and trustworthy tire goes to the q2, and fave is the 2ct due to how happy it is layed over and it's ability to quickly flick from side to side.
 
#7 ·
I don't know if they needed more heat, of more flex to be worn into the tire, but after 3/4 trackdays the q2's have become my new favorite. They are stable, still flickable, and stick like poo to carpet. Now all that's left is to see how they wear compared to the 2ct's. :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
Mind changer

I was about to order the continentals but I guess I am gonna get the michelin since they came in second and they are the cheapest at rockymountainmc.com. What about tire wear? Which ones would you say last the longest? I run mine until i am sliding on wires so I feel like i am getting full use of them. :D
 
#9 ·
I was about to order the continentals but I guess I am gonna get the michelin since they came in second and they are the cheapest at rockymountainmc.com. What about tire wear? Which ones would you say last the longest? I run mine until i am sliding on wires so I feel like i am getting full use of them. :D
2ct's wear very very well. I've done 6 months of trackdays on a pair. Conti's have a reputation of going off pretty quick. I havn't worn through q2's yet but they're rummored to wear pretty quick which makes sense given the stick. you won't regret the 2ct's at all.
 
#17 ·
General followup:

Conti's still suck, they have the least tire feel and tough to get heat in.

powers are solid performers, but next time around it'll be q2's on all the bikes. They take 1.5 laps longer to get heat in em, but they stick great, seem to wear well for our purposes, are cheap, and have awesome feedback and feel. Q2 for president :thumbup:
 
#18 ·
Ok so don't get mad at for saying this because I really do say this with kindness and respect from the bottom of my heart. I REALLY HOPE YOU GET DIARRHEA! While I'm stuck here in southern Louisiana, bike less, your in SoCal riding whatever freaking bike you want, whenever you want! Oh not to mention the occasional manufacturer that stops in and says "Hey guy, here's my new bad ass bike for you to ride with all the bad ass crap we could think of for you! Oh nah! Don't worry about money! Just write us a review and have fun!" while in the meantime, it's 10 degrees cooker than hell here with tornados and hurricanes and humidity that is horrible! And I haven't bought my next bike yet! But I don't want to sound jealous or complain and I really do mean that diarrhea thing in the nicest way possible!
 
#19 ·
Which Conti?

Are you comparing the Conti Force? or the Conti Attack SM? I hear they're quite different tires. I've got an Attack SM on order for the DRZ "e" 150/60, hope it's more predictable than the batlax 016 -160/60 that I'm taking off.
 
#21 ·
Are you comparing the Conti Force? or the Conti Attack SM? I hear they're quite different tires. I've got an Attack SM on order for the DRZ "e" 150/60, hope it's more predictable than the batlax 016 -160/60 that I'm taking off.
They're the older conti sm's which I think were the force. The sm tire but not the new attacks. The 016's are a good tire but too hard to get heat in. Bottom line is that I'm done with everything, and just running q2's on all my bikes now. That tire lasts, sticks, warms up quick, good predictable feel, and is cheap. WIN!
 
#26 ·
man i wish i read this before i bought the conti SM attack? :headshake i was running pilot powers for street use and decided to buy a set of track only tires and went with the SM attacks cause people were saying great things about the SM attacks over the conti force.. this is the only really thing ive read that has compared tires in a track style test. :clap: the only thing i did notice about the pilot powers on my front is that they would feel like they wanted to slide out the grip. i was getting a little sketchy about that. it was a low speed tight turns that it would do that. not sure its because of my riding style or what? but anyways i hope they arnt as bad as you say they are....:headscrat
 
#27 ·
Conti-Attaci sm (new model) feedback

My last track day I had just switched my rear from a Battlax 016 160/60-17 to the new Conti-attack SM 150/60-17.
I live in the NW, and air temp started at about 50deg up to about mid 70's- finally a sunny dry day.
I didn't have a single issue with lack of grip once warm-up was achieved.
I was running 19 PSI. Tire feedback was GREATLY improved over the Battlax.
I'm still using the 016 up front and so far, so good.
I may change the front eventually.

Never used Pilots, so I cant comment on those.
 
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