Quick AV46 Summary

[DRB NW WA State]

There’s usually controversy in this forum about the Avon AV45/46 combo. I’ve just replaced the AV46 rear, at 7.1K miles. The AV45 front has plenty of life left. Before commenting, it’s important to understand a few details to put the mileage into perspective.

Total mileage: 7,100 (tire picked up a nail at about 6K, which was eventually plugged. I believe this tire had about 1,500 miles remaining, but the plug wasn’t holding well).

- Rider weight: 175 lbs w/o gear.

- Suspension: taut, aftermarket (Penske).

- Bike: mostly-stock 1999, with Corbin hard bags

- Inflation: faithfully kept 40-42 psi cold.

- Type of riding: mostly super-slab commuting, with occasional twisties.

- Other: no stunting or burnouts.

- General riding style: medium-aggressive, with occasional trips to 100 mph+.

- Location: Seattle, Washington State. Often wet roads, generally not too hot even in summer. Decent pavement.

Rain riding performance: good. Predictable sliding when pushed. Very few scary moments not caused by the loose nut behind the bars. No complaints or close calls due to the tire.

Sport performance: good. I didn’t push this tire hard too often, from a sporting perspective. When I did, it always held well and behaved predictably.

Mileage: about what I expected, based on comments from the list.

Stability: excellent.

Summary: above-average experience. Probably too sporting a tire for my purposes (not the tire’s fault). I’ve switched back to the Bridgestone BT020 for this reason alone.

Caveats: The AV46 worked better for me at higher inflation than I’m used to (40-42psi). Handling degraded noticeably at lower inflation.

Hope this helps.