Cycletreads

[Anonymous]

#4398

Needed tyres, not enough left in mine to get me to Wellington and home. Contacted Cycletreads, discussed with a voice on the phone what I needed, and that I would be on the doorstep when they opened Tue 25 Feb to have them fitted, please send me a quote "On the Bike" and I will pay it. Quote arrived ten minutes later, I paid it.Tuesday I rocked up at 'Treads, no tyres. After a "long weight" it is discovered my tyres have been delivered: to my previous address. (If you change your details online at Cycletreads it does not update your details in their database. So why have the facility online?) Anyway, how does delivering them to anywhere other than their shop get them available for fitting there?Discussions with the courier firm discover they can't get my tyres until later in the afternoon. I'm offered a mismatched, different sized set of tyres which I turn down. Another guy gets on the case, and pulls a set of Tourances off the shelf, the only tyres they have in stock the right size. By now the more senior staff are falling over themselves being helpful to get me out on the road, and full credit to them, they were bloody good.I agree to pay half the difference between my bog-ordinary Bridgestones I'd paid for and the Tourances. Then it turns out the quote I'd paid on DID NOT include the fitting fee! So along with half the difference in price which I'd just (probably foolishly) offered to pay, I had to pay out the rest of the cash I'd put aside to feed myself for a couple of days to get the tyres fitted.Then the boss comes in, and the shouting started. I had to walk away, I can't bear to watch and listen to people being humiliated in public. Arse-kickings may have to happen, but they should be in private. The man was berating the very people that had just been doing a great job of keeping a customer onside.When they eventually traced back through their system, guess who made the cock-up when he loaded the job in the system? None other than Mr Shouty-Voice.When the tech got his hands on my bike, the work was quick, efficient, and I was out the door twenty-five minutes after he started. The treament I received from Cycletreads staff once they realised there was a problem was considerate: they kept me informed, and were apologetic for my inconvenience. Without Mr Shouty-Voice's display, I would have commended Cycletreads for their helpfulness. Thanks to his efforts, I will pay the extra few dollars to get Pacific Motor Group in Whangarei to source my tyres for me from now on.As for the Tourances? Are they a better tyre? I don't know, haven't had the opportunity to use them on metal, apart from a few bits of roadworks yet. Would I even know if they were better? I'm not much of a rider, how would I tell? Will they last 18,000 kms like the Bridgestones? Do Tourances normally cause a bloody annoying "buzz" in your hands from the bars on tar-seal, or do I have an accretion of tar and metal on my rims from roadworks, or have I chucked a balance weight? (If I've chucked a weight, I'll get Pacific Motor Group to rebalance, not Cycletreads!) Later that morning. There WAS a lot of tar and metal on the back rim (smaller, so therefore faster rotating.) Could well have given me the buzz in the bars. At the moment the degreaser is working on the tar and the chain oil (love my Scott Oiler) while I drink coffee. Did I lose a bit of weight, getting to Wellington and back with sweet damn-all money left for food? Yes! Success, it was worth it after all! Was the Newsletter ready to fold when I got there? Nope.Oh well, save up for a few more months, then maybe I'll try again.Staff at Cycletreads? Golden. They must (I hope) be paid really well, to put up with unjustified public humiliation and still try hard to give good customer service.

[Anonymous]

#18129

Yeah, Mr Shouty-voice is going to struggle for staff if he keeps up that approach. Mistakes happen unfortunately, but the mark of good service is the admittance of fault and efforts to rectify.I haven't had issues with 'Treads, but then previous purchases were done through a mate who worked there (who has now moved on), so I'll be Joe Blogs pretty much, next time around  ???As for Tourances, there are 3 possible tyres you've got, normal Tourances (old model), Tourance EXP (sporty soft compound) and Tourance Next (latest generation). More details please  😛

[Anonymous]

#18130

Tourance Next. I have no issues with the tyres as tyres, they just feel a bit like overkill for an OAP like me. The thumbnail test says they are way softer than the Bridgestone Trail Wings, which would explain how I got 18,000k's out of them (and my pansy riding  :P) I read the adventurous types writing all the learned stuff about the round, black things on their wheels, and it just goes past me. I used to put a set of Cheng Shin knobblies on the farm bike and replace them when they went bald, or when I was getting stuck a little too often for it to be amusing anymore. I don't do any serious “adventure” riding, I just tootle around our local roads on the weekend when the log trucks aren't working, same as I used to on the eleven-hundy-ess, just a bit more comfortable now on my budget bike, for which budget Bridgestones are still a better choice than Z6's on an R1100s, on metal.What I was impressed with was the way the 'Treads guys 'n' gals were onto trying to get me out on the road on Tuesday, and their grace under fire later. And I thought it was more convenient to stop at Cycletreads on the way to Wellington, than at Drury tyres, where they seem to always damage the finish on my rims. Cycletreads don't do that!

[Anonymous]

#18131

mmm, Tourance are known for long life, not sure which Bridgestone you're referencing, possibly the 501s?Tourance Next vs Tourance, the Next has new gen compound etc which should make it a "better" tyre, but whether it's going to give absolute "longer" life... not so sure.I never get 18k from the tyres I shod the BMW with, so I'm jealous. The Anakee 3's I've currently got are top so far, about 13k and some more life left!

[Anonymous]

#18132

13K on a GSA, and I know from watching you pedal harder than me, sounds not bad at all.Yes, it was the 501, and my 18K is largely about my 650 and my geriatric pussiness, so perhaps I'll do alright out of the current tyres. Besides, they'll last me years, 'cos I hardly use the thing - still do a higher mileage on my pushbike. Tyres for that are only $90 to $110 each, and I fit them myself. ;D

[Anonymous]

#18133

mtb push bike tyres are only around $40-60… jury is out on which activity hurts me more  ;DOhlins suspension has made a big difference in tyre performance. Longer life is noticeable.

[Clive Lawrence]

#18134

Had a pair of EXP previous to the K60 Scouts.Go about 17k out of them, not a bad tyre for on road and some off road. They are like a 70/30 road/off road.Can still get some good lean out of them as well on road.  😀

[Anonymous]

#18135

I regularly got good life out of original Tourances, my one experience with the EXPs was that they didn't last quite as well. They were probably a better road tyre (but the originals were good enough for me), probably not quite as good a gravel road tyre (but hardly night and day, merely shades of grey).Curious to hear how the NEXTs go, form afar they look quite road-biased, but looks can deceive.I swung the other way, to the Karoo 3s. Back is up to 8k and down to 3mm, front lasting very well so far. Way ahead of Tourances on gravel, and work fine on the 'seal. Still debating whether to go like-for-like on the back, or to try for an original Tourance (the front washing out on the loose scares me more than the back spinning up, though I lack the skill/cajones/traction control [delete as applicable] to come out of corners sideways on the gas; extra traction at the back is nice to get back out of the ditch, but I'm in Otago so the idea of riding twice as far before the next episode of gorse under the fingernails also appeals).

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