Bridgestone AX41 adventurecross thoughts?

[jonathan]

Hoping someone may have put a few miles on a set of these tyres and wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts? I'm in the process of doing a spoked wheel conversion and just can't decide on rim sizes...17R 19F, 18R 19F, or 18R 21F or even stock 16R 19F.....seat height isn't really a problem, so it's down to tyre choice and handling changes. Most of the ADV tyres are designed with big heavy bikes in mind, so reviews are a moot point.

[scrambler]

Tough decision. A few guys already tested the AX41 front in 100/90-19. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1451 viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1380
The Adventurecross performs surprisingly well on road (even on cold & wet ones), way better than the old Michelin T63 or the overrated TKC80. Usually with a knobby tire like this onroad it affects the handling heavily. It feels insecure and wobbly in curves. But not the AX41 – after a few miles you simply forget that you a driving a knobby tire. And off-road it's a breeze. It’s the best dual purpose tire I've ever had.
In terms of handling and stability on/offroad the best compromise is imho the original 16/19’’. The main reason for 17-21 wheels was that there was simply no real offroad tire available in 16/19’’. That’s why after years of testing all kind of bigwheel versions I recently switched back to the original rim sizes.
For pure onroad use one could switch to 120/80-16 and 3.25-19 - there are some good tires (e.g. Metzeler roadtec) in these dimensions.

[jonathan]

Hi Scrambler....many Thanks once again for your sage words. Certainly from a geometry point of view, the stock 16/19 is less of a gamble...
Since I have the stock rims, I was thinking to run road biased tyres on these and have an off road biased set on the spoked rims, so I could change them out as and when, but if I'm totally honest, I can't imagine doing enough serious off road riding on the AX1 to justify the compromise...I plan to take up Long Distance Trials, which are observed off road sections (moderately difficult) with road stages inbetween. The regulations stipulate a DOT certified 'Trials' tyre (eg Pirelli MT43, Motoz Hybrid), both of which are reasonably competent (in a straight line ) on the road...I'll see what sizes these are available in and base my rim choice on that.

Good news regards the AX41....just need dunlop to do the Trailmax in a 16 and we're covered!

[scrambler]

I can't imagine doing enough serious off road riding on the AX1 to justify the compromise...I plan to take up Long Distance Trials, which are observed off road sections (moderately difficult) with road stages inbetween. The regulations stipulate a DOT certified 'Trials' tyre

Have you ever tried trials tyres? They also have a pretty wobbly feeling onroad. And the NX doesn’t like the rather square cross section and will probably get nervous at higher speed.
All things considered (since you need a new rear rim anyway) I guess the best solution would be a 3.50-17’’ rear rim. Than you could use a 130/80-17 and a 100/90-19 and there lots of modern adventure tyres like the Michelin Anakee Adventure
https://www.michelin.co.uk/motorbike/ty ... -adventure

Or if you need a focus on cold and wet roads (your are driving in the UK, after all ) I recommend the heidenau K60 Silica (SiO2) (not to be confused with the ordinary K60 https://de.reifenwerk-heidenau.com/modu ... 01&pic=107)

[daleipi]

how does the driving experience differ with a 130/70-17 vs. a 120/90-16?

in a straight line I guess there's not much differenece but in tight turn-ins?

the difference in circumference is 1.4 % between the two sizes if I am right.

with the 130/70-17 on a NX 650 rear wheel in a NX 650 swing arm, the turn-in should be noticably different.

[jonathan]

I think if the rear wheel is taller, without any other changes, the steering will need less input, but other factors are at work: front and rear suspension set up, tyre tread, profile, pressures etc. Since the AX/NX has a short wheelbase and relatively wide bars, slow steering isn't something the bike suffers from. Increasing the front wheel to 21 inch will improve composure off road (since bigger wheels roll better over obstacles- easily demonstrated if you've ever ridden a 26 inch wheel mountain bike, then ridden over the same terrain on a 29er),' but on road, the bigger diameter/extra heft usually makes for heavier steering and slower 'turn in'....I've ridden plenty of trail and adv bikes with 18/21, 17/21, 17/19 all handle differently but not just due to wheel/tyre sizes, so there's no fixed rule, it's bike dependent and even then, you can make changes to the suspension settings, fork height, bar width/height, foot peg position etc. to dial it in to your preference.

I've not had enough time on my AX1 to make an informed decision. The main reason for converting to spoked rims is to conserve my original cast rims. Lack of tyre choice was the prime reason to increase the rear rim to 17 or 18, but tyre choice is made based on intended riding (eg mainly road, mainly off road, 50/50, etc.) and a lot of the adv type tyres available are designed for much heavier bikes than the NX, so it's a bit of a dilemma. Also, the AX1 rims are relatively wide compared to typical off road rims so this is something else to consider....skinnier rims don't get trashed as easily off road, but then the tyre sidewalls tend to be stiffer which affects handling on road....and so it goes on

Trolling through the online tyre converters to get a theoretically ideal rim/tyre combination front and rear (ie no appreciable change to original balance/geometry) is only half the story, since tyre manufacturers don't often quote the actual dimensions, hence why it's always better to ask owners for their considered opinions based on experience.

Full on trials tyres are great off road at slow speed- super grippy, strong, can run a low pressures etc. but not great at higher speeds on the road. If I was speccing the bike purely for Long distance trials, the road sections are always within UK speed limits and tend to be on small B roads (30 40 mph), but for everyday use trials tyres would be too much of a compromise...the silica Heidenhau sounds interesting

[NX250NL]

Hello AX41 users,
Yesterday, I also put on the ax41 tyres. Can anyone tell me which tyre pressure is good for on-road use? It seems to me the 1,5 bar prescribed by honda is a little soft. (Heavy steering and sensitive to parallel lines on the road)

[scrambler]

Hello AX41 users,
Yesterday, I also put on the ax41 tyres. Can anyone tell me which tyre pressure is good for on-road use? It seems to me the 1,5 bar prescribed by honda is a little soft. (Heavy steering and sensitive to parallel lines on the road)

Bridgestone recommends 1,8 in front - personally I use 2,0

Brigdestone NX250 pressure.jpg

[NX250NL]

Thanks Scrambler! I’m gonna try this pressure you are suggesting

[Garfield]

Hmmm ... I used 1.5 bar and I was happy with that.
(I now have other wheels with the tyres that came with those wheels so the 19/16 inch wheels with the AX41's are stored).

Don't forget the AX41 has a quite 'nobby' profile so it might feel more as if the tyre pressure is too low. If you make the pressure too high, your tyres might wear out too quickly in just the center section.

But in the end it is what you prefer ... just try some different pressures ...