Avon Bastards

I've had some great rides lately but I seem to have a lot to bitch about as well. This week it's the distributors of Avon Tyres that have pissed me off.

I upgraded my bike in January and by mid February I was averaging 1,000 km/week and had done 3,800 km when I got a puncture in the rear tyre which damaged the inner membrane, requiring it be replaced. I had used a Conti Milestone on the Intruder and found it to have good grip and wear and since the Avon Storms hadn't been released at that time, I decided to fit a Conti Road Attack.

I expected to get about 16,000 km out of the Road Attack and initially the tyre performed very well but after only 4,000 km it started to show signs of wear, indicating I would be lucky to get 10,000 km out of it. By the time I had done 8,000 km I figured I would be lucky to get another 1,000 km and made inquiries about the cost and availability of a set of Storms as I had only heard positive feedback on their performance. At that time I was advised they would be in stock in two weeks, but that wasn't a problem as I figured I wouldn't need them for about a month and over the past couple of weeks I have been checking-up that they were readily available, which was confirmed by online checks, so there was no need to pre-buy the tyres ready for fitting when required.

Well.....after last Sunday's Winter Solstice ride, I realised the time had come, so on Monday I ordered a set of Storms and booked the fitting for Thursday. “No problem, plenty of stock, they'll be in tomorrow,” was the word, but late Wednesday I was informed that there was no stock and there would be no stock in the country for six to eight weeks. !!??@#%??

It turns out that the distributors of Avon tyres don't bother to update the inventory on their site and because I had decided some time ago to use the Storms on this change, I hadn't really bothered to compare any alternatives. What a pack of Double-dye Kiwi Bastards!!

After checking the ST website I decided to order a set of Pilot Road 2's. No ride for me this weekend though....lucky the weather forecast is crap.