At the risk of pissing people off ( Bovvered??) I think a lot of tyre talk is just willy waving :devious
Unless you are living on the extreme edges of the tyre all the time and only ride on twisties in the warm and dry I would hazzard a guess that most people are overtyred and wear the things out in the middle long before the edges.
I do have some riding mates that ride hard enough on the roads to kill their trackday tyres on the sides before the middle is worn but I don't think many riders do that.
For the more average rider Sports Touring type tyres are plenty adequate,they warm up a lot quicker,stick better in the wet and last a hell of a lot longer as well.
Ok, they don't stick like slicks at the outer limits of the envelope but given the weather and traffic conditions in this country more often than not it's a bit wet and slippery out anyway.
I think it's a mind thing,if someone you trust says '' this tyre is unstickable '' you'd relax and just ride the thing and probably never get near it's limits anyway.
Personally I like Pirelli, but not the fact that after a few hundred dual carriageway commuting miles you end up with a flatted profile and an uncomfortable transition when rolling into corners,plus they then tramline on our less than perfect road surfaces.
I might ride like a granny generally, but in the wet/damp on the big SV running Avon Storms I tend to leave faster mates behind who are running much more track orientated rubber. Plus a fast ( very ) mate of mine who I do trackdays with absolutely swears by Avon Viper 2's on his KTec suspended Daytona street /trackbike.
