I'm considering going from 19" to 18" wheels once my current tyres are worn, cheaper tyres, quieter and better ride hopefully. 

Does anyone have any pictures of the Antares wheels on a silver estate? I'm tempted by those are the Pegasus. both can be had for about £180-190 a rim. 

Cheers,

 

Mark. 

I’d be interested in the results of the change, albeit it’d have to be exceptionally good for me to justify a £1,000+ investment in new wheels and tyres. 

I’ve just dropped from Trinity 19’s to Zenith 18’s and found the ride comfort much better. I found a bargain set of 4 genuine Zeniths on facebook for £250, with tyres, (chap had up-graded to 19” Vega’s) but this Riken brand, apparently made my Michelin in the EU, will need to be replaced fairly soon.  The difference in price between the 19 and 18 tyre wasn’t as much as I expected £162 against £130 (ish).  I’m glad I changed as there is a noticeable difference in ride quality, but I have running winter tyres (on 17’s) until a few weeks ago, so these do seem quiet in comparison!

Interesting. What about tyre roar and and noise in the cabin; any quieter? 

2 hours ago, numskull said:

Interesting. What about tyre roar and and noise in the cabin; any quieter? 

Yes, much quieter, by a big margin. But, the caveat is I am comparing going from winters to summer tyres. These Riken tyres are really quiet, I hadn’t heard of them before and I am one for branded tyres, but would be interested to hear any other opinions abut this make of tyre?

On 07/05/2022 at 13:57, coppertop said:

Yes, much quieter, by a big margin. But, the caveat is I am comparing going from winters to summer tyres. These Riken tyres are really quiet, I hadn’t heard of them before and I am one for branded tyres, but would be interested to hear any other opinions abut this make of tyre?

I think Riken are actually a joint venture with Michelin going back many years. Pretty much all of the budget tyre brands are owned by the big "premium brand" manufacturers. I never know if this means that they are higher quality than we give them credit for or if it is a means of the premium manufacturers to keep them down and stop the budget brands from catching up and overtaking them! Any brands that dont end up being taken over by one of the big names seem to rapidly make inroads into the market....Hankook, Kumo and Nexen of Korea come to mind here. 

 

The link below shows who owns who.....

 

https://tyres.rezulteo.co.uk/expert-advice/before-buying/brands-products/leading-tyre-manufacturers-which-brand-belongs-to-which-group/

 

I have a set of 17s with cross climate plus all season and 19s with Bridgestone Potenza S001 and the difference in tyre noise between the two is marked, the 19s make me think a window is open hence the thoughts of moving to 18s. Luckily I have DCC so the ride isn't so much of a concern , its more the tyre noise.