There's so many makes and performance levels for "sport bike" tires trying to really understand the market is confusing. I've had 4 sets of tires, M5s, Q3s, M7RRs, and S20R Evos.
I'm a good rider with moderate performance riding skills. When I read professional tire comparisons/reviews there's a lot of good information. But I know my performance riding skills most likely I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference between the 1st place tire and 4th place tire in a 10 tire comparison. The main things I can notice are steering lightness and feedback. Other than towards the end of life of tires have I had traction issues. The tires warn me when they are done. For example my Q3s told me they were done at full lean at 60+ on a freeway on ramp rear end started slithering like a snake. That message was loud and clear. Since that event, I am a little more careful when tires are nearing their end although I still get surprised once in a while. I tend to wear the tread out evenly edge to edge, when the center tread is done side and edge tread are done.
I liked the Q3s the most. The M7RRs were overall very close to the Q3s. The M5s, to be fair I didn't any ability to utilize them meaningfully the first 1/2 of their life and the 2nd 1/2 was growing in ability. S20 Evos were OK but overall I didn't really like them.
M5s
PROs - difficult to really judge due to my experience at the time, mileage 3800 miles until wear bars and eeked another 600 out of them with cords showing... but I didn't ride then like I do now)
CONS - semi-truck heavy steering
STABILITY - tires felt stable until the day they were removed with cords showing!
Notes: were fairly easy to dismount from rims
Q3s
PROS - great performance attributes, light steering, all the things the reviews say
CONS - low mileage (2500)
STABILITY - tires felt stable in turns until around 2000 mile mark
Notes: were easy to mount/dismount from rims
M7RRs
PROS - great performance attributes, light steering, all the things the reviews say, good mileage (3500)
CONS - as the reviews say, Q3s are ultimately a a tad better
STABILITY - tires felt stable until around 2500 mile mark
Notes: were difficult to mount/dismount from rims
S20R Evos
PROs strong performance, decent mileage (3100)
CONS muddy/dead feel
STABILITY tires started to feel unstable around 1500 mile mark
Notes: were moderate to mount (have not dismounted)
Stability is based on performance oriented cornering and the bikes tendency to not feel as if it could just drop over without extremely careful modulation, never experienced straight line or general riding stability issues with any of them
There's people here with a lot more experience and have tried other tires. I want to continue to try different tires but don't want to "chance" getting something like the S20 Evos or M5s. I like lighter steering, road feel and agility of the Q3s and M7RRs. About the only tires I won't consider for street riding are Super Corsas, I know an amazing tire but for price and longevity I'd rather just run Q3s.
Can anyone make any recommendations for tires to try given what I've said I've liked and disliked? Should I just go with M7RRs which I liked a helluva lot? I hate to think by going with M7RRs that I'm missing out on some other awesome tire that's just generally not as popular or professionally rated as Q3s or M7RRs, etc. Should I even risk something like PR4s or T30s? Thanks in advance!