KaiB

After acknowledgement from BFG that there was indeed a new, more progressive compound - sidewall and compound changes, but no word regarding availability...

Damon from Tirerack came back to me today with this:

My research came back yesterday with the same thing, as well as a slight compound tweak to allow the tire to handle higher temperatures. Sounds like your basic effort from manufacturers to continously improve on prior offerings. I do have the V2 tire in stock available sizes.

It's nice to have answers. Thanks, Damon. I'm in for two sets.

brad@tirerack.com

You're welcome! The tire continues to increase in popularity over Hoosiers. It's great to hear that BFG is making efforts to make them even better!

IcemanG17

I loved the price and how long the 1st gen R1's lasted.....I DIDN'T love the "light switch" nature of loosing grip.....however I still might buy them again....since Hoosiers don't last nearly as long....

Mark in Baltimore

The real question is how much faster or slower are they than R6's? I really liked the old R1's that I tried about four years ago, felt that they were as fast as the Hoosiers (IIRC, slightly wider for a given size) and thought that the breakaway characteristics were very similar if not more forgiving than the Hoosiers.

chrisp

the new part #'s are the new compound and were phased in during 2010.

Eifeler

Not that it matters, but the info I received from BFG was no construction changes. Only a compound change. Back to back, old vs new, I didn't sense a stiffness change. IMHO V2 doesn't offer any more ultimate grip but is more forgiving at the limit.