Tyre fitting - Croydon area

[mudguard]

My CR500s are going to hit the wear markers in the not too distant future.

Any recommendations for a local place to fit new? First time I've needed this on the Seven - or any other car in fact. So please excuse the daft questions.... 

What about the various online places e.g. blackcircles where you order the tyres, pay a bit extra for fitting, drive the car to a local mainstream franchise on the old tyres and back on the new? Would you trust them with a Seven? (Yeah I know it's a car, not a crystal chandelier....)

Would it be better to take the wheels off and borrow a tintop to ferry them there and back? At least that way I wouldn't have to worry about driving on wrong nut torques or pressures.

As for tyre choice I'm pretty much set on going for the T1Rs 195/50/15R. Depending on how those go I might move up to the ZZS for the subsequent set.

Guess I should try to retain the old CR500s in case anyone wants them for track day donuts.

[Jonathan Kay]

Would you trust them with a Seven? (Yeah I know it's a car, not a crystal chandelier....)

I had my new tyres fitted by a non-enthusiast non-specialist non-chain place in the next village. I asked them if I could stay and watch but that didn't work, so I told them all about the car in the hope that they would be gentle.

Went fine.

Nuts and pressures checked as soon as I was home.

Jonathan

[MadCat52]

After a tip off from Redline, I've had a couple of sets done at TyreMark in Caterham (http://www.tyremark.co.uk/).  They used to do all the tyres for Caterham cars when they were based in Caterham town.  If, like me, you buy/supply the tyres yourself it's £15/tyre.  Ask for Anthony.

Bob

[z7]

Is £15/tyre the going rate now?

[mudguard]

Thanks for the recommendation Bob, that was just what I wanted.  Tyremark it will be.

[mudguard]

Quick followup on this.

Whilst Tyremark responded positively to my initial enquiry, they seemed to lose interest when it came to booking a slot. So I assumed they were too busy or otherwise didn't want the business and started looking elsewhere.

I went with a local independent, Saunders Autocare, who have excellent reviews (for tintops). We went from initial enquiry to fitting in the same day. They were very interested in the car "we don't get many of these in!", and actually wanted me to watch, so I could advise on jacking points, pressures, and so on. They treated the car with great care. The price was reasonable and they seemed very competent and friendly. 

Sadly I wasn't able to spend much time familiarising myself with the new Toyo rubber this morning as the car developed some sort of alternator problem. But initial impressions, in the damp, coming from old 45-profile CR500s nearly on the wear markers, are very positive. Lots of grip and stability, and despite the extra profile (which I wanted), the ride quality of the CR500s over bumpy surfaces is retained.