Last of the big breed. New to me.

twice.

I saw people going out in rentals and pulling donuts. the poor.....everything under those cars. I ran out about an eighth of a mile or so, just to get the feel. The surface started to deteriorate after that so I headed back.

Bike tires have a lot more things to do than car tires do. Two small contact patches and dynamically changing ones at that, compared to four much larger, relatively static contact patches - as just one difference.

To my mind, its a balancing act - value is a factor of ride style + longevity + Safety. Each of those gets traded until I find a valuable compromise.

One way to make sure you save money: mount and balance them yourself. I still occasionally go to a shop and pay the extra freight to buy and have tires mounted - usually because my wheel stand is inaccessible. But most of the time, I do it myself. Then I can get the online pricing and save the shop overhead cost. You can also explore off brands. Some time ago I stumbled on a great deal on Kenda dual sport tires when everyone was paying through the nose for Metzler and Continental. I replaced tires more often on the big dualsport I was riding, but the tires were much better than I expected. Now its a thing those Kendas. But also pay attention to the construction of the tire. cheap tires can be not such a bargain if they are useless the first time a little rain falls or they delaminate because they arent really V rated.

I know I sound "old man lecturing"but tires are your contact with the road, so it doesnt really pay to only look at longevity and price.