Just a quick update on the tyre.
It's been great for 2,000 miles. Good grip wet or dry.
Only concern I have is wear rate. I didn't actually measure the tread depth when new (doh!) but looking at the wear markers that are either side of centre I'd say 1/2 the tread is now gone, hard to be sure though.
Just to put my use into perspective, I don't commute so those 2000 miles are fun miles. I mostly accelerate hard (though she's just a 650) and corner hard. I also ride 2up quite a bit on this bike so that all adds to the wear per mile.
If it lasts another 2,000 miles then I think I'll be pretty happy with that, for a tyre that only costs £55 (+ £10 fitting at my local bike shop). I do around 2.5k miles a year on this bike so it's a new rear every 2 years, which I think is OK.