In my experience, the Avons are very sticky early in their life, have a somewhat softer ride, and the tread lasts a very long time. Great wet traction -- a couple years ago, I came down the west side of Lolo pass, in the rain, at a brisk pace, and the Avons simply stuck like glue. I was very impressed.
However, later in their life, the tire profile begins to change, and two things happen. The first is that they get pretty noisy when leaned over. Mine are really howling at 11000 miles. A bit annoying, but big deal, I can handle that. The second is that the bike doesn't stay leaned over as easily. It really wants to stand up and takes considerable counter-steer to keep the bike leaned over in, e.g. in a fast sweeper. Just back from a week riding around the Big Horn mountains in WY. Lots of fun in the twisty mountain roads, but noticeably more work in corners than it would have been had the the tires been new. Probably because of the "shelf" that forms after the softer side tread is worn away leaving the harder center tread. This behavior is a bit more annoying to me. Also the noise makes me suspect that the contact patch is no longer optimal when the bike is leaned over.
This is my 3rd set of Avons (last four sets were Avon, Avon, E3, Avon), and this is the first time I've put over 10K miles on the Avons. I replaced each of the first two sets around 6000 miles because I was about to start a long trip. (I have no problem tossing out tires with a few thou' left if I am about to start a new trip). Current set is nowhere near the wear bars, but they are definitely "worn" in other ways.
I returned to Avons after E3s because I felt more confident in the rain on the Avons than the E3s. Could be simply because I had lots more miles on the Avons and they felt "familiar"? Very subjective, take that with a grain of salt...
I am ready to try something else, if only because change and experimentation is the only way to find out what *I* like. Considering Bridgestones again.