If you speak with riders, scrubbing in new rubber is probably one of their least favourite things when it comes to riding, especially in the wet. However in their 11th June 2014 issue, Tony Hoare of Motorcycle News had very little choice in the matter as he put the brand new ContiRoadAttack 2 EVO which arrived in the UK for the first time earlier this year to the test just after the heavens had opened.
The new ContiRoadAttack 2 EVO builds on the success of the popular ContiRoadAttack 2 sport touring tyre which was launched back in 2010. The new EVO tyre offers riders more mileage and more wet grip thanks to enhanced tread design and new formula compound rich in silica. There are a range of sizes which covers not only middleweight and sports bikes, but also large adventure bikes such as the BMW R1200 GS.
For the test Tony fitted a set of the latest Continental rubber to his Ducati Monster 1200 long term test bike in order to put them through their paces. As we’ve already mentioned the first job for any rider when fitting a set of new tyres is sto get them scrubbed in by removing the shiny black coating which comes from the release agent many manufacturers used to remove the tyre from the mould, but as Tony found out the engineers at the Continental factory in Germany have gone a long way towards changing that with their unique Traction Skin technology which provides grip and increased rider safety from the word go on a number of products by creating a micro rough surface on the new tyre.
With the rain starting to fall just 20 minutes before Tony was due to hit the roads, plenty of time to give them a good soaking he goes on to say:
“In any normal circumstances this would be a horror story, but its perversely the ideal situation for a first go on Contis latest sports touring tyre – for two reasons. Firstly, Continental claims its tyres barely need any scrubbing in. Secondly, the claimed improvements for this new-for-2014 tyre are all about increasing the levels of performance in the wet.
And if the evidence of the first 40 miles were to be taken alone, Continental has hit the back of the net on both counts. Within a mile of MCN headquarters, I could confidently splosh along on wet roads despite the tyres being new, which would normally fry my head.”
A further day into the test and Tony decided to test the ContiRoadAttack 2 EVO on the back roads along the route of his very wet commute and commented “they are very reassuring in both handling and grip. Riding at a similar pace to my dry commute, I had no moments and felt constantly confident that the Evos had my back. Under braking they grip well, on turn-in and through corner exit they cope well with the torquey delivery of the Ducatis 1200cc V-twin.”
Summarising the performance of the new tyre, Tony said that the Continental was in the same league at the Pirelli Angel GT, which was voted MCN 2013 tyre of the year and was a benchmark for the Continental engineers developing the new EVO for 2014.
