As an adventurous rider, I need a tire that’s up for the occasional escape from the tarmac!
After a rewarding relationship with the Conti Road Attack, I wondered, why not give its sibling, Conti Trail Attack III a shot?
The Trail Attack III is a premium road-oriented adventure tire designed for touring, perfect for my pre-coverage recon of the 25th Lés-a-Lés route. A tire’s trial-by-fire, where start-stop scouting meets shooting, spanning days and miles…
This is my most critical tire selection of the year! It must let me forget about the bike, so I can focus on capturing the unscripted moments of the event, with no room for second takes!
On these tires, my trusty 1290 SAS Valkyria and I clocked nearly 5,000km, crisscrossing Portugal from top to bottom.
You see, I like to ride the route in reverse first, marking photogenic GPS spots for shooting. Then, I ride in the intended direction, ensuring safe bike parking spots while memorizing GoPro-worthy places. And then I’m ready to go shoot the event!
From pristine to rough tarmac, cobblestones and even the ocasional ancient Roman road, these tires saw it all and always held their own, despite a fully loaded 160hp, 240kg bike, with a big dude on top, they survived 5,000km impressively and could’ve definitely gone further. But, with a long pillion journey ahead, I decided not to risk it.
Equipped with Continental’s “TractionSkin,” these tires provide excellent grip in diverse conditions. Their quick warm-up time, merely 1,500 meters (at least that’s what they say), was a blessing in disguise during the scout’s frequent stops, letting me get back on the go, attacking corners swiftly, without any concerns.
Their MultiGrip carcass construction ensured uniform wear, maintaining high performance throughout their life. Despite my limited knowledge about these technologies, I didn’t notice any performance drop from the tires’ debut to their farewell.
An unexpected metal pin in the tire during the last stage could have been a potential nightmare, but I decided to keep on riding rather than face a puncture repair, as late as I was on the longest stage of the event.
The pin gradually wore down and fell off, leaving a gnarly scar but not a puncture, proving the tire’s resilience.
From asphalt to rocky trails, the Conti Trail Attack III never let me down!
On-road, they were comparable to their sibling, the Road Attack. Off-road, they found surprising amounts of traction, despite their road-focused design and my big trail bike, which I usually avoid taking off-road.
Despite the battering on rocky trails during the event’s second stage, the tires demonstrated notable resilience against punctures.
They truly shone with their RainGrip technology!
I had an incident where I hit diesel on a wet road and the front wheel slipped away largely… but before I mentally finished saying “this is it”, the tire managed to regain traction on the wet asphalt… 🤯
Yes, I was über lucky! Yes, the 1290’s frame geometry and low center of gravity were a significant help in the recovery (along with the mighty kick I gave the ground)… but not every tire regains traction that way, on wet asphalt, right after catching diesel!!
A truly heart-stopping moment that reaffirmed my faith in these awesome tires!!
While they were at home in most rough conditions, thicker patches of mud during a downpour on the 2nd stage, felt quite uncomfortable. However, they’re road-focused tires, so no surprise there.
After a few scary moments and a little luck, we picked up a steady pace, which got us safely to the top of the mountain.
Check out the highlights from the 2nd stage!
The Conti Trail Attack III is an all-rounder with reassuring handling, available in various sizes, making it versatile for a myriad of motorcycles!
If they could only last a little longer… but we can’t have it all… or can we?
Stay tuned on my social media accounts, to see what rear tire I’ll be testing next!
I’m pretty sure the front tire will keep on rolling for quite some time.
And remember…
To adventure is to live! But to return safely, is a sure way of doing it again and again!!
