I recently replaced my original tourance rear (8k miles but still with good tread depth) to reduce the wheel locking under heady breaking and the funny cornering with tyre wear.
I went for conti trail attack 2 which makes the bike corner much better and less wheel lock but...
I noticed the ride has become much harder and bumpier (running the standard 29psi @ the rear). Potholes and bump now have a kick!

My question is, could the conti be a harder tyre with stiffer side walls or that the garage fitted the tubeless version (with an inner tube of course)?


Conti list either TT or TL for this bike

The Trail Attack is a stiffer tyre than the Tourance, it's more road bias, so you will feel some difference. I can certainly tell the difference in ride quality between road bias and proper dual sport tyres. Probably something you'll just have to get used to.

Just as an aside, it's always worth checking when you buy new tyres that they are actually new! Some retailers push out tyres as "new" when they're actually old stock. In the UK it is actually legal to sell a tyre as "new" even if it's up to 6 years old!

Most of the big name tyre manufacturers do however instruct retailers to send stock back if it's been on the shelf for two years... but it's not always the case. Tyre rubber gets harder during storage. So buyer beware.

Have a look on the sidewall for the date moulding. The first two digits show the week and the second two digits show the actual year - Eg: 1109 means the tyre below was manufactured in the 11th week of 2009.

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thanks for the info.

Would you say a tubeless version of the same tyre is also stiffer than the tubed version?

shame about this coz I like the handling of the tyre but the bumpier ride defeats one of the main reasons I got the XTR.

I guess I will have to switch back to tourance @ the next change.

didn't know 6 years old tyres could be sold as new. Possible, if they are stored in the right environment maybe.

An interesting observation. After the tourances and K60 , I am on the conti trails now. Same feelings, as you. I started to blame forks and shock, but hopefully you are right. Thanks.

I wouldn't know as I only ever tried the TL version of the Trail Attack. TL tyres tend to be slightly stiffer around the bead because they've got to stay airtight, which is why they're generally slightly harder to mount. However, the actual compound and structure of the rest of the tyre is usually little different.

Basically it's just a fact of life and you just have to live with it. Sportier tyres are stiffer and generally don't ride as well. You've got to ask yourself which is more important to you: comfort or grip/handling? All tyres are a trade off in some respect. Many tyre makers claim to have a �do-it-all� tyre, but none actually are. Whoever invents a tyre that can genuinely do everything will make millions!

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Hey Bonjo......surely no one ever goes 'back' to Tourance!, a truly horrible tyre. And Pleiades makes a good point about the date mark on the tyres ....I took a tyre I'd bought online to be fitted only for the m to tell me the tyre was 8 years old...according to the marking on the tyre. To be fair I was given a full refund and kept the tyre...but it's something to be aware of . Steve

I changed the front 1000 miles before the rear (hair line cracking on the tourance). The conti was a proper tubed version. I did not feel any changes in terms of the ride getting harsher.

The rear conti is however a tubeless one with the original inner tube and bump absorption is worse at the rear!

Checked the dates, the rear is late 2014.
suspension compliance is important to me on the XT as I bought it as an antidote to my sports bikes (with firm suspension).

So I guess I will have to change to a softer tyre once the conti wears out. Maybe I can try dropping the rear pressure a bit to see if it helps

CCA:
what did yo not like about the tourance?

Hi Bonjo.
Actually, I liked them. Dry or wet tarmac, dry or deep muddy off road, very good. Stable and silent. I am not fast rider, tires easily outperformed me. After 16000 km front tire come to the end, 1-2 mm tread left. Rear tire, even with about half tread left, deteriorate so badly that I was really scared to keep it. On the last off road (with that tire), coming down from the mountain peak, cold weather, rain, grassy dirt road... I am still scared. I was sliding all over the place. Only God knows how i have managed to come to the tarmac without fall. And with all that relieve... they just continue to slide on the road. After one month, they were ok on dry, but even on slightest smell of rain, they were exiting again and I went for Heidenau K60.
After k60 I wanted more road biased tires and Tourances were not available here. Conti TA are fine on road, but for off road I had possibility to test my crash bars . It was more my mistake than tires. They are not suited for off road but it is doable (dry condition).

tourance is highly rated nevertheless, maybe it is too much of an in between for some.
If it weren't for the rear locking up and handling going off after 7000 miles, I would have go them again. I hardly go off road; no need to, our tarmac road are as bad as dirt roads in some countries!!

I was happy with them in the rains and light snow.

I decided to drop the rear pressure from the 29 psi in the handbook and it has made much improvement to the ride quality.
25 psi makes it almost as comfy as tourance but it may be too low for daily rides including high speed motorways so I have settled for 26