Anlas Capra X-Rally test and review in Val di Susa, on the military roads from Jaffreau to Assietta, from Monti della Luna to Sommelier.
We had seen it secretly at the fair and immediately fell in love with it. We finally managed to try it, taking it out of its habitat to scramble it well on the stones between Piedmont and France.
We spent two days in Susa ValleyIn the company of Peter Tupputi, Owner of Live out and excellent off-road driving: we went from hard and dusty surfaces to stony ground, from gravel and very loose pebbles to snow. It is true, there was no sand, but we wanted to see how it fared in a purely local use, far from the dunes.
The design is typical of the tires from rally-raid, with a compound that does not seem to be the hardest to the touch. The measure is unique, 140/80-18, which limits use to only motorcycle with the rear rim with the classic off-road diameter. There is no front, so depending on the use it can be combined with one Extreme goat (the specialist enduro one) if you make very short transfers on the road, or one Goat X, as in our case (with the design most similar to the Rally) if you have to do some asphalt at each exit.
Started from Sauce the Oulx, in the splendid setting of the Hello Pais hut, we traveled the first kilometers on asphalt, even well over 100 km / h, with the Honda CRF250 Rally where we became familiar with the "folds" of the hairpin bends that led us to the famous Piedmontese dirt roads. Here, the military roads leading to the Colle dell'Assietta, Sommelier, Jaffreau and Mountains of the Moon they are a real playground for us motorcyclists. The rubber, on the bitumen, immediately gave us an excellent feeling, revealing itself little noisy and with an excellent lateral support, without transmitting too much that sense of "driving on eggs" even though the pressure was already low (1,2 bar).
Finally reached the end of the state road, we begin the climb towards Mount Jaffreau, along the Military Road 75, passing by the wonderful Gallery of the Saracens just reopened. We deflate to 1,0 bar to make the X-Rally curve fit well. The bottom is hard and the dust a lot, so we proceed with some initial caution. The rubber immediately responds with a good feeling of grip, even when it loses grip it is perceived without nasty surprises, and the first traverses are very well controllable. Obviously, compared to the technical enduro knobs, the hard and compact surfaces, with little gravel / stones, are more digestible by the X-Rally. We push deeper and deeper and do it with vera safety, feeling well the thrust of the rear that bites constantly and constantly.
The routes begin to become more and more technical as you go up, with more gravel, stones e cobblestone, even a lot of turmoil, so we reduce the pace a little. Traction is always optimal, without ever losing grip when moving forward. Where we find limits is in the lateral grip, on the stones of the most bumpy sections and on the wet surfaces that we meet every now and then: in these cases we felt the rear "dance more" compared to those who preceded us with the classic enduro blocks that sank one more more. It is a limit that we had put in the budget for the tread pattern, designed more to move forward than to "cling" to the side. In any case, we do not encounter any driving difficulties and we proceed well. Where the rubber loses its grip on the side, it compensates for the line of knobs in pushing forward.
In addition to stones, gravel and hard surfaces, we also tested the grip in the mud, not the deep and bastard that many know but still insidious at times. The rubber obviously holds more than the more spaced traditional block, but we have no difficulty in managing the crossings and above all a few meters are enough for the rubber to clean itself well. When we reached the top of the Sommelier we also dared to “snowshoe” by taking the bike on INFO papposa and springs of the 3.009 meters of the hill. We got out of it without any problems, in fact, it was really a moment, making only a little effort when the tire slipped on the wet boulders where the snow ended.
Uphill, downhill, at low and high speeds, we covered a total of about 350km in two days, of which at least 300 were off-road. We did it all in the company of lighter specialist enduros weighing around 50kg very well rubberised: in the more technical and demanding sections we lost a few meters, but without ever really suffering; on the mixed sections and on the hard we had a lot of fun, pushing the bike well and opening wide shameless.
We can conclude that the Anlas Capra X-Rally it is an excellent tire to take into consideration, not only for sand and real raids, where there are many kilometers to go, but also for those who have the opportunity to often go off-road (preferably on dry surfaces) while having to do something every time stretch of asphalt. Speaking of motorcycle tourism, it can be an excellent travel companion for those who perhaps have places like the in mind Corsica or the Sardegna where the off-road vehicle really deserves a lot, from the mountains to the most remote beaches, or for the beautiful adventure touring events such as the HAT Series, Rally of Umbria, the Swan Rally or Crete of Siena.
We also thank Pietro Tupputi who guided me and other enduro enthusiasts on the beautiful mountains on the border between Italy e France, in safety, providing all the necessary assistance in addition to the historical and geographical information of these lands, making these two days away from the city truly unique (also for the choice of the hut and the restaurants).
For more information on tires you can visit the website of Anlas Italy or that of the distributor for Italy Innovabox to buy them directly.
Ph. Credits (Fabio Capone - Moto Excape)
