Reise TraceRad Street Review Series: Part 1: Introduction

Reise TraceRad tyres are one of the most recent additions to the steel-belted radial tyre segment in India. However, these are currently available only in one size each for front and rear – 110/70 R17 and 150/60 R17, respectively. That restricts the tyres to bikes like the KTM Duke 390, Aprilia Tuono 457 and RS 457, Triumph Speed 400, Bajaj Dominar 400, and others. A pair of front and rear costs Rs 12,998 (without installation) on Reise’s website. The tyres have a 6 year warranty, which is at par with some other Indian brands. 

To put things in perspective, I am upgrading to these tyres from a pair of relatively inexpensive non-radial tyres on my second-gen KTM 390 Duke. I have installed these at about 21,000km on the odometer, and since then I have ridden more than 300km in the city, on the highway, on smooth as well as broken tarmac, commutes, and a long weekend ride. That distance pretty much makes this a real-world first ride experience. Though, this is just the beginning of my four-part review series that will be spread over the next 6 months. 

Reise TraceRad Tyres First Impressions

As it were, these tyres have massively upgraded my riding experience the moment I rolled off the shop floor post-installation. The most noticeable difference is that the bike now feels quite a lot more flickable than before. This is down the curvy profile of these tyres. Once tipped, there’s more than enough grip to hold the lean, provided you aren’t abrupt with your inputs. 

The dual radii profile of these tyres also allow them to be stable on the straight patches of the road - at both high and low speeds. 

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Reise TraceRad Tyres City Performance

These tyres have a softer side wall (as compared to my previous tyres), which has made the ride a bit more comfortable than before. That said, I now have to be more careful about sharp edges on broken road – potholes, ditches – and unfinished roads, to prevent rapid deterioration of the tyres. 

This is also partially due to the fact that these are slightly softer compound tyres. Which means I am now making conscious efforts to not filter through peak hour traffic by going off the road to overtake a couple of vehicles. I am okay with that because I would rather save the tyres for when I can really have some fun with them. 

Reise TraceRad Tyres Highway Performance

Out on the open stretches of the road, these are relatively silent tyres – if that matters on a bike. The profile of the tyres makes short corners fun and long corners even more fun. I can now open the throttle slightly quicker for overtakes or to just gain speed after slowing down. Braking from highway speeds is easy too, as I have explained next. 

Reise TraceRad Tyres Braking

My braking experience has improved significantly. Now I feel more confident braking harder, which has resulted in shorter braking distances. Hard braking on concrete roads during the hottest part of the day results in a bit of a tyre squeal, but the actual difference in braking performance is negligible. But that’s more down to the surface quality than the tyres themselves. 

Reise TraceRad Tyres Mileage

Before changing the tyres, the real world mileage of my KTM Duke 390 was about 20-23kmpl, depending on the riding conditions. After changing the tyres, the mileage has gone up to 25-28kmpl. But then again, I have had a major service done to my bike not so long ago, which would also have added to the improved mileage. But that’s not to say the tyres don’t have their share in it. 

Verdict

If you are currently running on a basic or an affordable set of tyres, you can definitely consider upgrading to these. However, if you have a pair of radials already, the performance gains would be marginal, if any, unless your tyres are really worn out. We are also yet to see how the wear on these tyres is as I munch on miles. Along with that, the prolonged effect on mileage, and more shall be covered in the next part of this series. In the second part, I talk about how these tyres have performed, and their condition after 2000km of riding.