FIRST LOOK
FIRST IMPRESSIONS Pulling away from the bike shop where I had the tyre fitted , there ’ s that slight rumble that comes along with a more knobbly tyre . Where road tyres feel wonderfully smooth at all speeds , knobbly tyres have a slight rumble at lower speeds . Heading out of town , I took it very easy to start wearing off the shiny , deathly slippery , mould release compound . The Mitas E07 feels very much like a road tyre in that it has great road handling manners . The knobs on the Rallz squirm a little when leaning the bike through corners , and the bike wants to keep turning ( oversteering ) once you get to a certain point of lean , where you need to make a steering motion to bring the bike back up again . This isn ’ t exclusive to the Rallz , it ’ s something I ’ ve found with all knobbly tyres . Hitting the gravel heading into Porika 4WD , the Rallz feels very much at home , those big knobs digging into the road through the gravel . Even running out onto the deep gravel at the edge of the road isn ’ t as terrifying as it often can be . The Rallz takes that in its stride . The Porika is a rocky track with sections of rutted dirt two-track and exposed rock slab . The Rallz happily gets enough grip to ride in and out of each wheel rut , rather than sliding down into the rut . Braking and steering grip on the steep downhill section heading to Lake Rotoroa is
KIWI RIDER 27