Anlas Winter Grip 2, the long test of winter scooter rubber continues in the summer

Anlas Winter Grip 2 – Knowing the products of the Turkish company, which in recent years has also made headlines for being the first to dedicate itself to M+S tires for motorcycles and scooters, when we put the Winter Grip 2 to the test (here is our first article) we were not surprised by the excellent performance demonstrated in extreme winter conditions. It is not a snow tire as we understand it in the automotive sense, also because not even the law allows you to use a motorcycle or moped with a heavy snowfall in progress, a situation where it is forbidden to use a two-wheeled vehicle and where you risk up to to a fine of 338 euros! (here you will find the details of what the highway code requires).

The M+S marking is in fact recognized, to date, only for cars, while (perhaps due to the novelty of this thing), it is not mentioned in the regulations dedicated to two wheels. In fact it is partly understandable, because although the excellent Anlas dedicated to winter, they do not guarantee that you can drive safely on a very snowy surface. So what are they for? Some may ask, but the question is somewhat "wrong". Who really needs to use their motorbike or scooter during a (very rare now) snowfall? We have seen that in severe, but not excessively extreme, conditions, the Anlas SC-500 "Winter Grip 2" have proven to be a salvation even with a few centimeters of snow, but for the few days in which Milan or one of the other large metropolises is paint, you could easily do without driving the scooter, leaving it in the garage, as required by law and using the car or, even better, public transport. Those who use a scooter all year round know well, however, that the pitfalls of the bad season, those that arise very often and over a rather long period of time (let's say from November to March, therefore for just under half of the 12 months) , they are different from snow. We are talking about cold asphalt and made slimy not only by rain, but also by humidity and other factors. It is a road surface with a very different grip compared to that for which normal tires were designed to give the best. In these conditions, often not even the latest aids such as ABS and traction control are able to solve the problem of reduced grip, leading many motorcyclists to give up using their motorbike or scooter in the winter months. In recent years, some tire manufacturers have developed tires that offer something more in terms of performance and grip with water and low temperatures, but with limited advantages compared to the tires we are used to and, on the other hand, with some limitations in the hot months .

Changing tires is impossible or almost impossible on a motorbike or scooter

Here we come to the real crux of the "winter tires for motorcycles" question. With cars, at least for those who travel a lot, you can equip yourself with two "trains" of tyres, which are changed between the summer and winter seasons. There are dates established by law, in some areas, which oblige you to have chains on board or winter covers, but also to remove the latter (usually after May 15th), due to speed codes which may be different from those on the car registration document, the use of which is therefore permitted only in certain months. Changing tires is a rather simple thing on a car, an operation that takes less than half an hour if you also have double rims to match the two-season covers. The tire change can replace, therefore without additional costs, a normal check with balancing and rotation between the front and rear, all things that have a very low cost compared to the purchase price of four new tyres. In the motorcycle world, the film is different. Thinking of equipping yourself with double rims and changing the wheels twice a year is practically unfeasible. Some people do it, but these are very rare cases and these are normally users who travel a lot of kilometres, perhaps needing to replace their tires several times a year because they are worn out. In a situation like this, from time to time, we buy the best ones for the seasons that await us, knowing that in less than 6 months, they will be replaced again. If you instead find yourself using the scooter for the classic 5-6 thousand kilometers per year, think about spending even 50-60 euros for the rotation of two sets of tires (even if you start from half this figure, depending on the area of ​​Italy and the workshop, as well as the type of motorbike/scooter and the time required), which perhaps cost less than double that amount, you will understand that it becomes an unjustified choice. Added to this is a significant inconvenience, consisting of having to take the vehicle to the workshop, being without it for a day and so on. Assuming a "useful life" that could exceed 15 thousand km, we would end up having to carry out a very high number of changes, moreover with possible negative consequences on the tire casing, which might not appreciate the repeated bead breaking operations for mounting and dismounting from the rims. .

A tire only for winter is therefore unattractive

Anyone who has made concrete reasoning on the topic will therefore have come to the same considerations: a tire that is perfect for winter, but which cannot also be used in summer, is of little interest to a motorcyclist. As important as the increase in performance (and therefore safety) is in winter, a tire that cannot be used without problems throughout the entire 12 months is unlikely to attract a normal user of two wheels, even a a scooter that is always used. Here comes "the beauty" of the Anlas SC-500 "Winter Grip 2". For the second time, at least, they managed to amaze us, let's see why.

Anlas SC-500 “Winter Grip 2”, excellent performance even with perceived 40° temperatures

First of all, returning to draw a parallel with the world of four wheels, even if it were permitted by the regulations, using M+S in the summer would result in two big problems: decidedly low grip on the asphalt above the 20° threshold (stop distances can extend by more than 50%) and very rapid degradation (a few thousand km, compromising their future effectiveness on snow in just a few hundred km). Reasons why no one, or almost no one, does it. So Anlas had a decidedly difficult task in developing a tire that he could combine a high grip in winter (we saw that it is very close to what we are used to in summer), with performance and durability in summer. Mission accomplished, we would say, because in the summer part of our long test, we were able to see that the polymers of the compound used for the Winter Grip 2 are absolutely not in crisis. They don't even do it with ground temperatures above 50°. In Milan this summer, for many weeks, temperatures above 30° were recorded, often exceeding the perceived 40, which translated into an asphalt more suitable for cooking an egg, rather than for using M+S tyre. Instead, contrary to all predictions, the grip of the tires tested always remained optimal, with negligible differences compared to a traditional tyre. It even maintains a small advantage in the wet, where even in summer the Winter Grip 2 retain better grip and an excellent feeling, reducing the stress and problems that can arise from having to tackle a route during an intense summer downpour. We have used them for a long time and also for extra-urban journeys at motorway speeds, adding to the heat of the asphalt that generated by rolling in extreme conditions, but we have never encountered overheating of the tread such as to clearly compromise the performance in terms of grip or response. Of course, with a high-performance motorbike there could be some greater problems, but on a scooter, despite our "test bed" being a medium-sized engine with interesting performance (Honda SH300i), the differences are very acceptable.

Everything has a price, which here is basically only paid with a shorter duration, but not that much

Our impression, which we expressed from the first kilometers of the test and which was confirmed as our long test continued, is that in the future the main competitors will have to think about the interesting innovations introduced by Anlas with its M+S , in general and especially for these Winter Grip 2 dedicated to scooters. Yes, because the performance differences in winter are truly surprising, but they are not compensated by large and obvious defects. Among these we confirm the noise level, which is immediately noticeable and which we had in fact reported since the first article dedicated to the Winter Grip 2. It is quite high and is also accompanied, even if it is difficult to quantify (with the difference being very modest), in a slightly higher fuel consumption, precisely due to the greater rolling resistance. Instead, we said that the performance in the heat does not differ much from that offered by an excellent traditional cover. Indeed, in the wet the impression is better with these Anlas, even in the height of summer. The last test is that of mileage, which is passed, even if without honors (of course, one might say!). We have already recommended these tires to all "frequent" users of their scooter, to those who do not put it to rest in the winter and who are not afraid of cold and rain. Anyone who asked us whether they would have to fit another tire in the summer found an answer in this article. The Winter Grip 2, despite their name, are perfect or almost perfect even in summer and during all 12 months. The only doubt remained linked to a purely economic question.

How long do they last (and how much do they “really” cost)?

And here we are at the fateful question. Having noted that the price of the Anlas SC-500 “Winter Grip 2” is aligned with that of a traditional tire from a premium brand (the Pirelli previously mounted and which we had as a yardstick in our case, but also Bridgestone, Dunlop or Metzeler ), it remained to understand their kilometric durability, especially with use throughout the year and therefore also in summer. Consequently, understand how much the "actual" cost is, because with the same price list, a shorter duration translates into a greater expense for each kilometer travelled. Given that we will have a definitive verdict in a few months, when we will bring the tires to finish the useful part of the tread, gauge in hand and after having used the Winter Grip 2 mainly in the hottest summer months, we have made a rather simple calculation. The thickness consumed, in relation to the entire portion that can be used before the "block" placed in the tread groove, which is the minimum recommended level (well above the legal level, which stops at 1 mm for motorbikes and 0.5 for mopeds, versus 1.6 for cars), leads us to estimate a kilometer duration approximately 30% less than a traditional rubber, when used at high temperatures. Given the lower consumption during the winter season, we can hypothesize, without large margins of error, that the difference will be an average value of 20% less of the Pirelli previously used, which we can use as a parameter for a concrete comparison. A difference that leads us calmly to exclude that a winter - summer change could be economically justified, on the contrary. At the end of our test, we can therefore promote the Anlas Winter Grip 2, also from a cost point of view. In fact, we are talking about a few tens of euros of additional expense (20% less durability, applied to the price of your scooter's tyres), to be spread over at least a couple of years of use (assuming 5-6 thousand km per year), in the face of considerable advantages, especially in bad weather. Just think about the value of avoiding a slip, however innocent it may be, without major damage and without getting hurt. All this is true provided, obviously, that the scooter is used all year round, a condition which, however, puts these covers in pole position, in our opinion, compared to the best competition.

We remind you that the Anlas Winter Grip 2 are available in over 30 sizes, for rims from 10 to 18" and that, as regards the price, there are no big differences compared to a traditional "premium" tyre, like the one we replaced for the test .