Metzeler Sportec M7 RR Front Tire

Description

Wet road. Dry road. Just ride it. Engineered to empower true riders. SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR is engineered to empower true riders with a sporty riding style, using their motorcycles in all conditions, weather and temperature. SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR derives from Metzeler’s experience in road racing activities including the “Isle of Man TT” and the “Metzeler Ulster Grand Prix”, featuring completely new profiles, structure materials, compounds and tread pattern. Main characteristics: Sporty Handling: The combination of profiles derived from the road racing activities with high stiffness structures delivers extremely agile handling for a sporty riding style on all roads. Grip in all Conditions: 100% silica compounds combined with a special tread pattern gives SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR the unique capability to keep the sporty riding stile also in cold conditions, wet roads and greasy and grimy tarmac surfaces. Extended Mileage: 20% more mileage compared to SPORTEC(TM) M5 INTERACT(TM). Tire Properties: Racing derived profiles have the effect of quick acquisition of lean angle providing sporty and agile handling. High silica compounds give a chemical grip on wet tarmac for superior contact feeling in all conditions. Technical Data: Tread Pattern Design – Targeting themselves to a sporty riding behavior that has to be maintained also on wet / dirty roads, Metzeler needed to find a groove layout that assured grip on dry, water drainage and cornering stability. The longitudinal groves are interrupted by compound bridges to increase the thrust in acceleration, enhance stability of tread compound and improve wear regularity. These bridges also keep the groove wide open when going under the footprint ensuring water evacuation. In lateral groves, depth decreases gradually towards shoulder area to increase compactness and lateral thrust when turning at maximum lean angle on dry; their width, on the other hand, increases towards shoulder area to guarantee efficient water evacuation at higher lean angle, because with SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR, on wet, it is possible to reach higher lean angle than with SPORTEC(TM) M5 INTERACT(TM). The average Land / Sea ratio has also been revised: compared to the SPORTEC(TM) M5 INTERACT(TM), it has raised from 12.6% to 14.7% on front and decreased from 12.6% to 11.1% on rear. The reason is because the front tire is the main one responsible in clearing the water out of the road. Also, the distribution and layout of the grooves has sensibly changed and it is now more concentrated in the ‘first’ and ‘mid’ lean angle to ensure an extraordinary safety feeling when going into lean on wet. Finally, the tread pattern of SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR is derived from the Greek pi just like other products of the Metzeler tire range and it represents not only the family feeling of Metzeler tires but it is also a constitutive element of their technology: grooves are designed to interact with the compound and structure modifying tire flexibility, providing agile handling and efficient water evacuation. Compound – Once the tread pattern is defined and water has been efficiently cleared out from the pavement, the rubber gets in contact with the ground. At this point, Metzeler needed to develop a compound capable of generating chemical and mechanical grip, to deal with the interaction between the asphalt and the tire. The development target was to extend the sporty behavior from the ‘perfect or ideal conditions’ of dry warm temperature and regular asphalt to those sudden and unpredictable situations that riders all actually encounter when riding on normal roads: wet spots, leaves, temperature drops, debris, holes, etc. Metzeler therefore developed a totally new family of compounds with high to full silica (SiO2) for supersport applications. The key for this real technological breakthrough relays in Metzeler’s exclusive and patented mixing process that is capable of delivering the ‘state-of-the-art’ in compounding, maximizing the dispersion of all the components in the polymeric matrix and achieving an unmatched level of homogeneity. The front tire is mono compound and features a 100% silica content. Profile – The main function of the profile is to influence the handling behavior of the tire. The profile of SPORTEC(TM) M7 RR is directly derived from those used in the road racing activity by Guy Martin and all other pilots. With this kind of geometry, this profile provides an immediate descend into lean from the upright position and agile handling in quick change of direction. The shoulder portion is flatter, providing a 5% larger footprint area which provides a better grip and trajectory precision when leaning. Sidewall height is also increased by 3 mm, providing more torsional flexibility that increases the tire traction in acceleration and out of the turns. Structure – To support such a profile, to permit the compound to grip the asphalt and keep the groves wide open when going under the footprint, Metzeler developed a proper structure in order to sustain all elements in their correct position. The radial carcass is made of a special version of Rayon with a high rate of linear density and stiffness. In other words, this structure is much more rigid and capable of maintaining its shape under a higher stress and load strain. The fiber end-count has then been reduced by 20% increasing the space between a fiber and the next one; this space is therefore occupied by more rubber that enhances the overall damping effect, providing a better contact feeling and predictability. Over the radial structure lies the 0deg steel belt with a 5 zones INTERACT(TM) technology to provide progressive behavior at any lean angle. The INTERACT(TM) technology is the latest level of evolution of the 0deg steel belt technology and is an integral part of all Metzeler tire development where a steel belt is used. By combining the INTERACT(TM) structure with compound technology, all the elements of the complex structure-belt-compound blend in the perfect way offering a continuous tuning of the performance over the lean angle of the bike. The variable string winding tension of the 0deg steel belt guarantees a progressive pressure distribution, giving tailored solutions to the different needs of every lean angle without any discontinuity in terms of performance.