Rennie Scaysbrook | May 7, 2024
Has Metzeler created the world’s first two-in-one street tire? The German/Italian rubber giant certainly thinks so and claims the new Roadtec 02 is capable of proficient supersport and sport touring riding, depending on how you use it.
Their reasoning behind this is the grooves that close together on the last third of either side of the tire during high-force/cornering-load riding, effectively turning the sport touring tire into a near slick with an extra six percent of tire on the ground.
Called Dynatread, this adaptive tread design works the other way when cornering loads are not as high, expanding the grooves to give you six percent more water-draining capability and maintaining its original sport touring-specific ethos. However, the tread pattern looks suspiciously similar to that of the Sportec M7 RR street supersport tire.
The Dynatread is an ingenious feature that allows a broader range of riders to take on a set of Roadtec 02s and not be too concerned if they have the right rubber underneath them for when they want to light it up a little.
The Roadtec 02 is an all-new design and has leapfrogged the Roadtec 01 SE into the U.S. market that debuted in Europe last year—Metzeler USA tells us we’ll get this 01 SE tire later this year, but it’s aimed more at the higher mileage sport touring crowd that the Roadtec 01—which debuted in 2016—serviced so well.
Like so many of Metzeler’s street tires, the 02 runs a full silica compound on both the front and rear, and the rear runs Metzeler’s Cap&Base dual compound structure with a redesigned harder center for higher mileage and more high speed stability.
The tires are created using 43 percent bio-based and recycled material, and Metzeler also claims higher hysteresis in all conditions, which is the tire’s rolling-resistance rating relative to the amount of energy lost through heat when it flexes under load. More resistance/hysteresis means the tire will heat up faster and bite into the tarmac harder, thus giving you more confidence when you crank the bike over on its side. However, too much hysteresis will mean the tire will deform too much, giving you a spongy feeling and slow steering. As with almost everything in life, it’s a compromise.
One of the goals with the Roadtec 02 was increased braking performance in the wet, something we, at long last, got to experience while testing (see Rider Analysis). Compared to the Roadtec 01 SE (that we’re still to get in the U.S. at the time of writing), the 02 allows more lean angle and a higher brake pressure with less BS intervention, although they didn’t elaborate as to what bikes they were testing to come up with that claim. Modern ABS systems have taken a massive step forward since the advent of the Inertial Measurement Unit a decade ago, but less intervention is always a good thing because it means you can make emergency avoidance steering inputs without the ABS pulsing at the brake lever.
So, does all this mumbo jumbo actually equate to a good tire capable of doing what Metzeler says it can? Well, yes, but…
Rider Analysis | Metzeler Roadtec 02 Tires
The Isle of Man. The Valhalla of motorcycling. The most famous strip of road on our little two-wheeled planet, and, well, the weather did its best to drown us, blow us off the road, and run into each other due to the absolutely blinding fog.
But, hey, at least we finally got to really test these tires in the wet, because so often when we do tire testing it’s on a perfectly groomed, billiard table smooth racetrack with the only water present stuck inside clear bottles in the garage.
Straight up, I have no idea if the Dynatread works well or not because we pushed to about 20 percent of the tire’s capability during our lap of the glorious Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. Metzeler is going to send us a set of Roadtec 02s when they land in the U.S. later this year, and I’ll reserve my judgment until then.
However, wet-weather conditions, oh boy! On this I can firmly say the new Roadtec 02 is an excellent prospect. Initial turn-in is smooth and agile, and you get plenty of feel from the front under braking and in the mid-part of the corner.
I mainly rode on my all-time favorite sport touring machine in the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE, a machine I lived with for 18 months in 2021-’22, and the Roadtec 02s provided more grip than I’d ever need given the weather we were experiencing. Of course, you can overcome the grip with such a powerful bike, but that would be getting too close to throwing that gorgeous machine down the road than I’d have any want to.
A notable feature of the Roadtec 2 was during the blustering conditions atop the mountain, they held a respectable temperature. It was damn near freezing up there, I could barely feel my hands, but the Metzelers kept enough heat in them to continue doing their job effectively.
Dry weather performance and the all-important longevity test will have to wait until the tires arrive stateside, and I’ll throw them on a long-termer the second I get a set. But in terms of wet-weather performance, the Roadtec 02’s certainly holds up their promise.CN
Lowdown | Metzeler Roadtec 02 Tires
Standout Feature: Amazing wet-weather grip
List Price: TDB. (Metzeler expects these tires to be available in North America in the third quarter of 2024)
Excellent feel under braking in the wet
Fast but assured initial turn-in
Wet-weather acceleration grip was fantastic
I’ve absolutely no idea what they’re like in the dry
Learn more at https://www.metzeler.com/en-us/catalog/product/roadtec-02