Metzeler has added a new high-mileage tire to their lineup. the M888 Marathon Ultra.
The tiremakers unveiled the new rubber at the Cleveland V-twin Expo. Supposedly, the tire solves a long-standing problem; normally, riders have to compromise between tire longevity and stickiness. Choose a tire for performance, and it’ll wear out more quickly. Choose a tire for long life, and you won’t have as much grip in the corners. Mind you, this is a cruiser tire (at least for now), and not designed for knee-dragging either.
Metzeler says their new Marathon M888 rubber offers long life, as well as great performance on dry and wet pavement. They guarantee the new tire’s performance for its whole lifespan. “As opposed to rushing the market with a tire that called for compromise, we took the time to engineer a high mileage tire while maintaining all of the characteristics that make a Metzeler tire,” says their director of marketing.
The reason for the claimed high performance? The M888 has a wider and shorter footprint area for reduced wear and better stability, a new tread design for improved wear regularity and consistency, and a new X-Ply carcass profile and geometry that’s supposed to keep the tire from overheating, and keep the rubber compounds unaltered.
