Metzeler Sportec M7RR's

I've got them fitted for a Spain trip so will have done a few miles on them in the next 2 weeks but my test rides scrubbing them in give me a really good feeling about this tyre.. Definitely more comfortable than the Dunlops Roadsmart 2's I had and instill a huge amount of confidence. They are light carcasses that enable the bike to steer even quicker still - all good things so far but Spain should be a great test..

OK.. Done a fair few miles in Spain on these tyres and just wanted to give you a few notes on how they performed for me..

I ran these at standard pressures with outside temp of around 24'c in the dry - no wet riding done and any comparison is with my previous tyres which were Dunlop Roadsmart 2's, Pirelli Corsa etc..

Generally they turned in more quickly and could drop into the corner more easily. There's plenty of feedback - not vague at all yet they were more compliant than the Dunlops and soaked up road bumps quite nicely. This made the ride more comfortable. I took these tyres completely to the edge and I haven't really started hanging off the bike so they do grip at lean. I mucked about with opening the throttle hard early in the corner and they did once give a slide under power - nothing drastic, probably felt it more than it really was but during that slide, it felt progressive and didn't suddenly break traction. I think in more capable hands you could play serious tricks with this tyre..

The front was very confidence inspiring under straight line and corner entry braking. They responded well to very aggressive braking and the feel just improved with more abuse. Even when rolling it into a corner a little too quick I could still know the front would be fine.

I did have an issue with understeer initially whereby the front felt like it was pushed out wide. After this happened a few times I backed off the rear 1 click and this fixed the problem for me. I don't claim to be scientific about it but for me it fixed the problem and afterwards the front-end really did engage with the rest of the bike.

They wear pretty well with my suspension setup and riding style and haven't flattened off yet - no doubt more to do with the twisties than anything else..

I think a lot of spanish roads are slippery, you can feel a massive difference between the old mountain roads that are ferrous stained and the resurfaced ones that feel like shell grip. Even on the slippery roads, this was a great tyre to ride on but on the new ones - the bike felt like it is truly on rails

Would I buy another set - yes and no question about it..