Michelin Anakee Wild – for riders wishing to “fully exploit” their trail bike’s potential

The global rollout of Michelin’s Anakee Wild trail bike tyre gets under way this month, with four radial fitments – two front wheel and two rear – available in the initial range. While the launch portfolio includes sizes for the ‘flagship’ bike in this category, the BMW R 1200 GS, three additional sizes will join the line-up during the course of this year, extending coverage to most trail bikes on the market. According to information supplied by Michelin, the tyre trio arriving later in 2016 will be non-radial fitments.

Destined for large trail bikes, the Anakee Wild is designed for dual purpose on- and off-road use. Or, as Michelin writes in its launch statement, the tyre is “aimed at riders who want to break away from paved roads and fully exploit the potential of bikes designed both for roads as well as the most uneven, sandy, stony and muddy tracks.” As such, the Anakee Wild was designed to “adapt to all terrain types and situations, as well as the most varied climates.”

Michelin says its development engineers’ mission was to combine three performance characteristics:

• Excellent mileage and resistance to overheating and wear. The tyre maker says this was achieved through a new tread composition and optimised tread depth.
• On-road stability and comfort. This criterion was met through use of radial technology, which is available for the first time in the world on four different sizes of knobbly tyres.
• Wet road grip, riding precision, as well as off-road traction. These combined performance characteristics are facilitated by the tyre’s tread block design; Michelin says this was “inspired” by that on its Desert tyres, which have won the Paris-Dakar on 33 occasions.

Anakee Wild sizes

Front:

110/80 R 19 (available within the first four months of 2016)
120/70 R 19 (available within the first four months of 2016)
90/90 – 21

Rear:
150/70 R 17 (available within the first four months of 2016)
170/60 R 17 (available within the first four months of 2016)
130/80 – 17
140/80 – 17

Input from riders also contributed to the Anakee Wild design process, and Michelin handed over its tyres to T3 Aventure, a company specialised in extreme treks around the world, for testing. Solicited by Michelin from 2013, T3 Aventure tested the Anakee Wild over four continents; the Michelin tyres travelled 40,000 kilometres on BMW R 1200 GS bikes on four treks, during which they were exposed to temperature variations of 50° C (between – 5°C and 45°C).

The first of these treks saw the Anakee Wild-shod bikes ride on the Long Way Home Asia expedition in 2013, covering 12,500 kilometres from Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator to Istanbul, Turkey. The following year’s trek, GS Zoulou, covered 7,500 kilometres from Winhoek in Namibia to Cape Town, South Africa. The 2015 Wild Runners trek ran for 4,000 kilometres through France and Spain, while the GS Gringo trek, which took place in the autumn of 2015, covered the 15,000 kilometres between Uruguayan capital Montevideo and, via five other countries, Ushuaia in Argentina.

Michelin Anakee Wild

During these four treks, Michelin utilised different measurements and analyses in order to improve the Anakee Wild and “add the final touches” to the version that is about to be launched on the market. “T3 Aventure made it possible to validate the tyre’s high mileage, durability and ability to adapt to all terrain types (from paved roads to the most abrasive tracks), as well as its comfort and riding precision,” shares Michelin. “With the Michelin Anakee Wild, the participants on each trek were able to complete their adventure on the same set of tyres and with total peace of mind.”

Designed for 50 per cent on-road and 50 per cent off-road use, the new Anakee Wild is the most off-road oriented Michelin trail bike tyre. The tyre maker also offers the Anakee III, which offers on-road performance and off-road capability, and the purely on-road, sport touring Pilot Road 4; while this last-mentioned tyre is not specifically targeted at trail bikes, it is suitable for fitment on these machines.