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Choosing Maxxis Mountain Bike Tires

By April 19, 2022Blog

We once heard an incredibly well-known mountain bike engineer refer to Maxxis as the “taco shop of tire manufacturers”: they have a set of key ingredients that are combined in various ways to create distinct products. Like the taco stand, it’s best to understand the ingredients before you choose from the menu. To clarify what all the crazy nomenclatures mean, we have built Sports Garage’s Quick Guide to Choosing Maxxis Mountain Bike Tires and outlined our Shop Picks. It can be pretty tedious, even for someone who works with the products every day.

Triple compound Maxxis tires include a combination of soft, medium, and hard tire material compounds.

Compounds and Treads

In our opinion, the two most important attributes of a tire are the compounds and the treads.
Compounds: The compound refers to the particular blend of materials that goes into the tire’s construction. Maxxis offers single, dual, and triple compound [3C] tires. The different compounds draw out different characteristics in the tires, such as rolling resistance or grip.
Treads: The tread is the part of the tire that makes contact with the ground– the parts of the tire that touch the road or trail. Treads are patterns, which can be symmetrical, asymmetrical, directional, or other designs, and have features like grooves, ribs, nobs, and blocks.
Maxxis can make the same tread design in different compounds, which results in completely different ride characteristics. The unique combinations or compounds and tread features create the vast number of selections. The shop picks that follow focus almost exclusively on dual and triple compounds as they are the most commonly used in your mountain biking tires; a minimum of two distinct rubber compounds create the rolling and grip attributes we need for performance on a broad variety of trail conditions.

Casings and Puncture Protection

Another key tire “ingredient” is the Casing, which is the foundation against which the compound is laid down. While foundation sounds like the source of strength in the tire, it is actually air that holds the tire up. The casing acts like a cushion for the rubber and holds the air. Casings are measured in threads per inch. Lower TPI casings are heavier and more durable, and a higher TPI number is lighter and conforms more easily to the trail.
While Colorado isn’t quite the Sonoran Desert, we still have lots of reasons to value Puncture Protection. Maxxis applies proprietary protective layers to their casings to support specific riding disciplines. Each proprietary technology has a unique name, such as MaxxShield or EXO+. This ingredient is self-explanatory: it reduces the likelihood of flat tires due to puncture.

Puncture Protection, such as EXO, is a proprietary feature that makes Maxxis tires more durable.

Lastly, special functions like Tubeless Ready [TR] are ingredients to be aware of. At Sports Garage we rarely, if ever, use Maxxis tires that are not tubeless ready. Assume all our Shop Picks are tubeless ready. 

Shop Picks

Our expert technicians install literally thousands of Maxxis tires every season. Our selections are based not only on our front range testing, but on the feedback from all riders in the SG family: you all sure can ruin some tires! Don’t doubt that you are the best product testers we talk to. As far as we’re concerned, Maxxis makes four tires for the everyday, lifestyle mountain bike rider. We’ve included our best-selling XC tire below as well.

All Mountain Category:

Assegai: The best choice for your front tire, hands down. The Assegai is a little slower rolling than the Minion DHF, but is far superior for traction, transitions, and cornering. Wherever the Assegai is pointed is where your bike is going.

  • Tread: Ideal for cornering control and braking traction
Minion DHR II: One of our top 2 choices for the rear tire. When you read this tire’s description and available “ingredients” on Maxxis’ website, it basically says, “This tire can do anything.”
  • Tread: Wider, more supportive side knobs, center treads designed to accelerate
Aggressor: Another top choice for the rear tire. Favors high speed, dry conditions.
  • Tread: Best as a rear tire for hard-packed, fast rolling trails
Trail Category:
Dissector: The newly released Dissector is awesome. The tire is lightweight with unbelievable traction on the front and rear of the bike. The transition from the center of the tire to side knobs is smooth. However, you do pay a price for the weight savings – while we do love the performance, in our experience they wear out fast.
  • Tread: Designed to minimize drag and maintain control
XC / Cross Country Category:
Ardent or Ardent Race: In recent years, this tire has been eclipsed by the lightweight and capable Dissector. However, our hard-core race fans still appreciate the Ardent Race’s compliant and fast characteristics.
  • Compound: 3C MaxxSpeed
  • Tread: Small, ramped center tread
  • Casing: 120 TPI
  • Puncture Protection: EXO

In all cases but the Ardent and Ardent Race, there are multiple Compound, Casing, and Puncture Protection configurations for all of our shop picks. We’ll discuss your riding style and favorite locations and help you choose exactly the right tire from the extensive menu of the “taco shop of tire manufacturers.” Maxxis tires have become the top choice for bike brands and shop employees for good reason, and choosing the right tire can change your riding experience!

ABOUT SPORTS GARAGE 

Born out of a passion for riding and providing the best possible service and equipment for our customers, Sports Garage has maintained a reputation for exceptional service and product selection since 1994. From the advent of the first disc brakes on mountain bikes to the rise of the dirt road, Sports Garage has been at the forefront of cycling’s best products. Sports Garage is Boulder’s first bike shop dedicated exclusively to alternative surfaces. From dirt road racing, to gravel grinding and adventure cycling, to mountain biking, we take our clients beyond the end of the pavement. We have long held that a bike shop is about the people, the passion, and the proof – not just the products. 

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