Eurobike 2017: Maxxis Show 29er Downhill Tyres And 26+

Maxxis are rounding out their entire range for 2018, with nothing quite revolutionary appearing, so to speak, but tweaks to their existing range, a wider variety of sizes, and a few familiar tread patterns moving to fill entirely new niches. We do hope you’re ready for a lot of numbers, and pictures of rubber.

We did notice one new thing, not on display at their stand, but listed: 26+ tyres! Before Eurobike, we tried some of them out, jumping around in wet mud, and really liked them. We’ll bring you more on that as soon as we can.

First up, the plus tyres. These have much more aggressive tread than most plus tyres available at present, and will apparently be available in the UK in November.

Here’s the Minion DHF+, which will be available in 29×3.0, 27.5×2.8, and 26×2.8. It wasn’t on display at the stand, but also in the catalog was a DHRII 26×2.8.

The High Roller II+ will be 27.5 only, in 2.8 and 3.0 widths. Exo casing on all of these plus tyres too.

The Ikon+ is going to be 27.5×2.8 in Maxxis’ WT (Wide Trail) tread, which supports the side knobs a bit more and is designed to work with wider rims. Interestingly the Rekon, Highroller II and Minion plus tyres aren’t listed as WT.

The Rekon+ is a little more aggressive than the Ikon+, but still on the faster rolling side of Maxxis’ plus range, and will be 27.5×2.8.

That studded beast you could see on the top photo is the 26×4.8 Moostrack fatbike tyre, complete with studs, for when you want to practice cutties on that frozen lake.

Next up, the downhill tyres have had a general spruce up, and of course, in light of the 2017 season, 29er downhill tyres are now a thing.

If you want to take a 29er down Mont-Sainte-Anne in torrential rain and mud, here’s the rubber for you.

26 to 29, standard widths and builds to 2.5WT, the Shorty now comes in a massive array of sizes and flavours. So rather than type them all out, here’s an image.

The Minion DHRII is another DH tyre to receive the 29er makeover.

Much like the Shorty, it comes in a wide variety of sizes.

The DHF, being a well beloved classic, gets even more sizes than the tyres above.

Just the thought of typing all these out is making my fingers hurt. Thanks, Maxxis. Thaxxis.

There have been experimental tyre sizes for years, and we’ve gone from big oscillations (2.3s considered normal, 2.5s considered wide, and 4.8 the smallest fatbike tyres) to ever decreasing ones, opening up a whole range of options. In line with that, Maxxis are another manufacturer dabbling in 2.6 tyres, and had a small rack of them on show. (All of these 2.6 tyres were on DT Swiss EX511 rims).

As well as the 27.5×2.6 tyres on display, these all come in the widths and sizes you already know, from 2.3 – 2.5, and 26 inch to 29er.

As well as Exo sidewalls, most also have 3C Max Terra compound…

… apart from the Forekaster and Ardent 27.5×2.6 tyres, which are 3C Maxx Speed.

The 2.6 Ardent sure does look fun for UK conditions!

The Aspen 29er tyre has only been a 2.1 before, but at Nino Schurter’s request, they made this higher volume 2.25 version, which is apparently what he’s been racing on. He also got a special 170TPI version, just for him, but the retail ones will only be 120TPI.

As well as the 2.6WT version above, the Forekaster gets a wider range of widths, from 2.2 to 2.35.

Our photographer started to experience visions and make prophesies shortly after this photo was taken.

David Hayward

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.