Maxxis Forekaster 3C Maxx Terra review

Can't even take you seriously when you're criticising perfectly good tyres like the Dissector and Rekon.

Its a summer trail tyre, and a good one, that's why there is no need for a DD version of it. Its not designed for conditions that need DD casing

Have been running one of these on the front of my hardtail for around 12 months in combo with a Rekon on the rear.

It really is a remarkable tyre if your focus is a fast rolling tyre that can also cope with the occasional steep off piste trail when your XC ride passes the entrance to a trail that you just can't ride past despite the fact you should.

I've been down stuff here in the Tweed Valley in December that this tyre really has no place being on but I have somehow not died.

OK it's not what I'd choose for that trail at that time of year but when out on an XC ride that gets out of hand it's been brilliant.

Posted by: Sharkattack

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Can't even take you seriously when you're criticising perfectly good tyres like the Dissector and Rekon.

The Dissector is a pretty awful tyre. Not very fast rolling. Not very good at braking. Not at all good in anything vaguely muddy. It's not an 'OK-compromise' sort of tyre; it's just a 'flawed-in-all-conditions' tyre.

Wow and here I am running a Dissector on the front of my bike with no issues whatsoever.

Maybe I should have posted a what tyre thread before I bought it.

Posted by: hardtailonly

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Posted by: Sharkattack

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Can't even take you seriously when you're criticising perfectly good tyres like the Dissector and Rekon.

The Dissector is a pretty awful tyre. Not very fast rolling. Not very good at braking. Not at all good in anything vaguely muddy. It's not an 'OK-compromise' sort of tyre; it's just a 'flawed-in-all-conditions' tyre.

 

This is pretty much what I was going to say.

It's not 'terrible' when its new. The tread seems to last for about 11 miles before turning into little stumps which vaguely resemble the grippy tyre you started the ride with.

Anyone care to compare this Forecaster with the Forecaster of old which was so highly spoken of?

I've got a pair of Forekasters waiting to go on some carbon wheels for my Stumpy Evo. I'm anticipating a significant drop in weight, the rolling resistance of a greased weasel, and pleasantly reassuring grip. This is compared to the current aluminium wheels and Kryptotals, which will be kept in reserve for Alps type situations.

Been saying this for over a year, had a pair of these in my hardtail for a while now and they are excellent - they blend the 'trail' levels of grip with the 'XC' levels of speed. Really very impressive.

Posted by: bitmuddytoday

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I've got a pair of Forekasters waiting to go on some carbon wheels for my Stumpy Evo. I'm anticipating a significant drop in weight, the rolling resistance of a greased weasel, and pleasantly reassuring grip...

Mine are fitted to a set of Zipp Carbon wheels and in this combo it feels like cheating the system. 

Posted by: bens

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Anyone care to compare this Forecaster with the Forecaster of old which was so highly spoken of?

Directly replaced an old Forekaster with the new one. They should have given it a new name. 

The old was a narrow XC tyre well suited to damp/wet-ish conditions. 

The new is a propely sized, cushioned and grippy lighter end trail bike tyre that happens to roll very fast relative to its reasonably high amount of traction. 

This a timely thread for me as I’m looking for summer trail-lite tyres (not xc).

Are we saying it’s a decent front/rear combo?

From Ben’s article I took that he was using it as a rear tyre with something meatier up front.

My intention would be to stick it on the front of a hardtail with either something like a Rekon on the back (like SS Stu).

My intention would be to stick it on the front of a hardtail with either something like a Rekon on the back

Do it. Lots of tyre swapping and testing at Cotic ended up with this pairing being the default for the Solaris.

Ran one up front with an Ardent Race on the rear. Perfect for the conditions here. Or rather, perfect for my needs!

How hard can you push them into corners compared to something like a DHF, DHR, etc?  I know they’re for drier weather but my current trails are loamy and not hardpacked at all. This will be on my hardtail not ebike. 

I have them front and rear on my xc bike and they grip like hell. You can properly hammer them and they keep gripping. Maybe not as much grip in general as a dhf, but they work better in wet conditions in my experience so are better all rounders with no really draw backs. 

   I haven't found their limit yet,  found the limits of the bike (my skill) before the tyres. 

Run a mk1 in the back of the lunatic hardtail and that works great too

I agree wholeheartedly with this review. Im a Schwalbe guy nowadays but the one tyre I would cheat for is the Forekaster v2.

Mentioned on another thread... Completely agree, the Forekaster V2 is totally different to the original. I've been running a 2.6 V2 pared with a Rekon on the back (Santa Cruz Hightower trail bike). The wife has run the same combo (slightly narrower fitting) on her Tallboy all winter. She rekons (sorry) the increase in speed is worth the slight loss in grip from her DHF/R combo.

I consider the Forekaster V2 and Rekon combo to feel very similar to a Nobby Nic / Wicked Will combo. Fast, grippy and strong enough.

I had a good experience with the Dissector as a rear tyre, paired with a DHRII (MaxxGrip) up front. The Dissector didn’t give up any grip on slippy ascents and seemed a fair compromise for everything else. I put a Forekaster V2 on the front for some better speed in dryer weather but lost confidence after it was a a bit skittish on the limestone where I usually ride. I could have gone back to DHRs but fancied a change. So I swapped to Nobby Nics, front and rear, with a soft up front and speedgrip at the back. So far these have been excellent in all conditions. I rate the mechanical grip from the tread, and the soft compound seems is very good. 

How does the forekaster v2 compare to a Specialized purgatory t9 for trail use? Both are around the same weight and size. 

I know it doesn't come in Double Down but is there an Exo+? I don't think there is as Google doesn't bring one up but an Exo is strong enough on the rear for me. 

Posted by: sam dexter

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I know it doesn't come in Double Down but is there an Exo+? I don't think there is as Google doesn't bring one up but an Exo is strong enough on the rear for me. 

MBR says there's an Exo+. yes, somewhere in there.
https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/tyres/maxxis-forekaster-ii-3c-maxx-terra-tyre-review

I'm using a Forekaster on the front of my FlareMax with a Rock Razor out back and it's ace. Just a really nice, balanced, fast trail tyre. Much grippier than it ought to be.

Looks really good. 

Similar in principle to the Wild Enduro Rear that I really like, with lots of blocks to help it roll well but nice edge blocks to corner with.

I do have a general gripe that I wish Exo+ tyres were easier to find though. Even search engines get confused and just show me a load of Exo tyres.

https://www.freewheel.co.uk/maxxis-forekaster-3c-maxxterra-exo-plus-tubeless-folding-tyre-varforekaster3cexop and on Amazon too

You need to be searching for Forekaster E-50 to find exo+ casing. That's the one I'd buy.

Posted by: dander

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How does the forekaster v2 compare to a Specialized purgatory t9 for trail use? Both are around the same weight and size. 

Slight thread derailment but I wouldn’t use T9 in the rear if not doing lift assisted riding. Just did few pedally rides with Eliminator T9 in the rear and it was good for training purposes but not for speed.
I have T7 Purgatory and Ground Control too and of those two the Purg is slower rolling and feels like thread is made of too wide knobs to work on my local soil. It might be great on more rocky terrain though.
Last season I really liked T7 Ground Control in front and Pirelli Trail M on rear, nice combination grip and rolling speed and not pingy at all.

As for Forekaster, haven’t ridden the new one and first version I hated in both sizes and no one wants to buy them from my ad in local classifieds. 

T7 purgatory is fun on the rear its fast and just enough braking grip, T9 might be a bit draggy and wear quick

Bought one and pretty shocked by the sizing. Width shows 2.40 but measuring it at 26.5psi, it comes out at 2.20. I hate thin tyres. Hope it works better than it looks.

Got one that's about 2.25 and one that's 2.3. Luckily I accidentally put the slightly bigger one on the front. I seem to remember Kesteven complaining about size too. Definitely a stretch to call them 2.4. But then the Kryptotals I took off are under sized as well. 

Otherwise fairly happy with the performance so far. Typically Maxxis feel. They roll notably well for the weight and type of tyre.

Missed this review and thread when it first came out. But.......they are very very good!

I had a DHF/DHR setup on a 140mm travel bike and was underwhelmed by my rides. Switched to Forekasters and boom....bike transformed. If I was more gnar, maybe I'd feel different . But as someone who wants a bit of zip - they are the bomb.

Just ordered a Dissector a few days ago comments above aren't encouraging.... Wanted something bit faster rolling than the DHRII

I bought a disector for the back of my ht, did one ride and took it off.  Now run an ardent in the summer and a forecaster in the winter.  Can't explain my issue with it,  but I really didn't like it

Still disappointed by the Dissector name. Maxxis should have kept it as "G'Day Mate" like the protos!

I wish they'd make the 2.6 in 3c/MaxTerra instead of just the dual compound. I want to try them on my hardtail where I value a bit of casing volume squish and this version of 2.4 inch just isn't enough for my needs. Ridiculously, the 2.4 Hutchinsons I'm currently running are only about 1mm narrower than the Forekaster V2 2.6.

I wish they'd make the 2.6 in 3c/MaxTerra instead of just the dual compound.

They do.  And on my rims they size up correctly (Ibis 941 rims with 35 mm internal).  Only just put them on so not really tested them, but definitely faster rolling than the DHF/DHR combo I had on before  

Curious as to what that tyre actually measure too...

Posted by: grahamt1980

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I bought a Disector for the back of my ht, did one ride and took it off.  Now run an ardent in the summer and a forecaster in the winter.  Can't explain my issue with it,  but I really didn't like it

I think there's a thing where tyres get described in reviews as 'fast rolling' where it means they're 'just not as slow rolling as a super tacky Assegai' or something. It's the DH-ification of 'trail tyres'. II have a Dissector which I found slow out back in the real world and lurchy on the front as the gap between centre and edge just feels huge.

As for things not feeling 'right', the Tacky Chan as a front, for me, felt almost overly precise, but sort of jittery as soon as it got knocked off line, just not very forgiving. But mostly just 'not quite right'. If I were a super confident, aggressive DHer it might be quite different, but neither quite worked for me.

I like the Forekaster because it's decently, real world fast, doesn't lurch in transition and just seems to grip harder than it has any right to and isn't pingy either. Currently have a 2.4 on the front, but tempted to try the 2.6 for more cush.

With a tape the 2.4 measured between 2.4 and 1.5 and the 2.6 measured right on the nose at 2.6.  But as I mentioned it is on 35mm internal rims that really plump up tyres.  I used to ride 2.4 Ardents that everyone thought were plus sized tyres

@dreednya Thanks for the info, last time I looked, all the 2.6 versions were dual compound v2 or old v1 treads. 

Posted by: grahamt1980

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I bought a disector for the back of my ht, did one ride and took it off.  Now run an ardent in the summer and a forecaster in the winter.  Can't explain my issue with it,  but I really didn't like it

Mine lasted a little longer but I took an instant dislike to it too. I think it came down to two things really... It's got really bad "sliding manners", which I reckon absolutely makes or breaks a rear tyre, a super grippy tyre thta slides badly is worse than a less grippy tyre that doesn't. Like, for contrast a DHR2 is obviously a grippy tyre but it also slides superbly, it's predictable and mellow and basically follows you, it's very confidence inspiring and lets you play with grip, get close to the edges without worrying. But the Dissector when it let go, could go anywhere, and it was so abrupt, you go from "applying a little back brake" to "going sideways down the trail", so you end up having to ride way within its margins. You can't get close to using all the grip if you have to avoid sometimes using 101%. So a tyre like that is in practice just less usably grippy, a lot of the time

The other thing is basically the tradeoff of speed and grip... speed and grip aren't linear, often you give up say 10 grips but gain 20 speeds, other times you give up 20 grips and only gain 10 speeds. I end up comparing everything to the Rockrazor and the DHR2, and while the dissector's grippier than the rockrazor, you lose more speed than you gain in useful grip. And the DHR2 is obviously slower and grippier but it has a superb balance, with more tyres you lose more grip than you gain in speed. There's no spectrum or line or whatever, everything has its own traits but in the end all tyres are a balance of grip and speed and the best tyres have the best tradeoffs.

I wanted the Dissector to be somewhere in the middle, for when I didn't want to drag around a dhr2 but when maybe a rockrazor was a bit optimistic. But it wasn't, it was a really unhappy medium that was neither fast or grippy.

All that said there are lots of riders that get excellent use out of them and some of those are much better than me. Tyre performance probably is more important when you're a middle-of-the-road dobber.

Dissectors are my favourite rear tyres. In complete contrast to some of the comments above, I reckon they're noticeably faster than DHRs and slide around in a really fun way. Yeah, they let go a bit in corners but never in a bad way and always catch again, which is a right laugh.

That said, I also really like Forekasters and DHRs. Forekasters make the bike feel really nippy on flatter stuff and just about work on sketchy downhill trails (they're noticeably worse at slowing you down!). DHRs are great for when you're riding sketchy stuff and just want a tyre to work, but they're a bit 'dull' feeling compared to the others. Guess it's like James May's thing about 'crap' cars being more fun.

Dissectors are my favourite rear tyres. In complete contrast to some of the comments above, I reckon they're noticeably faster than DHRs and slide around in a really fun way. Yeah, they let go a bit in corners but never in a bad way and always catch again, which is a right laugh.

Thats more what I wanted to hear! Just fitted it on the rear this afternoon so interested to see how I get on with it now. 

Popped one on my HT and took it for a blast on my local trails. Nothing to write home about.  Arguably no faster rolling than the Highroller 2 I took off.  Quite draggy on hardpack and transition stuff.  Lacks the support of a bigger hitting tyre on big roots and rocky decents.  Its a decent tyre but its too thin and weedy for my needs.  Ah well, live and learn.

They are a great all day pedalling epic type of tyre that work great on various terrains and in various conditions - I’m very impressed with them 

only thing I think compared to the usual dhr2/dhf/assegai type tyres is the forekasters lack the feeling of damping like a more agressive tyre like the 3 above - you feel everything a bit more which makes sense given the tyres intention but other than that they are awesome on short travel trail bikes I’d say 

I’m running a 3c Maxx Terra exo+ rear and a 3c max terra front and think it’s an absolute awesome combo for the bike I’m on 

I have put bigger tyres on spare wheelset for rougher days out and as above you get more confidence and a more damped/quiet ride -but I always miss the rolling resistance and light acceleration of the forekasters when I don’t use them