Maxxis Skinwall tyres – weaker than normal

So I have a pair of maxxis icon 29 x 2.2 tyres which all the letters
3C, XCO, TR, Maxx Speed

Has any one any info if the skinwall tyres are weaker than the standard black ones.

I’ve had the black ones before and never had any issues, but having bought a pair of skinwall tyres i have managed to put a hole in both of them.

I don’t know if I have just been unlucky of they are actually a weaker tyre.

Ta.

Reviews I read drew a similar conclusion…also mentioned sealant leaking through side walls badly too 😳

they did take more sealant that the black walled versions…

Just so annoyed as they are not cheap and really don’t want to reduce the my comfort by having to have them pumped up harder … kind of ruins the effect of a fast rolling xc tyre

I didn’t have a problem with a skinwall Exo Ardent on the rear of my hardtail, went up normally, normal amount of sealant, no issues at all. It’s been trouble free for 6 months now, havingt replaced a skinwall WTB Trailboss Light/Fast that I’d put about a dozen holes in in the same time period. I’d put that down to the WTB being a lighter casing rather than skinwall itself being an issue, though.

I believe all tyres would be skinwalls if they didnt coat them in black rubber, so yes youll find like for like skinwalls a little lighter and more prone to sealant leaks etc. than the black ones.

Tyres are black because they add carbon black to the rubber mix, this is a really good compound for making strong but supple tyres.

The skinwall areas dont have any carbon black in their rubber mix. They are weaker and leak because of this.

I believe they are a little weaker, from my limited experience. I ripped a terminal hole in the sidewall of a skinwall Ardent 2.4 after about 6 rides the other week. Replaced it with the same to see if I was just unlucky but never gashed a sidewall so badly before – that being said I haven’t ran such an ‘XC’ type tyre either!

Price worth paying for the looks obviously.

I’ve read about the carbon black – but it was always on OLD posts so not sure if thats still the case.

I like the look of them on my xc hardtail – but black may be going back on it i cant patch this one. Shame its only done a few rides 🙁

I was running the tyre at a resonable air pressure as well… maybe slightly softewr as i’d put a dropper post on my bike to see what it wa slike and this has less flax than the carbon post it replaced… for the comfort factor – the carbon post may be going back on so i can run a few more PSI in the rear tyre

They look shyte as well, double whammy

Yeah they still all use carbon black, it’ll be around 20-25% of the tyre by mass. Any rubber product that needs to be somewhat durable/abrasive resistant/temperature resistant will have it added.

Without it the tyre will get really hot, deform easily, be really weak and wear really really fast. Its why you don’t see coloured tyres ever, except those white ones which have had the (inferior) zinc oxide added instead. Incidentally all car tyres used to be white until they discovered what carbon black could do. There was a period of adding carbon black to the tread, and zinc to the sidewall rubber, which is where that classic car look comes from before they switched to 100% carbon for performance.

Quite like the look of skinwall on some bikes, but never run them because they’re form over function.

I put them on exclusively because I think they look mint 🙂

They look shyte as well, double whammy

This, it’s karma for looking like a fud.

They look shyte as well, double whammy

This!

I recently put a pair of skinwall Ardents on my Ti hardtail, they definitely needed more sealant than normal but i haven’t had any issues with durability yet. Time will tell.

Look great tho!

I like the skinwalls on my hardtail – breaks up from the black.

Not sure they would go on my lime green focus jam though..

Although some classic white onza porcipines would be cool