Dan sent us a quick review of this new Maxxis tyre…

Version tested: 2.25 kevlar 70A

How much: £24.29

From: www.justridingalong.com

Why? General all-round riding. Fatter downhill versions will be released in future. (EDIT: now available in 2.4 and 2.6)

First impressions: Very quick, decent grip but a bit of a tendency to slide when leaned over.

Yay: It is quick. I think that a lot of this is due to it being half the weight of the 2.5 UST Highroller. It does roll well, I don’t think that much more so than a 2.25 ADvantage. Regardless it is a lot of fun being this quick on the trails. On dry dirt it is great but then most stuff is. Good grip all over and a lot of fun, if only summer was always like this…

Nay: On loose rocky (small rocks) trails I found the grip is limited, it spins and slips out fairly early compared to a Highroller or ADvantage when climbing.

It seems to have a lot of space in between the top treads and the shoulder treads which is odd, you can hear the difference when rolling on a super smooth tarmac surface and tilt the bike over at different angles. Anyway this feels a little inconsistent when leaned over as on the loose stuff it seems to hook up nicely when in this zone and then starts sliding fairly quickly when you get to the shoulder proper – not a scary slide though, a fun drifty number.

Overall: I was out on a proper Big Mountain(TM) ride on Sunday and the tyre was spot on. There was a lot of dragging it along rocks and the sidewalls whilst scuffed haven’t torn yet. It is only a matter of time and I’d put them on par with the 2.25 ADvantages for this. You can get a nice fun drift on with them (now the gravelly trails are a bit damper and I have got used to them) and the drop in weight really is nice over 11 hour rides but I was a little paranoid about the sidewalls.

Tested on: Cannondale Prophet

Where: Trails around Edinburgh, Scotland

author: Dan
date: July 2008