Tires FEDERAL or Maxxis

Maxxis are expensive but consistently pretty good. You’ll get the odd tire with a warped casing. But overall pretty much anything they make is solid.

Good rubber. The quality and duro of the rubber and the casing is 90% of what makes a tire good. Good round tires that mount easily. Especially tubeless.

After using inferior tires for years, the maxxis high roller 2 tires specd on my bike made me realize that tire choice is the greatest factor impacting cornering confidence, hands down. Once you actually feel the difference between a regular tire and a great tire it becomes a priority in your gear choices. I’ve never tried a maxxis tire that wasn’t great at whatever its intended use case is for. Maxxis makes a tire for every kind of riding style you’re trying to achieve, and each style works as intended. It’s hard for me to move away from maxxis when I know I’m getting exactly what I expect from their product.

I have tried many tires. I ride desert southwest US, just about every trail is rocky, angular, chunky, loose stuff that can shred a tire. When it comes down to it- the maxxis tires hold traction longer than anything, and they last longer than anything else.

Another dhr could work. They roll super fast for their chunk.

I've had good luck with the Maxxis tires, I've had them on all three of our trailers without a failure.

They are definitely not twice as good. I was riding a Rekon/Ardent race combo and replaced them with Fast Track/ Renegade while those were on sale and I don’t feel like I’ve had any drop in performance.

Maxxis tires give 40% on a $120 MSRP - so $48. Seems like a good gig for the retailer. However...Maxxis is the worst line to carry.

Exo and exo+ in my area will reliably puncture right through the top of the tire within three rides or less typically.

Specialized control tyres and it’s not even close.

No it’s not worth the “premium” as they’re not more premium. The spesh tyres are specced on their £14000 bikes, they are also racing and winning world cups, cape epics, short track races, marathons for years with the rest of them. Spesh has led the way with a couple others with FEA and camps set up for surely testing their tyres with a refresh every few years. There is no “premium”. The stickers are fancier on the maxxis. But they’re heavier. Higher rolling resistance. Higher weight. No noticeable gain in traction to account for those either. Spesh offers sworks 120 tpi, softer and harder (T7 and T5 respectively) control tyres. All you’re choosing is 120 vs 60 tpi determining a less or more robust carcass.

A life long sworks 120 tpi snob. I went maxxis aspen and hated life. That’s a gravel tyre. Tore through the Vittoria barzo. Went ikon and they’re a great once was a race tyre now a recreational tyre— but been left for dead with rolling resistance, grip and weight by the competition. Rekon race won’t get a look in from the tyre tests and price and weight. Nah ta.