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Stans Flow MK3 and/or Maxxis EXO...

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Ha, I have been buddies for profro here since 1995. We met each other at my very first ever DH race. And without even talking to him, we both ordered the exact same set of Schwalbe tires in the same week. Random.
 

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
You guys get a room...at least I get to be the benefactor of this experiment. Cheap tires for me.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
Since this is apparently the designated anecdotal tire stories thread, I'll offer up my experiences and baseless theories as well!

The problem, as kidwoo identified some years ago, is most people are using weak sized (and extra weak sized) rims. If you had just stayed faithful to the "Two Six Fo Life" jihad, none of this would be happening.

Actually, profro may still be on the luddite train with his SB, in which case, I still have an old orange striped Mobster I'd be willing to part with for half the price of a Schwalbe tire.

But for me, I've had good luck with Maxxis tires in terms of durability and resistance to bead explosions/warping. I don't ride east coast roxxx often, but when I do, I ride like Stevie Wonder on PCP - but so far I haven't blown up any tires. Been running a 2.4 Vittoria Goma up front and an Maxxis Aggressor out back, both with regular strength sidewalls. Not much experience with Schwalbe, but I've seen a fair number with side knobs falling off and what appeared to be Kenda-esque sidewall thickness, to say nothing of some knob vomit designs (although I think the new Hans Dampf is better now)...Good luck.

Add another upvote for the Michy Wildrock'r 2...Arguably the best tire I've used, just pretty heavy for what I normally ride.
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Deep down I do really think the crux of the problem are those stupid wide rims by Stans. But still, EXO tires should hold up better. I don't ride my SB al that much since I love my Chromag so much. But just about every ride endures a Stans carotid artery slasher movie moment followed by 20 minutes of me getting milk all over myself and everyone who gets near my while I pump up a tube. Unacceptable. Perhaps the DD was the savior, but that much money for a bead to warp? No thanks. I'm moving on. Maybe I'll come back on bent knee to Maxxis. But not right now. It sucks to have won 4 of those EXO tires only to sell them to SinatorJ for pennies on the dollar.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
Deep down I do really think the crux of the problem are those stupid wide rims by Stans. But still, EXO tires should hold up better. I don't ride my SB al that much since I love my Chromag so much. But just about every ride endures a Stans carotid artery slasher movie moment followed by 20 minutes of me getting milk all over myself and everyone who gets near my while I pump up a tube. Unacceptable. Perhaps the DD was the savior, but that much money for a bead to warp? No thanks. I'm moving on. Maybe I'll come back on bent knee to Maxxis. But not right now. It sucks to have won 4 of those EXO tires only to sell them to SinatorJ for pennies on the dollar.
Suit yourself, but I will keep that Mobster in safe keeping for you when you eventually come back, purple 90's era fullface bike hat in hand.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
the EXO should be more durable than they are
for future reference -

Maxxis tyre casing translator
Single ply - "I like fixing flats and blaming no one but myself"
Exo - "I like fixing flats but also complaining about it"
DD - "I don't like flats most of the time"
DH casing - "Fuck flats unless I'm riding with locked knees through razor sharp square edged shale"

Maxxis rubber compound translator
60A - "My least favourite things are traction and tyres that last less than 10 years"
Dual compound - "no traction in a straight line, still no traction cornering but wondering why"
3C - "Fuck yeah I can turn. Unless its wet"
Super Tacky - "Ermagherd velcro. But need new tyres daily"
Slow Reezay - "Extinct now but basically fuckballs awesome"
Maxx Speed - "in a straight line till you have to turn or stop"
Maxx Terra - ???
Maxx Grip - ???
 

SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,287
854
coloRADo
Ya, your hate for Maxxis meat runs deep. I've had good luck with Michelin Wild Rockr 2. Specialized Grid Butcher. And Bontrager's G5.

That being said, I have not had your troubles with the maxxis exo getting shredded. But we also know that John Denver was full of shit.
 

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,504
In hell. Welcome!
Schwalbe tires suck in all their incarnations. I like e13 trs+ front, GRID Slaughter rear on my trail bike. Maxxis EXO tires suck a little less than Schwalbe but that bar is shamefully low.
 

sbabuser

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2004
1,114
55
Golden, CO
I had one old style Nobby Nik that shedded knobs like that. I think the newer Schwabbles are a different compound (and the newer NN's are easy to spot, as they're a completely different tread pattern).
I like WTB tread patterns and rubber, but have had some beads deform when installing/ removing tires (granted, from a super tight fitting rim).
A local shop has Bontrager's on sale. Might have to try some o those.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
I can't stand Schwalbe's "sneezed all these knobs over the tire" tread patterns.
That's just their low-end patterns, and no one who ever knew anything about the Schwalbe lineup (i.e. not kidwoo, who coined that term IIRC) ran those crappy tread patterns anyway. All other brands have rubbish tread patterns (and compounds) too so this is hardly exclusive to Schwalbe.

The Magic Mary (for dry/mixed conditions) and Dirty Dan (for wet conditions) are brilliant patterns, and particularly in varying/mixed conditions slay the Maxxis options. Maxxis has improved and I run both brands but still prefer Schwalbe for maximum grip on the DH bike.

The knob-tearing problems are also ancient, and like sbabuser hints, this stuff got fixed a long time ago. The new NN pattern is an improvement on the old one like he says also, and while useless for my needs, probably the third "pattern of choice" in their lineup.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
FWIW, I've ridden the new nobby nic tire on the front of a trail bike. Even in hero dirt, that was one of the most scary, useless tires I've ever ridden. Maybe the dh version is a little different but that tire sucked. Bad.
are we talking normal bad or kenda bad?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I've heard good things about the Michelins as well but haven't given them a go. Do they come in a million different compounds, sidewall strengths and sizes? Whats the proper version for 27.5?
They only make two compounds. But at least they screwed up the naming so there's that.

GumX is the harder one and Magi-whatever is the super gooey one.

They hold some kinds of mud like no other. I've ridden them in the ham a good bit and in that climate, they grab onto the loamy duff of new trails pretty badly but more established developed stuff they work great. Other than gumming up in some kinds of goo, they're still the best tread design I've ever ridden. Not as durable for how heavy they are IMO. They roll kind of slow. But if you're used to riding magic marys you probably won't even notice.


are we talking normal bad or kenda bad?
Nevegals at least hold a little bit on the sides before they kill you. The NNs barely even do that. "Drift predictably" they certainly do. Much like a road bike tire in gravel. You certainly won't be shocked by 'inconsistency' :D
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Other than gumming up in some kinds of goo, they're still the best tread design I've ever ridden. Not as durable for how heavy they are IMO. They roll kind of slow. But if you're used to riding magic marys you probably won't even notice.
Pretty much agree with all that, though I think the durability isn't bad. They're unarguably on the heavier side, but they're also definitely way burlier than an Exo. I can't really compare to a DD, because the 26" ones are still vaporware.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Pretty much agree with all that, though I think the durability isn't bad. They're unarguably on the heavier side, but they're also definitely way burlier than an Exo. I can't really compare to a DD, because the 26" ones are still vaporware.
I'm just pissed that I put a hole on one and they're expensive. That was on a mavic knife blade rim though.

They do ride much closer to a dh casing in feel though which is freakin awesome. Really stiff and damp.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
I'm just pissed that I put a hole on one and they're expensive. That was on a mavic knife blade rim though.

They do ride much closer to a dh casing in feel though which is freakin awesome. Really stiff and damp.
Have you tried cutting one to make it roll faster? I've got a hard compound one that I'm tempted to try ramping the center knobs on a bit.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
I'm just pissed that I put a hole on one and they're expensive. That was on a mavic knife blade rim though.

They do ride much closer to a dh casing in feel though which is freakin awesome. Really stiff and damp.
I think the preferred term is "moist"...

:p

I do really like the Gum-X vs. Magi-X name fuck-up, though.

Retarded French marketing guy: "Gum - you mean like that super-gooshy sticky stuff you chew that only lasts about 30 minutes? We should name the HARDER compound Gum-something."
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I think the preferred term is "moist"...
Just like I adjust the compression moister on my shocks.

Have you tried cutting one to make it roll faster? I've got a hard compound one that I'm tempted to try ramping the center knobs on a bit.
I haven't. They're already kinda sorta ramped so I'd probably just cut them off and see how that goes. I did that with a butcher last year and then siped base nubs that were left over. It worked okay.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
I haven't. They're already kinda sorta ramped so I'd probably just cut them off and see how that goes. I did that with a butcher last year and then siped base nubs that were left over. It worked okay.
Kinda sorta.

I think if you cut 'em off too short, the side knobs will just stick up and you'll end up riding on those though. They're slightly on the more square side profile wise as is.

One of these days if I get bored enough I'll probably try it.
 
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HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
hmmmmmm

Is that bad? That might not be bad. That might be very good. That might be very very very good. Fer turnin that is.
It might be, but probably defeats the point of trying to make it roll faster. Wouldn't want to do that to a front tire, because it would brake like shit. Might be cool in the rear, but also might leave the rear out-gripping the front.