Quantcast

What trail bike tire casings don't suck?

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
After spending seasons on DHR IIs and Magic Marys, I have tried the Gen 3 E13 TRS Mopo "Trail" tires last season and I was amazed by everything. The trail version is around 1050g and I never had a cut or flat tire even riding in sharp rocks all the time. Altough one could say I care about my rims so I'm riding pretty smooth. I'm using Cushcore Pro in the back with 25 psi (22psi front) for what it's worth.

The Mopo compound is really grippy and wore much better than expected. The durability seems pretty on par or even better than Schwalbe's Addix Soft, but the grip is much better. No knob squirm either, no weird channel transition to the side knobs, great grip and very reasonable rolling resistance. Plus they can often be had for cheap (like 50$us retail for the Mopo on Jenson or 72$cdn in Canada). The sidewalls on the ones I have are a bit porous and weep sealant in 3-4 spots, but I'm not losing pressure any more than with other tubeless tires I've recently used (using WPL sealant) so I don't care and it didn't give me any trouble.

They also have the LG1 version which has burlier sidewalls for only like 50-100g more per tire. It hasn't been worth it for me so far, but if weight isn't a concern, I'd suggest the LG1 version since the Trail sidewalls get used up when rubbing on rocks.
Shhhhhh... been my secret goto for last year. Getting hard to find tho.
 

konifere

Monkey
Dec 20, 2021
513
634
Yeah I'm always trying to have 2 fresh spares at all times just in case they stop making them since they're often sold-out. Just received one off bike-components.de on sale for 23euro. They only had one left but I needed other stuff at the same time so it was still worth it.

The Grappler that should be out soon looks like it has a nice tread pattern (similar to Assegai), but the side knobs seem smaller. They told me they wouldn't stop producing the Mopo TRS A/T for the foreseable future so we should be fine. We're just between you and me, but since the general concensus towards E13 parts seems pretty bad, we should be able to keep this secret for outselves for a little while. I'm also using their composite Base pedals, forged Base stem and Base bar and I have nothing to complain about. They all work great and the quality is up there, espcially for the price.
 

Cerberus75

Monkey
Feb 18, 2017
520
194
I have a few rides on the new Magic Mary. Same trails that tore the old ones up. Sides walls are beefier than DD which as of late have been wearing faster. Im liking them so far.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Just got a new Super Gravity 27.5 x 2.4 Magic Mary and wanted to see so weighed it in at 1190g on two different scales. Weird cos the last one I had was ~1300. I wonder what changed in the process. Surely thats too much for normal variation.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
Maxxis new EXO+ tested:
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,055
11,298
In the cleavage of the Tetons
So, they trickled the butyl insert down from DD and DH, I wouldn’t be surprised (I have said this before) if the next Gen DH and DD tires include a built in ‘proper’ insert that emulates a Tannus or CC.
We shall see.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
Riding PNW on a 160x160 29er.

Didn't love EXO+. I struggled with finding a balance point between low enough pressure to give a smooth ride and give that glued to the ground feel, and high enough pressure I wasn't banging on my rim regularly. At high pressures it felt like riding a big spring with an over pressurized shock, and it was pretty rough. Grip was fine.

Currently running Assegai MaxxGrip F/R in a DD casing. Will probably switch the rear tire out, as I haven't loved losing the party channel in the back end. May just get clever with some cutters and not bother. Pretty happy with the DD casing. More damping definitely has had positive results on my ride comfort. Grip is hard to say for sure, because I went from winter wet with constant water over roots to spring weather at the same time as I switched tires, which in the PNW means riding on grip tape hero dirt. Grip is pretty insane though.

Strong proponent of DD casing if you're riding anywhere rowdy. EXO+ (even with cushcore) can have kind of a springy feel, and you don't get the damped feel you do from a good tire.

Weight kinda sucks though. Great for "ride up then ride down" type rides, not so great if you're doing trails with multiple ups and downs. If you're doing any sort of racing I probably wouldn't recommend, because maxgrip plus DD casing is pretty sluggish, but it's well worth on the downhill sections.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
Riding PNW on a 160x160 29er.

Didn't love EXO+. I struggled with finding a balance point between low enough pressure to give a smooth ride and give that glued to the ground feel, and high enough pressure I wasn't banging on my rim regularly. At high pressures it felt like riding a big spring with an over pressurized shock, and it was pretty rough. Grip was fine.

Currently running Assegai MaxxGrip F/R in a DD casing. Will probably switch the rear tire out, as I haven't loved losing the party channel in the back end. May just get clever with some cutters and not bother. Pretty happy with the DD casing. More damping definitely has had positive results on my ride comfort. Grip is hard to say for sure, because I went from winter wet with constant water over roots to spring weather at the same time as I switched tires, which in the PNW means riding on grip tape hero dirt. Grip is pretty insane though.

Strong proponent of DD casing if you're riding anywhere rowdy. EXO+ (even with cushcore) can have kind of a springy feel, and you don't get the damped feel you do from a good tire.

Weight kinda sucks though. Great for "ride up then ride down" type rides, not so great if you're doing trails with multiple ups and downs. If you're doing any sort of racing I probably wouldn't recommend, because maxgrip plus DD casing is pretty sluggish, but it's well worth on the downhill sections.
what version of EXO+ were you running? Last year's 120tpi version, or this year's 60tpi + butyl insert version?
 

Cerberus75

Monkey
Feb 18, 2017
520
194
I've got a month on the Magic Marys. I'm surprised that the look brand new still, DD Maxxis I would start to see some threads in the sidewall from rock rub.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
That would make sense then. IMO, a single ply 120tpi casing is far too flexible for "aggressive" riding. Especially on the rear wheel. The new version might be better in that regard.
Just got my wife one of the new EXO+ Assegai Maxxgrips. I'll throw her wheel on my bike at some point here and do a back to back with it against a Assegai DD Maxxgrip and report back.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
#following
fair warning - might be a month or so before I have a chance. It's going on a new wheelset i'm getting her for her birthday and I suspect she's not going to be totally enthusiastic to let me steal it right off the bat
 

Cerberus75

Monkey
Feb 18, 2017
520
194
Quite some time on Schwalbe SG tires. Still look barely worn. I am using Tubolight HD inserts and found them to be a great paring.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
got my supertrail Magic Mary and Big Betty in the mail on Monday. Installed them last night. Mary went onto my Chromag rim easily enough despite a stiffer than expected bead (soaped up the beads, popped them on with a tube, removed it and one bead, removed the valve stem, hit it with a compressor). Held air overnight, so that's a win.

Rear rim is a Spank Spike 33. Even soaped up and with a tube, I couldn't get the beads to seat properly and evenly all the way round. Left it at 40psi overnight, and they didn't budge. I'm going to try and install my Tannus tubeless insert tonight, but I'm not hopeful it will work and hold air. I'm very torn about this rim. It's stiff, straigtht and true after 1.5 seasons, but goddam is it ever a pain in the ass to get it to seat tubeless. I don't think I will be getting another one next time around...
 

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,160
2,685
The bunker at parliament
Remove the valve core.
Use a hair drier to warm the tyre up to soften it.
quick wipe around with thin grease or oil or soapy water then use an air gun not a tire inflator so you get a massive volume super quick.
Valve core back in and inflate to usual pressure.

Most tire inflators have a good flow rate but sometimes you just need more and swapping the air gun onto you compresser does a much greater volume.