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https://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-593-140-shorty-gen-2
Who knows when retailers will actually have them though.
Disappointed to not see any MAXX GRIP EXO/EXO+ casing options.
Would be a great PNW daily driver tire for many.
https://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-492-140-shorty
Its a wet condition tyre, I'd only offer it in maxxgrip, DH/DD/Exo+ casing in 29 & 27.5
DD uses two layers of 120 TPI casing while DH uses two layers of 60 TPI casing. The butyl sidewall insert also extends farther up the sidewall on DH tires compared to DD giving more casing rigidity/stability.
Horses for courses and all that.
Would be good to see that compound in an EXO or EXO+ option.
While the "Shorty" has been thought of as a mud tire in that pas, I think that will change with this new one.
It's a loose conditions tire. Dry or wet. Loris and Greg raced it in the dry multiple times this year.
The knob height is not really a 'spike' tire. So it would be great to run up front for those who ride in loose/soft conditions year round. Whether that be mud or dust/loam. Which is why it would be great to see it in a more trail/pedal friendly casing like EXO or EXO+. Shorty2 up front and DHR2 out back would be a killer setup and one that a lot of enduro and DH racers ran this summer. Or go Shorty2 front and rear if hard pack braking is less of a concern.
Lastly, these tire manufactures need to account for the growing popularity of inserts. Trail riders have desire for their trail casings in the sticky rubber to run with inserts year round. That said, Maxxis developing an insert or something, so they may not want to cater to people running inserts at this point.
And made work is something completely different to crumble. Last year in January I was missing at least half the side knobs in my 3C HR2 which was perfectly fine up through novembre for example. But last winter was pretty dry and cold, so this was a factor in this.
I'm well aware the shore hardness would probably have to go down to something like 30 with the base compound getting softer too to prevent tearing, which would of course make the compounds gooey in the summer, but supposedly it can be (or could have been) done. But honestly I haven't ridden the black chilly stuff, Der Baron is a mid spike tyre that appears to be useless for our terrain while Der Kaiser is supposedly quite skittish.
On another note I have shredded a 3C HR2 in the rear in like a month or two in 2015 (causing me to exclusively ride DC tyres in the rear), while, interestingly, a few friends rode a DHR2 3C in the rear for a whole season (last year) under similar conditions (mix of asphalt, gravel and trails). How much of this is influenced by the tread or has the 3C been improved in this regard? I'm talking about the MaxxTerra compound and EXO casings.
I hear that a lot that with the Baron but I really like that tire on the front all year round. Rode it on pretty packed bikepark tracks and on loose stuff aswell on a 3,5 weeks roadtrip through the alps last summer. Felt always great but I rode that tire on different bikes since it's inception as Rain King on my DH bike so im used to it.
Think I will ride the Baron/Kaiser combo throughout the year but that is mostly accounted to my lazyness when it comes to changing tires
As for cold performance, yeah, of course everything will get hard (unless you use health questionable compounds in the top echelons of motorsport that have since been banned, but I digress, also, cue Chris Harris), I'd just like it not to crumble away in a few weeks when it was perfectly fine before the cold :/
Again, it's not about how well it works, it's about it not disintegrating. In the mean time a DC rear tyre was perfectly fine in the rear, so it is a 3C specific problem or at least appears so.
As for treads, yeah, HR seems to be an issue here, but speaking about the Minions, I tore up a 3C DHF in the FRONT in just a bit longer than it took me to destroy a 3C HR2 in the rear. The cut blocks on the sides tore up. Sure it gives great progression but it also gives 'great' (as in large) tyre wear
Gonna have to try the new shortys though. Will put them in the hardtail first. Gonna borrow a buddies wheel set to a/b if I can.
Colour looks like the current YT bikes. New Capra maybe? Although a lot of manufacturers currently have a similar colour in their lineup so I might be completely off.
Who else besides Forbidden have the funky oval seat tube with the clamp at the front? Are the house brand grips/saddle/stem recognizable?