I had my first ride on the DHX today, front and rear. I’ve never felt more confident going waaay faster than I ever have before on the trail, than I did today! For reference, I’ve been riding the same trail at least once a week, 2-3 laps for the last 5 and a half months, only taking 2 weeks off. I ran the exact same pressure as I ran in my Assegai/DHR DH casing combo, 25/28. I’m riding a 50 pound eeb with 200mm travel front and rear. I weigh 180 pounds buck naked.
I’ve got five bullet points. First, the rolling speed is instantly noticeable, I was going faster straight away. The second thing I noticed was the casing dampened the chunk much better. It didn’t squirm or deflect, it just felt good, like way thicker. I feel like there’s going to be a bigger window for air pressure adjustment. I didn’t feel the need to air down but I will at some point. The third thing I noticed was that the rear tire locked up easier than even my worn out DHR2. It doesn’t have the same stopping power as the dhr. Would I swap out the DHX for a DHR on the rear? I don’t think I would. The DHX worked so well as a pair. I could see a DHXR in the future that has the same side knob support with better braking. Make it happen Maxxis! The fourth thing I noticed was how fast I was cornering and not getting sketched out. Not one time did the tires try to slide out on me. Even on flat blown out corners with trees along the side that I would normally slowdown for I was hitting full speed, faster than I’ve ever gone on that trail. I felt like a worldcup downhill racer. I was going bigger on the jumps, faster on the corners, and using my brakes a lot less. It was almost scary how fast I was going but awesome at the same time because it never felt sketchy, and it’s only gonna better with more time on them. The fifth thing I noticed was at the bottom of the trail I normally do a power slide on the gravel road and the back tire was not sliding out even a little bit. It was stuck like glue.
Today was a game changer. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this kind of traction and support on an MTB for 33 years.
Huge shout out to The Lost Co!!! After a shipping snafu that was my fault, the tire got sent back to them. They overnighted it back to me the second time. I offered to pay for the shipping before they sent it back to me but they covered it. They went above and beyond!
I never tried cocaine but you make it sound pretty fun.
From the picture, your trails look to be on the softer side? Good to hear this kind of review. Hope they offer this tread in DD in the future.
Sick to hear the positive reviews rolling in! I would definitely try dropping pressures as well, the casing really comes alive at lower pressures. You don’t have to make a huge step, even 1 psi can help get a bit more grip.
I designed the tire so the following is wildly biased. Accessible performance was a big goal and is something the DHX does well, the performance characteristics that result in World Cup wins translates to extra margin of error for us mere mortals. Some of the World Cup developed tires to me feel hard for the average to fast rider to extract performance, like you need to push, or commit, or have such precision requirements that they’re stressful to ride.
I’ve tried the Continental DH casings because I like the extra protection but found them to be too stiff for my riding weight/aggression. So Im excited that the new Maxxis DH casing is more accessible to non-racers who just want to run a stronger casing.
Loose over hard this time of year with some blown out flatter corners for good measure. We did get a bit of rain overnight but don’t let that fool ya, it doesn’t stick around for long.
I’ll start lowering the pressure on my next ride. I went back up today and ran same pressures as yesterday just to confirm my results from yesterday’s ride. I pushed it harder today in the berms and did get the front tire to break loose once, but just barely, and it did not feel sketchy at all. Thanks for making such a sweet tire! DHXR next?!
👀
For aggressive AM riding in loose terrain, but less hard pack/ park riding, would you still prefer the DH casing for ride quality reasons (not puncture reasons) or would the upcoming lighter casings (DD, Exo+) still provide the same benefits?
Some tires, just don't work very well unless they are the DH casing variant (Schwalbe tires specifically) but in this case, that's a lot of weight to rotate around if it's not needed. My next tires will be the DHX's in about 60 days, but trying to make the best guess as to the ideal casing to choose. And yah, I'm a bit weight weenie, even on my big bike.
Thx!
Great review. Keen on giving these ago if and when it trickles down to DD or exo+
I got the DHRII mounted up today and got 2 laps on it. The trail I ride is about a 4.5 mile forest road climb and a 3 mile 1500ft descent. We had a pretty good rain storm over the weekend and the trail was absolute hero dirt today.
The first thing I noticed after mounting the tire was how much smaller and further apart the side lugs are on the DHR2 versus the DHX. I’ve been running 24-27 on the DHX combo and haven’t pinged a rim yet so that’s the pressure I ran today.
I didn’t notice a difference in rolling speed, but to be fair, the dirt was rolling fast today. But I did notice a big difference in braking. The DHR2 is so much better at slowing the bike down, it’s like throwing out an anchor compared to the DHX. On the steeps the DHX would lock up but it wouldn’t really slow down the bike down. It would almost feel like trying to brake in the mud. The DHR2 on the other hand, feels like it wants to throw you over the front of the bike while braking and rarely locks up.
Cornering is another story though. DHX corners hard. Those side knobs are amazing, so supportive and so much traction. DHR2’s little side knobs just don’t grip like DHX. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it never felt sketchy today, definitely easier to break loose and slide around, but 2 very different tires.
The New DH Casing felt just as good on DHR2 as it does on DHX. I think it’s amazing. It makes you want to abuse the tire. I’m sold on them. I’m going to pickup a pair of Highroller III’s in the new casing as well for late fall, early spring riding. I’ll report back but hopes are high.
Through out this whole experience the DHX has been flawless as a front tire. I’ve been putting a lot of trust into it, more than any other tire I’ve ridden and it hasn’t let me down yet. It’s gonna suck when it does because I’ve been going way too fast lately lol.
As a combo, I think DHX DHR2 is probably a more practical setup, better braking performance and more maneuverability/playfulness. But, the support and traction of those side knobs on the DHX DHX combo is amazing and addictive. I still stand by my original statement that Maxxis needs to make a DHXR, all the side lug support and all the braking traction in one tire.
I’m gonna go back up for a couple more laps tomorrow as the dirt should be even better than it was today. If anything change I’ll write about it.
Yeah I skipped the DHX/DHX combo and went straight to DHX/DHR. Partly because that's what the pros run and they know a thing or two, but also because I like my rear to step out before the front. I feel like the long horizontal knobs aligned with the channel between side knobs of the DHR helps it brake loose very consistently and predictably, so its always been my go-to rear tire. DHX is great as a front. I'm actually surprised at how well it's doing in summer mixed loose over hard conditions based on the release info, but not complaining at all. I can see this being my go-to front for about 9 months of the year.
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