Hey everyone!
In the last couple of years the Maxxis sponsored athletes run either
the ASPEN or the Rekon Race pretty much on all UCI races out there,
and I covered the Rekon Race recently on my channel.
But today, I want to take a look at the ASPEN
which is supposed to be a very fast cross-country race tire.
2.25 is the largest tire that they have right now.
They just announced at wide tread 2.4 WT
and I've chosen the EXO reinforced sidewalls and TR tubeless ready version of this.
This is made in Taiwan just like all their tires,
and this is a hard pack and lose over hard, maybe a little bit of a medium,
again just like the Rekon Race.
It is a dual compound and 120 TPI casing.
Yes, the Maxxis racers out there will run 170 TPI casing
but those are not really available for sale for any one of us.
Once you remove the tire you're gonna find this QR code,
scan it to get to a video on how to turn these tires tubeless.
And also a couple more recommendations from Maxxis in regards to their tire.
ASPEN 29 x 2.25 is supposed to be 645 grams.
Guess what? This is exactly that, what a surprise!
In comparison, the 2.4 WT version of this tire is up to 720 grams
Here on the drive side or right side of the tire, there's a lot of information.
You can see the size, 60 PSI as maximum pressure recommended,
120 TPI the EXO protection and TR.
TR which gives you a very rubbery tire bead here for a good seal with your rim.
EXO protection is the sidewall reinforcement from Maxxis,
and I can tell you that this feels pretty smooth and rubbery
as opposed to others that feel really, really plasticky.
On the other side of the tire there's only a little bit of information.
If you're unsure look for this arrow for the direction of the tread.
Obviously the branding, the tire size,
and you're gonna see somewhere here that this is made in Taiwan.
But let's get this installed on the rim and take a closer look.
Rim is the same Stan's ARCH MK3
with the 26 mm internal dimension (ID)
which according to Stan's wide right philosophy
is perfect for tires between 2.25 and 2.5 inches wide.
I had a tire at 40 psi overnight to stretch a little,
now it is back to more normal 25 psi so let's take a closer look at this.
And here's the Aspen sandwich between
the Ikon, which is considered the most versatile cross-country tire they have,
and the Rekon Race, which is the semi slick they introduced not too long ago.
ASPEN is unique in the shape of these center knobs,
you can see the chevron shape here.
They provide a lot of braking surfaces on this side,
you can see the ramped up center knobs for good rolling resistance.
You can see those intermediate knobs,
similar to what something like Thunder Burt has on the Schwalbe line.
And the unique cornering knobs that are deployed in pairs, 2 by 2 by 2.
This probably means that you have to lean this tire nicely in the corners
in order to get the best grip out of them.
And those cornering knobs are different than the L-shaped ones on the Rekon race
or the more traditional ones on the Ikon.
The edge knobs on this tire are pretty much in line with the casing if not a little bit inboard,
and you see the width 57 mm which is 2.24"
That's pretty much what the spec requires.
The height of my tire is about 55 mm.
You see 71 mm and change here minus 16 mm of the rim.
Otherwise the center knobs have about 2 mm and the cornering knobs a bit over 3 mm,
so very similar to the Rekon Race that we looked at a couple weeks ago.
In my experience Maxxis tires are long lasting
the sidewall is rock-solid, never had issues with it.
The casing on this Aspen is superb, just like it was on the Rekon Race.
No wobble whatsoever just nice and round.
But since we can't really ride these tires right now,
what would you guys choose if you were to pick a pair from what I'm showing you here?
If I was to choose I would probably pick an Ikon first, put that up front,
and then maybe get a Rekon Race in the back.
If I had access to the ASPEN and Rekon Race WT 2.4,
I would probably be very tempted to try ASPEN front and rear
especially on this 26 mm ID RIM.
or even the Rekon Race 2.4 front and rear, just like the big guys out there are running it.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think!
If you liked this don't forget to like and subscribe.
I would love to hear your opinions in the comments below.
And until next time,
hope to see you guys on the trails,
riding on Maxxis race tires.
Cheers guys, cheers.