Hey everyone, welcome!
Have you ever tried the Maxxis ASSEGAI tire?
I rode this tire in the bike park last year and ever since I wanted to try it on my local trails.
I finally got my hands on the 29 x 2.5 so let's take a closer look at this!
In the last couple of years I run the Dissector up front or the Minion DHF
so I'm gonna look at the ASSEGAI in comparison mostly with the DHF, also in 29 x 2.5.
And while the DHF that I have here is dual compound, the ASSEGAI is actually the softer rubber the 3C Max Terra.
Otherwise 2.50 WT or Wide Trail, and as you will see in the back
that means that these tires are optimized for 30 to 35 millimeter inner rim width.
I have the DHF installed on the Stan's ARCH MK3
but the ASSEGAI it's gonna go on a 30 millimeter ID rim.
Otherwise you see that this is a 60 TPI casing, they talk about world-class downhill performance,
obviously they're referring to the design of this tire which was done in collaboration with Greg Minnaar,
and here you're gonna see that this tire is designed to work in all kind of conditions
from loose over hard, medium, loose, wet, not necessarily mud and not necessarily hard pack.
This tire is supposed to have great cornering control and decent rolling performance but not the best.
As usual, the parameters of the tire are here on the drive side sidewall.
Also you're gonna see a directional arrow since this tread pattern is directional.
This tire is supposed to be 63 mm width and just like all the other Maxxis tires this is made in Taiwan.
Now the weight of the tire, I always thought that this must be a 1.2 -1.3 kilogram tire.
To my big surprise this tire, just with the EXO sidewall protection, comes up to 1026 grams (1.026 kg).
Well guess what? That Minion DHF, is 1020 grams
so this ASSEGAI is only 6 grams heavier than that.
The ASSEGAI is going to be the front tire for my Santa Cruz Tallboy 4
Where I have the 30 mm ID ICAN F930, a wheelset that I reviewed last year,
I think the discount code for these wheels is still active, just look for that video.
I've used these wheels with Rekon 29 x 2.6, this is a pretty good tire if you're riding mellower, hard pack trails.
As usual with the Maxxis tires, it was very easy to install these and inflate them tubeless.
I left them overnight at 35 PSI, nice and bold profile, so let's take a look at the measurements of this tire.
The DHF 29 x 2.5 comes up to 65 mm, that is the side knobs.
The casing it's a bit narrower a bit over 60 mm.
In inches, that would be almost 2.4" and here at the knobbies, it's a true 2.5".
On the ASSEGAI 2.5 the widest portion is the side knobs as well, a bit over 2.4"
Casing it's a bit tighter than that over here.
In millimeters the casing is at 61mm and these side knobs would be at around 63.5 mm
so on a 30 mm ID rim the ASSEGAI 29 x 2.5 measures almost 2.5" right from the get-go.
With a rim height of 25 mm here at the top of the knobs we're measuring 85 mm, so 60 mm height tire.
Plus knobs that makes for a pretty good volume overall, as expected from a 2.5 WT tire.
In the last couple of months I tested the tire in all kind of conditions from normal single track riding
To gnarlier, faster, more terrain park like descents
and one thing that I can tell you is that this doesn't feel any draggier than something like a DHF.
I know many complain about the rolling resistance of the ASSEGAI
but in my experience it's hard to tell if it's any different than something like a Dissector or DHF
definitely when used op front.
One outstanding quality of the tire though has been grip!
Any type of conditions, any speed, any kind of terrain,
whether that was loose or hard, rock slabs or slightly wet, this tire performed very well,
I guess as expected for a design in which Greg Minnaar had something to say...
Hohoooo
So with my video I don't know if I convinced you to try, at least try the Maxis ASSEGAI,
but if you like this kind of content don't forget to like and subscribe, it really helps my channel.
Also, in the comments, let me know - are you using Maxxis?
They're pretty expensive these days, are you using the Minion DHF?
Are you using the ASSEGAI these days?
Or are you actually willing to try something new like the DELIUM tires that I reviewed not too long ago.
Let me know what you think in the comments below,
and until next time hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!