Hi everyone, how's it going?
Ever since I got my Yeti I thought about using Maxxis tires with it.
It comes with Maxxis tires that are very aggressive,
but I use this more for cross-country so what options do I have to replace my tires?
In the back here I've been using the Thunder Burt for quite a while and I'm very happy with this.
Between the Maxxis ASPEN and the Rekon Race that I reviewed recently,
I am pretty sure that I can find a good replacement for the Thunder Burt.
Up front, I picked the Maxxis Forekaster as a replacement for my Rocket Ron,
so why don't we take a closer look at this this.
This 2.35 is the widest two tire they have before they jump to 2.6 WT
and I picked the EXO sidewalls and tubeless ready (TR) version.
In case you didn't know, Forekaster is considered by Maxxis
to be an aggressive cross-country tire that is optimized for loose or wet conditions.
It offers a 120 TPI casing and it is dual compound rubber.
The varied terrains that this is optimized for is also mentioned down here,
and in this corner you'll have something that's pretty useless,
3 out of 4, pretty much old tires that I looked at as of late had three out of four.
Weight of the 2.35 it's supposed to be 735 grams,
and you can see it here at 750 g which is very close to that.
I'm gonna install this tire on an ARCH MK3 rim from Stan's,
the same that I used for ASPEN and Rekon Race.
This is a 26 millimeter ID rim.
A little bit of soapy water and I could install the tire no problem.
You have rotational arrow here on the left-hand side, this is the disc side.
You have the branding, the tire size, 29 x 2.35,
and this is made in Taiwan, all their tires are made there.
And here on the drive side or right side
you have the name of the tire, 29 x 2.35, 60 psi and 120 TPI.
EXO and TR again. If you look carefully you're going to find the ETRTO
ETRTO 60 - 622 - so this, the width of this tire should be 60 mm.
More details here about maximum pressures allowed,
branding and and 29 x 2.35 again.
Have the tire inflated to 40 psi right now and I'm gonna leave it like that overnight,
we'll be back tomorrow.
And here's the Forekaster at 25 psi next to Rekon Race
that I reviewed not too long ago.
The difference between the two cross-country tires is quite obvious:
first of all Forekaster has a lot taller knobs.
The center knobs are about 3.3 to 3.5 mm,
as tall as the cornering knobs on the Rekon Race.
The cornering knobs on the Forekaster are a millimeter and a bit taller than that.
Fairly tall knobs spaced out, with a lot of open areas
that would clear mud and debris is quite well,
but I'm wondering if this is going to make it puncture prone to an extent.
The center knobs are not ramped up like they are on the Rekon
and you see a lot of sharp edges here on these wide knobs that are used for braking.
Every single knob in here is siped, you see the little cuts everywhere.
That allows it to deform so it conforms better with the terrain to give you a better grip.
This is a nice volume tire with a pretty round profile as you see here,
very different than something like High Roller II from Maxxis.
And 26 mm rims I think are perfect for this tire,
If you can see the side knbs sticking out a little bit,
and that's exactly what you should see.
If the casing is sticking out further than the rim,
that's a clear indication that you installed them on a rim that's way too wide.
So width of the tire, which is edge to edge of the cornering knobs,
is 59 mm and a bit,
and that is 2.33 inches, very close to the specified 2.35.
Height of this tire is about 56 mm,
you see 73 minus the 16 mm of the rim.
Overall a nice thread profile that I think it would work very well for trail riding as well.
And here is my bike all dressed up with Maxxis tires, what do you guys think?
Rekon Race on the rear, and Forekaster Front.
This Forekaster is definitely the perfect front tire for a more aggressive cross-country riding.
I wouldn't put it in the back for cross-country, I think it would be a bit overkill.
What do you guys think?
Interested in the Forekaster? Have you used it before?
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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and until next time,
I hope to see you guys on the trails,
riding Maxxis Forekaster tires.
Cheers guys, cheers!