All-condition tyres
Every year we do a tyre group test, and every year this reinforces the fact that tyres make the most dramatic difference to the performance of your bike – both good and bad. The right tyres can totally transform ride quality, boost control and make you feel like a hero, conversely the grippiest tyres can also feel like a dog to pedal uphill and kill your buzz on flatter trails where rolling speed is a priority.
On the most basic level tyres hold air to convert your bike into a pneumatically sprung vehicle. They use complex tread patterns and rubber compounds to tune friction, comfort and damping, and directly connect your bike to terra firma on whatever surface you’re riding on. The best tyres can improve everything from cornering grip to braking traction, rolling speed to cushioning, but, like most things in life, tyre choice boils down to a compromise between a myriad of performance factors – no single tyre will ‘do-it-all’.
Brands are continually improving products and tweaking rubber formulas, casing technology, puncture protection and tread designs in search of the holy grail of ultimate grip, durability, and toughness – ideally achieved without being overly compromised by excessive weight and sluggish rolling speed. New materials and construction techniques come into play here, plus the fact that it’s now accepted that most high-end aftermarket mtb tyres will be run tubeless.
The fact many tyres look so alike tells you that the technology is now fairly mature, and while small incremental changes keep on making tyres better than ever, there are seldom big leaps forward. The 10 tyres here are some of the latest models to market and therefore represent the cutting edge of today’s tech. We’ve deliberately pitched the products at trail/enduro riding, so they pack the ability to deal with the high speeds and extreme terrain that is the bread and butter of the modern full-suspension bike.
MAXXIS HIGH ROLLER II DD
£74.99
SPECIFICATION Weight: 1,170g • Size tested: 29x2.5 WT • Actual size: 60.1mm • Contact: extrauk.co.uk
The Maxxis High Roller II is a classic all-mountain and downhill tyre. Its 10-year-old design uses chunky edge blocks for cornering bite separated from aggressively-ramped central paddles (that roll fast one way and brake hard the other) by a wide and well-defined ‘grip channel’.
The High Roller II has been re-engineered to fit today’s wider rims, but has fallen from favour a little, likely due to newer and more hyped models appearing on the market. So using it as a rear control tyre on enduro bike tests
