Spotted: Prototype Maxxis Minion Semi-Slick Tire

 Good idea saves us poor bikers cash.

 Take 2-3 runs on a Sick-E... no skids... and you'll still have a semislick at the base.

 All these trends are making me go bald!]

 Pay top dollar to experience the performance of a worn out tire!

 I've got several of these prototypes in my garage as we speak!

 I'm two-thirds of the way there!

 Responded to wrong item.

 or just do a couple of skids on some chicken wire that is typically on wood features

 Haha my DHF are usually semi slick most of the year. At least they are awesome for 2 months...so why would I buy a tire that is dead from the get go? Perhaps WC track(no braking), or commuting to work.

 they are good for people who like to skid, fast rolling and low traction for braking tho ... not for average riders id say,...

 Lol at these comments. If you know how to rail a corner properly, the side knobs on a DHF will start tearing off long before the center wears down.

 Yep

 brandon is 100%

 @brandonf said like a true park rat. Show me all the berms to rail in North Van, there may be at least 12 of them foo.

 I'm pretty trail savvy, most of the secret berm runs are punched dead or decommissioned. Bobsled green, maybe Seymour blue, who rides that stuff?

 Everybody seems to ride bobsled. It's a good, quick warmup lap.

 ya just make errythang a berm

 take a set of side-cutters to the center knobs of a folding swamp thing? i did that in a race like 8 years ago, i knew i was before my time...

 the side knobs on my HRII's already have cuts on the inside section. the middle knobs are just fine, railing a corner only requires side knobs @brandonf is super right.

 Surely the transition from the centre to out side is going so be not very smooth ? I mean the middle is almost like a flat spot with the edges being so high ?

 Yeah you would think but I know lads that swear by them - they are rounder than they appear or at least the razor and slaughter are, for climbing on the dry I can get it as it makes life easier, for braking on steep sections I cant get it in my head, I like having a big tyre and don't mind carrying the middle up if it is there when I come down. if I spent life riding dry and fast trails or even bike parks then I would use these types of tyres all the time, the reality is that I don't

 This tire is grossly misunderstood
m.youtube.com/watch?v=5ucgx_6ZqoM

 I can't even read the article since this tire is NOT for General use and I'm a 69 star General.

 Does nobody remember the maxxis high roller semi slick from a few years ago? This but with highroller side knobs.

 I used to have a Maxxis Brian Lopes Bling Bling tyre which matches that description. It was pretty good actually, but they only made it for a short while.

 I loved my old High Roller semi slick, shame they don't still make it. Wish they'd bring it back along with the Swamp Thing.

 Despite the (at least today) horrible name, these Bling Blings were some of the best dual/4x tyres ever made.

 I'll take two.

 Got told the other day the side knobs on my front tire are tearing off cos I use too much front brake in corners?..

 It looks slick

 imgur.com/yPrJVMQ

Pic Semi related

 ^then you never should've tread in here

 i need to get a grip and retract my statement before i get punished any further

 I tyre of all these puns!

 Slick move by maxxis. Maybe not--just semi slick.

 Already bought some new tires, so i will knobby riding this new tire

 I've got a semi on just looking at it

 That tyre is semi-sick.

 Im getting tyred of all these slick puns!!

 Come on, lets not compound the issue!

 haha pure genius

 according to rampage 2014 it'd be knobby got robbed... god that hurts.

 Stop pandering to the masses for free internet points, this isn't Reddit bro.

 Looks like a Trek.

 I was hoping for a 26 too. So the masses can kiss my asses.

 I presume sarcasm on the part of @parallaxid

 @Allthebikes - I need a total of: 379235473003480 positive props, 2981 followers more and 34734 likes on FB. When put through Clive F. Hansons equation that will give me number of the beast 666 which then multiplied by Cramptons number of profile visits would give number Pi. In this way I would access the entrance to other dimensions and I will get all the power over bike industry. The trouble is... my props count is currently at -27239.

 Can you actually tell how many props you have overall then? I always kind of wondered what the point was in propping as at the end of the day it was just a number at the end of a comment (other than to just get rid of spam).

 I don't know el-nombre - Otherwise I could not sleep at night... All I can tell you is that once I got -240 for one comment, and I easily got -1000 under just one article. Good times!

 They are some pretty impressive stats!

 WAKI is the most well loved pinkbike troll ever!

 jaame those were the times when people were propping like crazy after the system has been introduced. Then they made this thing when you could see who propped or negpropped you and it got down by a half or so and never came back up.

 For fks sake wheel size is overrated, it is a bullshit! Think complete bike damn it! Freaking 1 degree of head angle change or 1" of top tube will do more change than switch between 26 and 275 or 275 and 29. Damper you put into your fork, which tyres you put on will change, who the F builds a bike that is exactly the same as his old bike with only wheel size upped with frame and fork adjusted accordingly?! I have never ever seen a guy who does that, but this is exactly how 99% of enlightened morons think, by eliminating all the variables but the wheel diameter. But guess what, if some dude bought a 26" Spec Enduro Expert in 2012 and he moves to Enduro 2015 Expert in 650B then pretty much every f*cking bit of build is different! Wheels, brakes, drive train, grips, bars, saddle - each of those things changed in last 3 years! Even if changes are small Lyrik got replaced by Pike, SLX brakes with Guides, then all together make a freaking big difference, so it would be a new better bike even if f*cking wheel size stayed the same. Then if you move somewhere else, surface of trails changes, altitude differences increase, then maybe you buy Enduro Evo and then everyuthing freaking changes even more! AAAAAAA!!! Why are people so fkng narrow minded?! Why can't you people see several issues at once, three at least?! And then some idiot comes along, "saying that larger wheel rolls over better, and it's simple physics" - you dumb fktard! Die in excrutiating pain! I hope some religious maniacs get your pseudo atheist, pseudo scientific arse and sacrifice you by ripping your heart out through anus, so that there is more rain coming next year! NOBODY GETS EVERYTHING!!! NOBADAEEEEE!!!

www.pinkbike.com/photo/10650221

 Strongly disagree @scottrallye, people need to keep letting manufacturers know that they still want 26". Why would anyone want less choice?

 LOL slightly more emphatic than me Waki. And in first.

 I think those were WAKI's last typed-words as he perished on his computer from a stroke!!! hahaha.

NOBODEEEE!!!! gasps, vein bulges, house lights fade to black>

 Ban suspension from world cup DH!

 C'm on baby! Let's do the fist! C'm ooon babaaaaeeee, let's do the fist! C'm ooon, stick up your lovely buuutt! 'n let me do the fist!

 Which compound rock razor did you get?

 yeah you probably had a very soft compound. i'd get this tire in 60a. my main concern is how it'd do on braking. yes, surprise surprise i use both tires to brake, and i'm suspicious of those center knobs and if they can handle the Loose-Over-Hard shit dirt we have in SoCal.

 The Conti's with Black Chili hold up really well for me.

 i used to run Kenda Happy Medium, its pretty similar to this... it was very fast, but the braking and climbing traction was not hot... its not the tire for a person who uses a lot of rear brake... just for climbing i switched to the H-Factor which was better uphill and only a little slower rolling.

 I'm already having trouble stopping on SoCal hardpack with the new Nobby Nics in Pacestar out back. Can't imagine what a RR or a different semi slick would perform like.

 mb929 is right. Quit neg propping the guy for speaking the truth... Swhwalbe tires have VERY soft compounds. They are a "race day tire" at a premium price. You cannot buy it in a 60A like you can a Maxxis. They have 3 compound levels; "Vert star" is the softest, good for literally a handful of runs. Trail star is their mid level, I got one of these to last a whopping 3 days at whistler, on the front. Pace star is their hardest available compound, which is only available in a VERY few tread styles, NOT Magic Mary and NOT rock razor. In fact, I just read through their own website and NONE of the "gravity" style tires they offer come with a Pace Star compound. You'll burn through these tires like a fat chick through her own wedding cake after she got left at the alter...

 The Rock Razor is only offered with Pacestar compound in the standard Snakeskin casing and only in Trailstar in the Super Gravity casing. So if you want a beefy casing and Pacestar, not gonna happen. A Pacestar Rack Razor does it exist though.

 Try a Kenda BBG. Got a bit more tread in the middle than the RR or Happy Medium do.

 Who cares about props? Ridiculous. I'll take as many as you can dish out.

 Try some bontrager xr3's, crazy fast and they have a good lifespan

 @bmoore34 my XR4's lasted me 3 times as long as my HRII's and yes, the HRII's were 60a. Bontrager makes really good tires, they're just expensive, and you HAVE to get the team issued tires.i'm thinking of getting some of their gravity tires for my AM bike.

 low knobs AND 60a? No thanks, one or the other please, both would be like trying to rollerskate on marbles.

 I've just put some bonty xr4 teams on my am bike (well I bought two but at he mo in running one on the rear with a maxxis shorty up front - a suprisingly well matched pair) I bought the xr4 because I was planning on getting a rock razor for summer on the rear but I'm so impressed with the bonty I might just get an xr3 or 2. I bought mine from Evans cycles for £27.99 each which I think is cheap for a tyre when most maxxis, conti or schwalbe tyres are £40-£50 and even more in some cases.

As for the black chilli compound, I have der kaisers and mud kings and I'm really impressed with the grip and carcass strength. Although my am bike came with trail kings which are very draggy and don't offer desireable grip and inflate super wide so mud clearance is poor. I find the maxxis 3c an equally good compound but I got my first puncture (a snake bite at 25psi - I run anything from 20psi to 45psi) for a year and a half with the bonty. It's worth it for the grip though, especially for the price.

 try getting the team issue, it will last you half year (if you ride 2 times a week for about 15 miles each time) or about 4 months if you ride 4 times a week like me. they are great tires, might switch back to them after my HRII's get burned out.

 Yeah my xr4s are team issues but still only cost £27.99each.

Have you tried se's? Are they the same but with a stronger carcass? Have you tried any of their mud tyres?

 no. they're pretty expensive at my LBS so i haven't tried any. and we don't have mud over here so i haven't tried their mudspikes. i want to try their G4 tires because I've heard they're like DHF's but slightly longer lasting tread. which i'm down for. might put the G5 on back, similar tread patter to a DHRII so it could be great as well. infact i'll do that next time i get new tires (probably this summer)

 idk what the difference between SE and XR is.

 The g4 tread pattern looks very similar to der kaisers too, which are great IMO.

Bonty are definately an overlooked tyre. Mountain Biking UK magazine did a tyre test the other month and the xr4 won it (test included HR2, magic Mary, mavix charge etc.) they even admitted that they wouldn't have tested the bonty had it not been on a test bike. They were impressed by it on the bike so they decided to take it off and put it in the test.

When I had a punture the other day, it was a pinch flat so rapidly deflated to 0psi (obviously with a tube) and the tyre was still properly rooted into the tubeless grove of the rim (e13 trs+). So I bet tubeless set ups are a piece of p*** for the xr4 too.

 I run the XR4 and XR3 Team Issue tubeless on my bike for two years now. It was easy to set up and works flawlessly. The 4 offers a lot of grip and the 3 has little rolling resistance. So far I haven't had one flat tyre over the last 5.000 kilometers on rough, rocky alpine terrain. They last long and the price is fair, compared to Conti and Schwalbe. Bontragers are definitely underestimated. But don't tell anyone or the prices will go up ;-)

 I really dont get all this Schwalbe tires don't last stuff. I had a pair of Vert Star Magic Marys on for two lift assisted weeks in Morzine. A few torn side knobs, and the center knobs on the rear look a bit squashed, but I would say I could do at least another two weeks before the front goes to the rear and a new one goes on up front. And thats being harsh. I could most likely do another 4 weeks.

 I love the Bontrager tires. I had 2 XR1s and now have a solid set of XR3 2.3 Team Issue grippers. Their tubeless sealant is better than Stan's and cheaper.

 I stopped running my Schwalbe setup (HD upfront & RR in the rear) also when I was going to hit 3 sets around august. Now running Geax Goma's on my Mach 6 (2.4 on the front 2.25 on the rear) and pretty happy thus far.

 Durability wise nothing even gets close to Maxxis. I just replaced an EXO Ardent on the rear after about a year, the thing must have seen nearly 8000 km. The Minion on the front still looks sort of fresh and I won't be surprised if it'll last another year.. Schwalbe is just utter tosh, knobs flying all over the place and ridiculous pricing. Other than the MMs I'm not that fond of their threads either, I have yet to find a more vague and unpredictable front tyre than the HD.

 Yeah, if you have Bonty TLR tires and wheels, i guarantee you will not get them to burp tubeless, as long as you don't have ridiculously low pressure. and because of that you can run slightly lower pressure than usual without the fear of burping. they also have super strong side walls, i got a few deepish scrapes on them, but they still held their own out here in the rocky gnar. XR4's are probably one of the best tires i've ridden. definitely need to get me a G4 team issue

 There is a wire bead, DH version currently available, but no folding version yet.

 They've been out for a while

 They are really dropping the ball on that...need 650b exo Minions in 2.4 or 2.5 and make them available in 60a! I go through close to 800$ worth of mtb tires a year...I cant run 3c tires..they just dont hold up long enough so I'm stuck running 2.4 HR2's in 60a up front and the 2.3 HR2's in "dual" out back which actually holds up pretty well....3c minions are showing allot of wear in a week up front and a 3c DHR2 rear is totally smoked in 3 weeks..the 60a fronts last about 8weeks and I usually replace them before I really need to..

 Old news tire seen it months ago lol. How long until it's available is the real question. I'm thinking Maxxis shorty 2.35 front and this rear for my enduro race rig

 The new TR 2.3s are pretty close in size to the undersized older 2.5. The older 2.35 was closer to a 2.1 from most other brands.

 the minion 27.5 x 2.3 is about as wide as the 26 x 2.5 and i'd say as wide as the the high roller 27.5 x 2.4. it's dumb.

 2.4 hr2 is way wider than a 2.3 minion.

 old maxxis 2.3=new maxxis 2.25, old maxxis 2.5=new maxxis 2.4. evebody know dat. There's a little variance, but the new sizes are meant to be roughly equivalent to the old ones, just labeled more honestly.

 Said no one ever.......

 RM is specing a bunch of bikes with 2.3 DHFs and 2.4 ardents out back. which seemed wierd but they sure do look a similar width to my eye too. I was thinking of the 2.4 ardent, which blows compared to the 26 x 2.4 ardent of old. Just saying its weird between the same tread different wheel sizes. I like the tires enough to figure it out I wish I was riding through $800 worth of maxxis a year

 @wydopen - stop doing carpark skiddies

I also had the issue with 60a high rollers wearing out after a couple of hard pack / loamy rides. If I'm honest I wasn't overly impressed with high rollers. I found they're grip predictable but not inspiring. I wasn't hitting the off camber lines. And the rolling speed wasn't great either. Despite their name.

I now run black chilli contis on my dh bike (der kaiser and mud king combos) and they have lasted for a solid few months without showing much wear. I will definately get a year of riding out of them. But in the summer I might put a worn out high roller on the back because it doesn't look dissimilar to the picture in the article

I recently bought a maxxis shorty 3c which is my first maxxis tyre since my high rollers. Fingers crossed it will last a lot better. It is on the front after all.

 @lukachadwick the 60a highrollers last quite a while for me especially in the front...Im just limited to only Highrollers though as that's all they make in 60a...I do 4 or 5 long rides a week and each ride consists of allot of rocks and hardpack...the 3c's knobs start cracking after just a couple rides...plus I have a new rubber addiction haha

@nekmtb I think the 2.4 650b ardent is quite a bit bigger than the 2.3 minion...check my profile pic..Thats a 2.4Hr2 up front and a 2.25 Ardent in the back...the 2.3 minion is quite a bit smaller than the 2.4 HR2

 yeah you are right I run the hr2 2.4 60a front and rear because they are the widest ones. and I agree there should they could have more options in the 2.4 size. it's the 2.4 ardent that i dont think really measures up I was glad when i skidded through that tire.

 My 27.5 dhf 2.3 measured 2.35 proper. Still, I dream for 2.4 in same light casing.

 Art's Cyclery lists actual sizes for all the tires they sell..casing and tread

 Check the ETRTO numbers on the website for true widths. Old minion 2.35s are 52mm wide. New hr2 2.4s are 61 or 62mm if memory serves. schwalbe 2.35s are 60mm which is a true 2.35. I guess maxxis have finally come clean.

 I think the frame in the picture is a Kona Process 167. Which is 26"...

 Sorry to disappoint you @skid - that's a 27.5" Process 153 in the photo.

 Thanks. Totally forgot the 153dl had green to. Hopefully just one more week for my 167 to arrive.. mmmmm

 MikeKazimer@ I am guessing it's Spenser p's bike? It is amazing how good this design (Spez slaughter) works in the Pacific Northwest.

 I loved those tires for DS and 4X!!

 yeah worked really well in hard pack dirt

 Yeah I really liked the high roller semi slick too, I just found the tire a bit too delicate. The ontario rocks ate them up pretty quick. Too many cuts.

 Yes Larsen TT with beefier sideknobs would be the best rear tire ever...or they should just release a exo 650b larsen

 Or a wider cross mark with larger side nobs.

 Even just a 2.3 in exo

 Try the Ardent Race? I hated the Ardent on the rear, it just always felt like the grip was shit, it didn't corner, and it didn't stop, and it wasn't particularly fast. The Race version in 3C grips better and rolls faster, not the sort of cornering grip you get from a HR2 or a Minion. But then Jared Graves smoked everyone at Buller on the weekend with an Ikon on the rear, so...

 I'll run ardents in the rear occasionally mostly because they are 40$..been wanting to try an ikon but they are almost 70$ I have no problems running non tubeless ready tires tubeless and 60a is cheaper than 3c maxxspeed

 You know, Larsen 2.35 Dh casing has been the most renowned rear tire for enduro in Europe for years... all pros knew... just now with modern geometries with more wheight at the rear you need more lateral knobs...
Larsen is the best cause you can´t get this fast rolling and braking power in one like this one... in steep enduros you don´t want to relay on the breaking power of the front tire so much so it´s much risky and have a big braking power at the back is a guarantee for not crashing in long runs...

 Anyone ever ride the Lopes signature B;ing Bling Maxxis had out a few years ago? Was made for 4x, but was an absolutely terrific hard pack trail tire. Fast rolling and great square-edge profile for corners.

 Tried a slaughter on an enduro. I was happy to get to try one but when we got to the trails they were all muddy and that tire was absolutely worthless in those conditions, sadly. Must be great if you live in the desert.

 Oh yeah, that course. Poor Tinker. What were those green tires that were mere knurling in the centre? Michelin something-gripper.

 i was just gonna say... "so maxxis you mean the bling bling lopes tire?" i actually still have one i like the shallow diagonally siped center knobs on the bling bling.

 Great tire!

 This is just a theory based on my personal experience, so no science involved.
I´ll try to explain it using a example:

Lets say you ride a roadrace on your Nomad, and you choose to run full on slick tyres, your average speed i 30mph
Now lets say the use of a single Nobby Nic reduces your average speed by 2mph, and a Rocket Ron reduces your average speed by 1mph.
Switch your rear slick tyre with a Nobby Nic --> your average speed will now be 28mph
Now switch your front slick tyre with a Nobby Nic --> new average speed is 26mph
Switch both Nobby Nic with Rocket Rons --> your average speed will go back up to 28mph

My theory is that each tyre reduce your speed, as both tyres add rolling resistance. This way running a semi slick(Rocket Ron in the example) in the back, and a aggressive thread-pattern up front(Nooby Nic in the example), will reduce your speed less than running two agressive tyres.

Then there is the weight aspect; a semi-slick will normally be lighter than a full-on mud tyre, so by running 1 semi-slick and 1 mud tyre, you reduce the rotational weight compared to running 2 mud tyres.

With the new semi-slick that Spesh, Schwalbe and now Maxxis are offering, you don´t loose any cornering grip as the side knobs are still huge, you only sacrifice your "center-tyre-grip" - something I´m very willing to do.

 read AllridersAgency's explanation response. it's all in there.

 @atrokz, you must not have read the first line, where I wrote, "Semi-slick tires aren't a new concept in mountain biking..."

 " now it looks like Maxxis is getting ready to re-join the fray"

FTFY

Teehee (I'm just teasing, because you probably owned a pair of HRSS's at some point)

That said, how did you find the transition to side lugs? With the HRSS the lugs were fairly low so it felt similar to a HR worn a bit, but these look a lot taller, so curious to know how it feels. Regardless it's been a long time coming for us who ride harder packed trails.

 Of course they aren't. Did you not see the phrase enduro racing in the article? Oooh 27.5. Whoopdy shit. Does 1.5 inches really make that much of a difference on a wheel.

 If everyone is racing the 7.2L V8 you probably shouldnt stick with the 6.5L. Recreational use... run whatever.

 I only have a 26" for DH. My trail rig is a 29er. Might get one for fonatana if they make a 26x2.5 or 2.3. See how it does on the "dirt" out there.

 @Bronco82 - FWIW 650b isn't actually 27.5".

 Ok, so it's a 0.9 inch difference at the rim. Same principal you party pooper.

 650b is actually 27.2* somehting if im not mistaken...

 everyone's got their knobs in the dirt!

 And much like the Specy Slaughter is a Schwalbe Rock Razor....

 True story.

 Careful, if you keep thinking like that, your head might get sucked into a Tirenado!!

 If we could dig up a photo of your old rear tire, you might be in line for some royalty checks!

 Should read 'Real World' tyre dimensions.

 Maxxis has had semi slick designs for close to 20years now..just not lately..

 Well that is true, but like I said most of spesh's tires are almost exact copies of Maxxis tires..an eye for an eye.

 I think I see what you are saying. For hardpack that might not be the best. I think for dry loose blown out dirt, it might be better.

 Seriously, they should just bring back the Lopes Bling Bling. With a well spaced row of 2 square and siped low profile centre knobs, it was where the Minion DHF sideknobs first appeared. Bling-duro?

 I feel like you'd have to run DHRII or DHF up front to keep it from pushing in corners. HR2 sideknobs just the right size so you could have more front tire options.

 wrong. you only need the spirit of enduro and huge balls

 depends on where you ride...