I have an old forecaster on the front at the moment, thought it might be the closest to the Barzo and had a couple of miles of life left in it.
It would definitely be a weird setup with the Aspen on the front because the Aspen and Mezcal definitely hook up in different ways when leaned over, but on the back, it hasn’t been a huge amount of extra grip aside from some sections where the Mezcal can bite a little deeper.
Interesting. I’m a bit surprised that the 2.25” Severe doesn’t get the WT designation despite the move toward 30mm IW for race wheels. I wonder if people like Nino run narrower rims when using mud tires.
From Maxxis’s marketing - “The go-to for rainy races, the narrow, low-volume-casing Severe features a spiky tread pattern and has already powered through thick mud on the world stage for the likes of Schurter, Bec McConnell and Anne Terpstra.”
Seems they indicate that it is intentionally designed to run narrower and low volume, which would align with a narrower rim designation too.
Yeah that makes sense, but it’s a bummer that Maxxis’ marketing has pushed people toward wider rims and then they make a new tire that’s not optimized for those rims. Guess there’s a use for our “outdated” 25mm rims after all.
And that is interesting to me.
From BRR we know that we have around 10W difference on the „not-so-real-life“ drum test when you compare the 2.2 Race King with the 2.25 Aspens.
Dylan tested the 2.4 Aspen instead. I assumed that the 2.4 would not be better in terms of rolling resistance. I often heard that you better choose a narrower tire if you are not limited by traction/handling in non technical gravel terrain.
With such results you would of course choose the wider tire and have both good handling and good rolling resistance.
So the question is, do we need 2.2ish tires anymore 
?
I’m trying this also. I traditionally leave a Barzo on the front and just swap out to a Mezcal for the rear when its dry. I’ve had a few slips with a Barzo in very dusty conditions. In order to get rid of my older G1 Vittoria’s (lower rolling resistance that the G2) I’m currently:
Now in the April showers - New-ish Barzo G2 front, 50% worn Barzo G1 rear
When it dries consistently - New-ish Mezcal G2 front, 25% worn Mezcal G1 rear
I’m hearing a lot of people liking the newer icons F&R, I’d like to see a direct IRL comparison with a Barzo pairing.
I don’t need tyres this year but I’m leaning toward Spec for '24.
Edit, just watched the Maxxis video… shallow tread but mmmmmm!
If you’re running ~30mm ID rims maybe not, but on the consumer end of things, there are plenty of folks still running ~25mm ID rims. Not sure what width rim Dylan used for his test, but if it was closer to 30mm ID, then maybe his results aren’t so surprising. I think to make any strong conclusions you need more repeats/testing under different conditions (Dylan basically said as much on his post based on your screenshots above) and probably multiple wheelsets, as I think the results are likely to vary based on rim width as that’ll affect the tire shape.
I also don’t think you can look at one factor such as rolling resistance in isolation. Tread pattern is going to have an effect on handling beyond sheer rolling resistance, which in turn may alter speed when not traveling in a straight line on gravel.
I’ve haven’t been using Maxxis for a number of years now as they have not performed that well in BRR tests. However if I’m understanding correctly the MaxxSpeed compound is entirely new, so could significantly impact the BRR results.
Anyone know if the Aspen 2.4 in MaxxSpeed compound is available anywhere? And if not, when it might be?
On Maxxis’s website it makes no mention of the MaxxSpeed compound on the Aspen page. I just says “dual compound” which I’m assuming is not the same thing.
Running F/R combo Barzo / Mezcal here in the UK for XC racing and training.
It’s pretty bomber for most races. If it’s especially wet I may put a barzo on the rear.
Running the trail casing 2.35 for extra puncture protection over the tan walls.
Dylan was running 27mm rims (I asked him via DM on the gram)
I have run Rekon Race F&R and Ikon Rear with a Nobby Nic Front, currently run Ray/Ralph but would be interested in a comparison of the new compound Ikon and Rekon Race in rocky terrain. The differences between the two seem pretty subtle.
FWIW, I just ordered a pair of Barzo/Mezcal to try. I had a 20% off coupon, so seemed like as good a time as any to mix it up from my usual Maxxis selection.
I’ll still be running Rekon Race F/R on my SS (2.4 front, 2.35 rear) for shorter races. The Vittorias will go on the Fuel for longer races.
I have not seen this tire combination before 
So he must have seen an advantage of the RaceKing regarding rolling resistance (which was not reflected in the data which he shared).
He talked about his setup in a Adam Roberge video, he said he would have run the RaceKings front and rear as they roll faster but said the RaceKing in the front was too sketchy.
Wonder why he wouldn’t run the CrossKing, Mezcal or Rocket Ron as a front instead, they all roll faster than the Aspen in BRR’s testing. The 2.3 Cross King is slower than the Aspen 2.25 but I expect the 2.4 Aspen is slower than all of the above. The new Max Speed Aspens should be faster than most of the above though.
Dylan tends to favor more volume and equates this with lower rolling resistance (lower psi), coupled with the traction of the Aspen, is likely why he chose 2.4. He didn’t have access to the MaxxSpeed compound Aspen though as only sponsored racers have them so far.
For the Maxxis Severe, if you’ve ever watch a pro mud bog…maybe just the Southern people will know what I’m talking about……anyway, many of the top pros run narrow tires in deep mud. And these people are ripping thru soup.
I think the narrower tire profile cuts thru the mud better.
Hump
Switched out wheels and tires on my Epic Evo. Had been running the stock Roval Control wheels with Ground Controls front and rear.
Pulled the Roval SLs off my other bike which have Ikons front and rear.
Felt much better. The Ground Controls seem to want to drift a bit and I want get that with the Ikons.
Hump
Not much love for Pirelli here, huh?
Coming from Specialized fastraks and Schwalbe Rays, I now roll a Pirelli Scorpion 2.4 at the front and am loving how it handles. This particular model is heavy but I am thinking/expecting the RC model might behave similarly, with less weight and rolling resistance. Anyone experienced these tires or has RR data? I see nothing in Rolling Resistance’s website on mtb Pirellis.
I almost picked up a set of Pirelli XC tyres from the clearance bin at the LBS. They looked super narrow and weren’t as light as if have expected, so I decided to pass and stick with the known Schwalbe/Wolfpack options.
I’ve a question. Do tyres go “off”? Now riding a Barzo & Mezcal bought late 2021 with only 25% wear, my bike is pretty skittish in the dry. I know the Barzo doesn’t like loose over hard, but its worse than usual. They will have been through to 40 degree to -9 degrees of the British season over that time.
Bike some kind of comparison and I appreciate it isn’t really, my sons recently new bike came equipped with 29 Ardent Race and the grip on those seems phenomenal by comparison.
