Maxxis Ignitors

Absolutely the best mountain bike tires I've ever ridden... I picked up some Maxxis Ignitors on our team deal this year, I probably would have never considered them without the team deal as it's not the usual tire name you hear people throwing around...

First off, the Maxxis Ignitors are pretty light. I'm not the type that has my microgram scale to weigh everything, but they feel about the same weight as the Nokian NBX Lites.

Colorado trails are hard pack with a loose coat of sand most times of the year. That can make it awful tricky with fast, sweeping corners were you really need to lay it down to keep the speed good and high. Usually this can easily be accomplished with porky tires, low pressure, big knobs, skill, and a little good luck... I ran the Ignitors at 38-40psi all summer (I weigh 175 lbs) and they stuck like glue through the corners, despite their moderate knobbage. I got so comfortable and trusting of them that I really started to scare myself on the downhills at times. I did wash-out the front twice, but both times it was easily recovered with some counter-steering and nervous sweating.

We don't have a lot of mud in Colorado most times of the year, so I can talk a whole lot to their effectiveness in mud. The times I did use them in light mud they seemed to work great, but it was not the frame-clogging, concrete-forming kind that is encountered on the east coast.

Traction-wise climbing they seem great. I've never had a whole lot of problems with traction, so maybe I'm not the best judge of their abilities there. About any tire will have nice traction climbing if you stay smooth and balance your weight just right.

Tire choice is about as vast and opinionated as Shimano vs. Campy, but I hope we can pick up Maxxis again as a team sponsor so that I can get others to try this tire, I'm convince they'll be hooked... and they work with Stan's....