Maui Tires
18.10.2009
The Xterra World Championship course in Maui is a notoriously tough course on equipment and bodies. The roads and trails get little use during the year. The course is littered with volcanic rock and endless up and down sections traversing the the Haleakala Volcano. Your equipment must be strong and durable to withstand the rocks, dust, and sand, that is prominent in the area. Tire selection is of utmost importance. Big fat meaty tires, with sidewall and tread protection are key. My choice: Schwalbe Nobby Nic DD in 2.25 width for the front and Schwalbe Racing Ralph DD in 2.1o size on the rear. The “DD” stands for Double Defense, with reinforcement in both the tread and side walls.
With my burly Maui bound tires installed, I hit the trails on Wednesday in Phoenix, Arizona. The loose, dry, dusty, rocky terrain of Trail 100 in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve is just the ticket to prep for the gnarly Maui course. The tire change was a noticeable difference from what I’ve been running most of the year. For Maui I am running heavily knobbed, reinforced sidewalls and tread protection tires from Schwalbe. They are substantially heavier than the light weight climbing tires I’ve been running as of late, but they are totally worth it.
Riding these tires inspires confidence like you cannot imagine. It feels like you’re riding on velcro. No need to brake going into turns, and you can really rail thorough the turns. On top of that, you can let it rip through the rocky stuff without worry of tearing up your tires and flatting. Big time momentum and big time speed. I may re-think my tire choices for races next year. I think the added weight is more than made up for by the increased speed and traction trough the rough stuff. Maybe there is more testing in the future?