Are the 2.4 Maxxis Aspens only for shorter courses (olympic marathons), without out long climbs (leadville)? They are really heavy compared to other tires, natably the Continental Race Kings. The weight penalty rotating around and around and around seems like it cannot be worth it. 320 grams is a lot of weight on the wheel.
IMO it’s terrain dependent not length dependent. If it was 100 miles of rough terrain then I’d run the 2.4s, but with the smoother sections of Leadville then I think weight and RR optimized for less rough surfaces win out.
That said, I don’t have a super strong / informed opinion on what the ideal tire is for Leadville. I’ve ran Mezcal 2.25 in the past, debating between that, Race King, and Aspen all in 2.25s for this year.
Rotating weight would matter more on course with lots of accelerations. And even then the difference between that and non rotating weight isn’t big.
Do you mind me asking why not the 2.4 Aspen for Leadville, if considering the 2.25 Aspens? I’ve never done Leadville. Just a weight-based decision?
@Dr_Alex_Harrison For me it’s primarily weight but I also don’t think that wider = lower rolling resistance for all conditions. For some yes, but clearly there’s a course-dependent sweet spot or we’d all be riding plus tires or fatties all the time and that trend has died off hard.
@Jonathan also briefly mentioned in a recent episode (309 or 308) that he wouldn’t ride 2.4 tires at Leadville but it was a very quick exchange. Would love to hear what he’d ride instead.
Are these both 2.4 and similar casings?
the Race king is a 2.20", ProTection sidewall (3x180tpi ply).
The Aspen is a EXO/TR at 2.40" (120tpi, unknown layers).
The Aspen at 2.25" claims 653 grams, same construction.
That explains some of that massive difference.
~150g is still quite a lot, though I don’t know how the continental tyres go for puncture resistance/traction to know if it’s apples to apples. (180tpi sounds nice!)
Regards the 2.4 vs 2.25 debate, I think it comes down to the technicality of the courses/trails. Leadville is not technical at all, whereas something like ST6 or BCBR I don’t think a 2.25 would be faster for many people at all, if any.
I would love to hear this too.
I believe Aspen is single ply 120tpi because when maxxis goes double ply they call it “DD” for “Double Down.”
Thank you!
A quick ask if I may having watched this thread - as an XCM racer I favour a Barzo/Mezcal in all conditions for a good balance go grip, reliability and speed. Yet, I’ve never raced with a Mezcal up front in the dry.
Has anyone done so and is it good/ to be avoided? I might add I’m not a leaner hence tend to avoid Maxxis as I need not to have a large void at the only point of the tire that I lean on, I need a “rounded” tyre.
I do Mezcal 2.35 f/r for all my XCO, XCM and MTB 100s. I have for the past 2 years and love them. I think the Barzo is too slow. I ride mostly dry, roots and sandy courses, rocks are far and few between. For an idea of my trail conditions and see if it fits where you ride you can see here:
I ran Mezcal F/R for a long time and generally I’m a fan.
Depending on the composition of the soil, I think it actually hooks up better than the Barzo in some circumstances.
Thanks for the replies. I’m UK based so often the course will be “mixed”. However the sun has just come out so there may be a few months window. of dusty trails with occasional rain.
You can tell the different up front?
Seemed so, or I just didn’t like the tire 
. Just looking at the profile of the tread it appears it would be slower. Also, It’s more rounded than the Mezcal and I thought it actually provided less grip. That could also have been due to 2.25 Barzo versus 2.35 Mezcal.
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I’m currently running Ikons 2.35 front and back. They feel fast and predictable to me. But seeing all the Mezcal hype makes me wonder if I should switch.
Does anyone know how the Mezcals compare to the Ikons for grip an rolling resistance?
The 2.35 Ikon on a sufficiently wide rim is a pretty solid tire. One of my favorite dry combos for a trail setup would be to run a 2.4 DHF in the front and 2.35 Ikon in the rear.
I’d say the Mezcal rolls faster by enough to make up for any perceived loss of grip, but its definitely a marginal gain.
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Can anyone speak to how 2.25’s will perform on 30mm rims? Any issues? The Aspen 2.4 WT marketing is pretty good, and led me to believe this was the best option. But I have some pretty new 2.25 Aspens I’d may throw on there and try.
Currently have a pair of Rocket Rons 2.25 front, and 2.1 rear on 30mm rims, and they work well. On rocky trails, no issues at all last weekend, and the shape looks nice and round. I ran 18 psi on both.
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That is an impressive line up of Cannondale bikes. I am also liking the fact that I’m not the only one out here running a setback post on my bike. I used to race on Cannondale in my road racing days and really liked the bikes. I might need to throw a leg over one if I can find one.
Hump
So posting a follow up on my Conti Race King Protection experience.
To briefly recap, I put on a Race King Protection 2.2 rear a couple of months back in anticipation of using it at Wilmington Whiteface and Leadville this season. I had a lot of longish 50 - 100 mile weekend gravel rides planned as well as mixing in some single track, so it was a good chance to try it on the rear of my Supercaliber mounted on an ENVE M5 rim. I kept a 2 year old 2.25 Schwalbe Racing Ray on the front.
The Race King felt great on the gravel and was surprisingly competent on the trail. Traction was a step up from a Thunder Burt on the trail, especially if damp. From a handling and speed perspective I was 100% pleased.
But there were some negatives. The tire didn’t hold air well. Compared to the Schwalbe in the front I was losing air throughout the week and often the tire would be flat by the following weekend if not pumped up during the weekm. Initially I thought it was a leaky valve, so replaced it, but same result. Then I retaped tire, but still result. I was using fresh Stan’s Race Sealant and swapped it out, added extra, etc, all to no avail. Last week I noticed sealant leaking through the tire. This made me really nervous with a race coming up so I took the Race King off and put on a lightly used Thunder Burt. I pumped it up and it held air perfectly, so definitely the tire was leaking, not the wheel.
So it looks like I’m going to abandon the Race King experiment. Two months of weekend riding leading to a leaky tire is not exactly confidence inspiring. Back to Schwalbes front and rear.
Here is a shot of some the leaking spots. They were scattered all around the tire.
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