Rebecca’s Favorite Maxxis Tires

I’m really excited to announce that my partner Maxxis has come on to be the Official Tire of Rebecca’s Private Idaho. Maxxis became one of my partners in 2015 and it has been a perfect fit- rolling with me from event to event, adventure to adventure.

Tires- They are the critical connection point between my bike and the earth below me.

They are there to grip when I carve a sharp corner, and they seemingly float over the pavement or dirt when I’m hammering out a hard effort. There is much to take into account when selecting a tire for training or racing: tread, pressure, width, casing. I customize my tire choice based on the terrain, event, and conditions. Riding a variety of different tires and terrains has allowed me to understand the various subtleties of tires giving me the confidence to trust my tires making riding faster and more fun.

Here are a few key races and events and the Maxxis bike tires I’ve ridden for each of them.

Rebecca’s Private Idaho and Dirty Kanza

The Rambler is my go to endurance gravel tire and it great for both my signature event, Rebecca’s Private Idaho, and the Dirty Kanza. Rambler’s are durable, fast on the smooth roads, and has great treat that allows for predictable cornering. Maxxis nailed it with their first gravel tire.

Rambler EX/TC 700x 40c. My go to for: Endurance gravel

Leadville

In Leadville I ride the Ikon 3C/EX/TR, 2.35 up front, and 2.0 in the rear. The Ikon is light weight and fast as hell. It quick on the fire roads but has just enough tread to give you confidence bombing down Columbine.

Ikon 3C/EX/TR 2.35 front, 2.0 rear. My go to for: Non-technical mountain biking, and fire roads.

Italy Divide and Smoke ‘N’ Fire

I use to struggle selecting a tire for multi-day, varied terrain races, then the gang at Maxxis suggested the Tread Lite 2.1 EXO/TR. It’s a semi-slick mountain bike tire with a low profile center knobs that allows me to rip on non technical sections, but ample side knobs to grip on more technical terrain.

Tread Lite 2.1 EXO/TR My go to for: multi-day, varied terrain, self-supported bike packing events

Niner Fox Trot @ Ride Sun Valley

The Niner Fox Trot race at the Ride Sun Valley Festival is a marathon event that features technical, backcountry single track terrain. Since this race is in my backyard I’ve had the opportunity to really fine-tune my tire recipe for this event. Up front I run a Ardent 2.4 EXO/TR which is a killer do-it-all trail tire. The aggressive tread pattern allows me to push and take calculated risks in a short distance race like the marathon with confidence. I pair is with the Ardent Race 2.2 3C/EXO/TR in the near. the Ardent Race is the happy medium between the Ikon and the traditional Ardent. I like to run this in the rear since I don’t need as aggressive of a tread in the rear.