There’s a more aggressive new Maxxis XC tire in town – called the Aspen AT, and it’s coming to 32″ wheels too, along with the original Aspen, Aspen ST, Forekaster & Dissector. The new all-terrain or is it all-mountain Aspen AT further expands on the popular cross-country race tire family, giving it more bite for wetter or looser track conditions. But it also just makes the lightweight & fast tire line-up more versatile, blurring the line to fast trail-capable tires. Plus, there’s also a significant new evolution of their single compound MaxxTerra rubber, promising 15% more grip and 30% extra durability while retaining the rolling efficiency of the previous generation.
Maxxis Aspen AT is a knobby, more capable XC tire
Maxxis’ new knobby Aspen AT “builds on the legacy of the Aspen family, long trusted at the highest levels of cross-country racing“.
It beefs up each individual block of the classic Aspen tread, specifically transforming the thin central chevrons into thicker, proper trail-ready tread blocks. But the XC race ethos isn’t gone. The new AT is a modern XC race tire, so a fast-rolling character was still at the core of creating a tire more suited for finding grip in rougher track conditions.
But with more grip and EXO-level protection, this will likely spread to marathon and even downcountry trail riding as well.
Aspen AT Tech details
- all-new taller tread block design, with increased all-terrain capability
- lightweight 120tpi single ply XC casing
- EXO-level puncture protection and E50 ebike-rated
- fast-rolling MaxxSpeed rubber compound
- tubeless-ready folding bead
- 2.4″ width only, in 29″ or 32″ diameters
- available now
5 different Maxxis 32″ tires: from Gravel to XC to Trail
This is what we’d really been waiting to hear. After kickstarting all this 32″ madness last year at Taipei Cycle with the OG Aspen, now Maxxis rolls out a well-rounded 32″ family. More than just the Aspen that was recently ridden to a Cape Epic Stage 3 win…
Aspen ST, Aspen, Aspen AT, Forekaster & Dissector
We keep hearing how 32″ wheels are going to take over the world. (And we at Bikerumor are getting sucked into the hype too, if for no other reason than our bike-nerdy curiosity.) But we couldn’t take the bigger wheels too seriously when there was only one tire commercially available. But now, Maxxis makes it official as the first tire maker with a real 32″ tire lineup.
We’ve all heard the promises of real quantifiable improvements in: “rollover capability, traction, and high-speed stability, particularly in rough terrain“. Now with a proper range of tires, we can test and see if that translates to how regular mountain bikers actually ride.
- The Aspen ST is the fastest rolling for hardpack, gravel, and even when hard paved surfaces weigh in.
- The Aspen is the XC race all-rounder, ideal for mostly hardpack and loose over hard singletrack, with roots & rocks, too.
- The new Aspen AT will be the choice when deeper loam, looser or softer conditions, more rock, or when it starts to get wet.
- Forekaster is the real blurred line between XC & trail, with fast-rolling center knobs, supportive shoulder, and open space in between.
- And lastly, the Dissector is a solid trail all-rounder with taller, blocky knobs ideal for riding rough terrain.
Real-world 32″ Maxxis tire availability
There still are not a ton of 32″ bikes out there in the market. But more and more turn up every day. We’re finalizing 32″ test bike builds in both Europe and the US this month, so we’re very happy to see more tire options, and especially more aggressive treads. While we appreciate that much of the first wave of 32″ bikes are targeting XC, many of our home testing trails simply include a lot of loose conditions. Let’s just say that our test bikes all end up muddy, even the road and gravel ones.
Today, the 32″ x 2.4″ Aspen ST, Aspen & the all-new Aspen AT are all available now with MaxxSpeed rubber & 120tpi EXO casings.
In a pleasantly surprising update, a narrower 32 x 2.15″ (or 55mm) version of the Aspen ST is also ready now with 120tpi EXO casing and faster-rolling Hypr-X rubber. That will probably make for an excellent 32″ gravel tire!
Alas, the knobbier 60tpi EXO Forekaster with MaxxTerra rubber & 60tpi EXO+ Dissector with MaxxTerra rubber are not ready, just yet. (Even if we’ve already seen a couple on show bikes). Maxxis says these two 32″ trail tires will be available in Q3 of 2026. If we are lucky, that could be as early as July, or at least later this summer.
Better single compound MaxxTerra rubber, too!
And for a quick note about that new MaxxTerra rubber. Maxxis has reengineered their balanced fast, but grippy rubber to offer “significant gains in durability and traction while maintaining… rolling efficiency“. Mountain bikers wanted longer-wearing trail bike tires, and Maxxis figure out how to make it work:
- at least a 30% improvement in tread wear and durability over the original generation 3C MaxxTerra
- 15% improvement in traction
- all without giving up anything in rolling resistance
That’s a pretty major performance and longevity boost. And since MaxxTerra makes up a large portion of the middle of Maxxis’ lineup, that’s an improvement that many mountain bikers will start to notice soon. How soon?
Pretty much all of the popular Maxxis trail and gravity tires are offered with the new single-compound MaxxTerra rubber. Rekon, Forekaster, Dissector, Minion DHF & DHR II, and Assegai. And they are all available now, although it’s a phased roll-out depending on what retail channels still have the older stock. Tires with the new compound all get an orange “New, New, New… MaxxTerra” sticker on their packaging and just MaxxTerra on the tire sidewall (not 3C MaxxTerra) so you’ll be sure to spot the difference.
We’ll keep an eye out to try them ourselves!
Maxxis.com
