[SixtyTwo]

As some of you know, I had the opportunity to try out a set of Maxxis tyres in the non-championship races at Snetterton. The idea was to see if they would do the same job as the Pirelli Diablo but cost less. I used a set of Maxxis Supermaxx Sport ZR tyres that had seen an entire seasons use, they looked a bit knackered to be honest so it was a good test of what the tyres are like when not at their best.

What we want from our tyres in DesmoDue is a tyre that will work in the wet and the dry, last a few races and most importantly is cheap. This is after all a budget series, if we just wanted a grippier tyre Pirelli or any other manufacturer offer many solutions. If we are to change tyre then it would have to do everything the Diablo already does but for less money.

So, does the Maxxis tyre cut it? Forget the name, it may not be a Pirelli but that doesn’t mean it will be any worse a tyre. Maxxis have been making competitive products for years just slightly out of the mainstream markets (look at karting, quad bikes or mountain bikes).

The Maxxis tyres are SOFT. Straight away it’s obvious the compound is a lot different to the Diablo, turn into a corner and you can really feel the tyre gripping, the feedback to the rider is instantly much better than the Diablo. The Maxxis’ warm up very quickly and inspire huge amounts of confidence in comparison to the ‘wooden’ Diablos. I was comfortably running at the same pace as the bikes on Pirellis after just a few laps on a bike I had never ridden and wasn’t set up for me.
Where the Diablo often disappoints is corner entry where it is too easily overwhelmed by braking forces when turning in. This was where I found the Maxxis tyre to have a real advantage, the front tyre was fantastic into corners offering a huge amount of grip and a lot of feel.
The Diablo I think is much better on corner exit, where it gives excellent feel when on the limit. This is where I found the Maxxis tyres not as good, with little warning before a slide, although this could be due to me not knowing the tyre as well as I do the Diablo. This got me into a tricky situation at Russell bend, where I was close to dropping the bike as the back stepped out under power.

The fact is that the Pirelli tyre does exactly what we ask of it, it works in the wet and the dry and for plenty of riders lasts most of the season. I don’t really think that the Maxxis tyre had much if any more grip, it was just easier to access the grip that it had. The Maxxis did look as if it was wearing quickly, however it had already done far more miles than I would ever ask of a race tyre, showed no signs of going off and had plenty of tread left.

A nice sunny weekend meant that I couldn’t try out the tyre in the rain. The soft rubber would transmit what grip there is to the rider but beyond that I can’t say whether it would stick better or worse than a Diablo, or if that minimal tread pattern would be any good when mixed with standing water.

The majority of us currently pay Holbeach £160 for a fitted set of Diablos.
The Maxxis tyre is proposed to be at least 30% cheaper, it is quite possible that a deal could be struck up with Maxxis to further reduce the costs.
With Pirelli discontinuing the Diablo (depending on who you listen to) it will be important to find a new tyre that these bikes can run on. The Maxxis has proven itself well up to the task and is also cheap, now it just needs to be tested in the wet – which I am willing to do if someone wants to provide a ride!!