When I look at the number of times I’ve used the Maxxis Aspen I think about how I could get more out of it.
The 29 x 2.1 size weighs a hair over 500 grams and fully measures its claimed width, so for all of those stats what’s the catch? 500 grams is light, especially for a 29er tire, so really that means that it’s built for racing- plain and simple. The treads are a basic-looking ridge design with some trapezoidal arrowhead-looking blocks to keep it interesting (the overall pattern looks like a minimal version of the trail-centric Maxxis Ardent). The casing shape is fairly square so a wide contact patch puts a surprising amount of tread in contact with the ground.
Overall tread height it pretty minimal to keep rolling resistance down, but the real story here is the cornering knobs. The tire itself is designed like any good race tire to roll fast in a straight line and even with a wide contact patch the tire does just that. As the tire is leaned over in loose sand or gravel it can skate around for a split second before the side knobs dig in to provide cornering stability. On a few occasions I started to slide through some sandy corners and every time the tire slipped until the side knobs started to bite- and no further.
The light weight and fast rolling come at a cost and that is overall volume; in order to make the casing tough enough to withstand normal trail conditions it has to smaller in circumference to keep the weight down. As with any low tread tire most of the weight is in the casing since the minimal treads provide little in the way of protection from sharp objects. For this reason I prefer the Aspen to the Ikon in places where sidewall cuts and damage are a concern.
This lack of volume can be seen on the trail when hitting square-edged rocks and tall roots at speed. While the Aspen won’t unceremoniously toss you over the bars when you get off of your line it will not offer the reassuring centering bounce of a higher volume tire.
The Aspen and Ikon are similar options that can often be used interchangeably and Maxxis sponsored pro riders will often be split between the two models at any given race. The difference is that the Ikon has a taller tread, squarer profile and higher volume that does well when the ground is soft. The Ikon is by no means a slow rolling tire, but the Aspen is appreciably faster. On very firm ground where the Ikon’s taller knobs can squirm the Aspen is more solid as the barred tread is much shorter. The Aspen is also less expensive and wears longer. Many racers will run the Aspen almost exclusively, but with my skillset I tend to prefer the Ikon. If there’s any doubt about what conditions I may encounter the Ikon is more predictable and versatile in soft terrain since it can handle all but the worst mud.
Overall the Aspen is a great tire and it is far more versatile than other fast rolling dry condition options like the Small Block 8. In the sandy washout anecdote mentioned above I would have surely crashed had I been riding the SB8 instead of the Aspen since the SB8 has no cornering knobs to speak of. The Aspen also outperforms its counterparts in light mud since its flat-ish profile means a stable transition from edge to edge, and where it does slip it quickly and predictably catches hold again as soon as the cornering lugs hook up.
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