It’s been nearly a decade since Maxxis introduced the Wide Tire (WT) versions of its most popular tires. Now, that label is gone. The tire giant will no longer label any tires with the WT.
The tires themselves aren’t going away. Just now all of Maxxis’ tires meet the WT designation. Since all tires are now WT by default, Maxxis is phasing out the WT label to make its product labels simpler.
Why did Wide Tire exist in the first place?
Why? Well, Maxxis first introduced Wide Tire when it started developing new treads around what at the time were new, wider rims (30-35mm). Now that those widths, or something close to them, are standard, Maxxis has discontinued or updated all the legacy tire sizes. Those outgoing treads were designed around narrow, 18-20mm internal width rims. So, while not all new rims are quite 30mm, they’re far off what the non-WT tires were designed for.
“Riders can be assured that the products themselves are not changing, merely the labeling,” said Maxxis Bicycle Tire Manager Aaron Chamberlain. “There are no differences between a tire labeled as WT versus one that is not, because they come from the same molds and provide the same outstanding performance.”
What tires are impacted by the “change”?
The change will affect Maxxis 2.4″ and 2.5″-width tires currenly in production. Those tires, which all meet the definitition of a “wide trail” tire by default, will not have WT on the sidewalls or packaging.
To be clear, if you buy a 2.4 or 2.5″ tire in Maxxis’ new cardobard packaging, it is a wide trail tire. But, since there’s no other option, it will no longer say WT on it. There are no performance changes, no changes in construction of any kind. These are the same molds and tires that used to be labelled WT.
But, if you’re still running super-narrow old school rims and looking for new 2.4″ or 2.5″ rubber, which must be a pretty niche cross-over at this point, now is your time to stock up on non-WT tires. Just make sure you’re hunting through Maxxis’ old stock of plastic packaging.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…