It’s a bold move to make your first tyre the most expensive conventional rubber available, but e*13’s TRSr really is worth it. Made by Maxxis’s parent brand CST, it’s been designed to be as user friendly as possible in every aspect.
For a start, it seats and seals with casual ease with just a track pump and stays locked in place under scything cornering loads. Rather than using solid sheets of extra ply, the high-tech carcass has carefully placed reinforcing bands that keep it super-compliant but still stable at ‘teen’ pressures. Despite being so large that it almost scrapes the crown on some forks, it weighs a reasonable 900g so acceleration isn’t too bad. The ‘Sticky Triple’ race compound uses a harder base for improved responsiveness, stability and wear of the soft 50 duro block-tread centre. The shoulders are an even softer 42 duro tread, with concertina sipes on the outer edge of the knobs for controlled deformation and predictable slide. The result is an insane amount of traction and feedback in every situation and weather condition we threw it at. Its compliance also gives fantastic suspension-flattering damping that makes most other reinforced tyres feels harsh and clattery in comparison. Unsurprisingly, it’s slow rolling on hardpack and road, but if it’s slightly rough then the way it flow over stutter bumps offsets the sticky compound for a reasonable roll. Unlike some super-soft tyres, we’ve had no problems with knobs tearing or ripping off either, although they wear fast from the top down. That makes the crazy price even more expensive in practical terms, but as a chaos control upgrade it’s still very cost effective. The TRS+ uses a more durable, faster dual compound on the same carcass for 85$.
Best for: Front
Weight: 900g
Width: 59mm
Price 102$