Silkworm adds serious puncture and tear resistance without weighing your tyre down.

It's an exclusive Maxxis material woven into the casing of select models. It sits under the tread as a breaker, which is a protective band between the rubber and the casing, right where the tyre is most likely to cop a hit from glass, thorns, and sharp debris.

You'll find Silkworm on urban, BMX, and cross-country tyres, including XC models like the Ikon, where it gives reliable everyday flat protection without much weight. If you keep getting flats straight through the centre of the tread, a Silkworm-equipped tyre from our mountain bike range is a smart upgrade.

ZK is the newest under-tread puncture protection from Maxxis, and it's built for road racing.

It's made from a liquid crystal polymer fibre, and Maxxis calls it their lightest and most supple under-tread breaker.

Compared with the older K2 it replaced, ZK is lighter and more flexible, and Maxxis says it offers around 7% more puncture resistance, so you get more protection without the tyre feeling stiff or heavy.

It debuted on the High Road, their all-purpose road race tyre, sitting under the centre of the tread where most punctures happen.

EXO is the puncture protection you'll see on a huge share of Maxxis mountain bike and gravel tyres, and it's the right pick for most riders.

It's a cut and abrasion-resistant material added to the sidewalls, which is where thin trail tyres are most likely to get slashed by rocks and roots.

Maxxis uses a densely woven fabric that stays lightweight and flexible, so it protects the tyre without dulling how it rides.

We recommend EXO for gravel, cross-country, and light-duty trail riding, and for most weekend riders it's the sweet spot between toughness and weight, which is why it features across our gravel tyre range.

EXO+ is the medium-duty step up from EXO, built for all-around trail riding and lighter e-bikes.

Maxxis starts with a durable 60 TPI casing, adds the proven EXO layer in the sidewalls, and finishes with a small butyl rubber insert around the bead.

The tough casing and EXO material fend off rocks and roots. The butyl insert guards against pinch flats and helps protect your rim from impacts.

If EXO feels a touch fragile for your local trails but you don't need a full enduro casing, look for an EXO+ option.

DoubleDown is the enduro and e-bike casing.

It's tough enough to race, but keeps more feel than a downhill tyre.

Marked DD on the sidewall, it combines two layers of lightweight 120 TPI casing with a butyl sidewall insert.

The result is a highly durable tyre that still feeds back plenty of information from the trail.

DoubleDown is marginally lighter than a full Downhill casing, but the bigger difference is ride feel. DoubleDown feels livelier and more connected, while Downhill feels more damped and planted.

For most enduro riders and mid-power e-bikes it's the durable-but-not-heavy answer.

The Downhill casing is the toughest tyre Maxxis makes, built for gravity riding where a flat is the last thing you want.

It's designed for downhill racing, bike park laps, freeriding, and long-travel e-bikes.

A Maxxis Downhill tyre uses two layers of durable 60 TPI casing, plus a large butyl rubber insert that runs from each bead up into the sidewall.

That insert helps prevent pinch flats, protects your rim from hard impacts, and adds sidewall stability so the tyre holds its shape through fast, rough corners.

It's the heaviest and most damped tyre in the range, which is exactly what you want when the terrain is at its roughest, so if you ride bike park or gravity trails, look for a Downhill casing.

MaxxSpeed is the fastest cross-country race compound Maxxis makes.

Launched in 2023, it's a high-silica compound.

The high silica content lets it reduce rolling resistance while also improving wet traction, two things that usually work against each other.

Compared with the older 3C MaxxSpeed, the new compound has roughly 25% less rolling resistance in lab testing, using the same tread pattern, construction, and tyre pressure.

Maxxis reports this can save up to a minute over a 90-minute race.

For anyone chasing results on an XC course, that's a real gain from the tyres alone, and it's the compound to look for on fast cross-country tyres like the Maxxis Rekon Race.

MaxxTerra is the do-it-all trail compound, and the one we point most trail riders toward.

Maxxis released a new generation of it in 2026, and it's a meaningful upgrade on the version before.

Maxxis says the new MaxxTerra lasts at least 30% longer and grips around 15% better than the previous 3C MaxxTerra, with no loss in rolling speed.

In plain terms:

You get a tyre that holds its edge for more rides and corners with more confidence, without rolling any slower. Given how much tyres cost, the longer life is the headline for most riders.

One point that causes confusion on the shop floor:

The new compound drops the "3C" from its name, so the sidewall now reads "MaxxTerra" instead of "3C MaxxTerra".

That does not mean it went from three rubbers down to one. It's still a triple compound, with a hard base, a medium centre, and soft side knobs.

Maxxis simply simplified the branding. To tell new from old, look for the "New MaxxTerra" graphic on the packaging, or check the sidewall badge: "MaxxTerra" is the new generation, "3C MaxxTerra" is the previous one.

The new compound is rolling out across the trail range in phases and is available now on models like the Maxxis Minion DHF and Maxxis Minion DHR II. If you ride a bit of everything and want grip, durability, and speed in one tyre, this is the compound to choose.

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