MAXXIS NEXT-GEN DH CASING & MINION DHX

July 29, 2026

There are few tires more iconic than the Maxxis Minion. We couldn’t possibly guess how many times we have ridden a bike equipped with the Minion DHF and/or DHR2 tires, and we have a feeling that the new Maxxis Minion DHX may be about to earn a similar fan fare, based on our first ride impressions.

The same goes for the Maxxis DH tire casing. Interestingly, Maxxis hasn’t gone down the ultra-compliant Radial construction route with their next-gen downhill tire casing. Instead, they focused on instilling excellent support to the casing itself, allowing for lower tire pressures than ever and a resulting highly damped feel without sacrificing rim protection.

We connected with the Maxxis team in Whistler to learn more about these new tires, and we have logged a couple of rides on the new Maxxis Minion DHX DH tires to assess their performance. From the loose and dry dirt of Mt Bachelor, to a slick and greasy Whistler Bike Park, let us share our first impressions. Could these be the new benchmark dry to intermediate conditions DH tires?

Maxxis Introduces a New DH Casing and Minion DHX

For more than two decades, the Minion name has defined downhill tire performance. From World Cup podiums to bike parks around the world, Maxxis gravity tires have earned a reputation for delivering predictable handling, uncompromising grip, and race-winning speed.

But downhill racing has evolved.

Today’s bikes are more capable. Riders are carrying more speed into rougher terrain than ever before. Race tracks are more technical, impacts are bigger, and the growing demands of aggressive trail, bike parks, and eMTB riding continue to push tire performance to new limits.

The latest generation of Maxxis downhill tires has been developed with the singular goal of giving our athletes and customers the best solution possible for riding confidently and aggressively on today’s most technical terrain.

The Foundation of Fast.

Introducing the new standard in Downhill tire casing performance!

It doesn’t matter how good a tire’s tread pattern is, or how much grip the compound has, if the casing isn’t up to the task of carrying its weight in the tire performance trifecta. Like the foundation of any structure, the entire system depends on the casing providing the strength and stability for the rest of the pieces to perform their best. As bikes have evolved, athletes have trained harder than ever, and world cup race tracks have become more and more gnarly, it became clear that tire technology needed to evolve to meet these modern demands.

We went back to the drawing board and considered new materials, new applications of existing materials, and how all of these components worked together to function as a better system. Multiple years in development, and with countless hours of testing and feedback from our top world cup athletes, we have arrived at what we believe is the new benchmark for downhill tire performance. To back that up, our world cup teams have all had the full 2025 season racing and training on the new casing. We couldn’t have wished for better feedback from the teams, or be more proud of their results in one of our best world cup seasons ever.

This New DH Casing achieves improved compliance over chattery rocks and roots, better support under high cornering loads & impacts, and more durability…because flat tires are never fast.

For the rest of us, this all translates to increased confidence bombing through technical sections of trail, less risk of a tire or rim failure, and getting to the bottom of the mountain feeling less beat up and ready do it all over again.

KEY FEATURES

• Progressive casing stiffness that allows pressure to be set for performance versus sidewall stability or rim strike prevention.
• Allows lower pressures (2-3 psi less than previous gen DH casing) which results in slower tire rebound and more planted, damped feel.
• Improved puncture protection.
• Comparable weight to previous DH casing.
• Dual ply 120 TPI casing
• MaxxGrip rubber compound
• Tubeless Ready
• E25 & E50 Rated

No Margin. No Mercy.

MEET THE MINION DHX.

Over the last decade, World Cup Downhill racing has seen an evolution to steeper, faster, and gnarlier tracks and highly dedicated athletes pushing the boundaries of their bodies and their equipment more than ever before. With those higher demands, tires have been pushed to their limits…until now.

The all new Minion DHX was born specifically from the demands of Maxxis’ top athletes to provide more support, more control, and more confidence on these next level modern DH race tracks.

Our engineers have been hard at work taking feedback from our athletes, improving casing structure, improving compound compositions, and improving tread layout and stability to accomplish one goal; Give the worlds fastest athletes a tire that goes as hard as they do.

Introducing the Minion DHX.

With a long list of podiums in 2025/26 already, and wins by Jackson Goldstone at both 2025 Champery World Champs & Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup, and by Luca Shaw at 2026 Loudenvielle World Cup, success aboard the Minion DHX is off to a ripping start!

KEY FEATURES

• Next generation dry tire providing unparalleled combination grip and support in fast and / or high load conditions.
• More side knob support to keep knobs from folding at the base, with low depth sipes to allow for surface conformation.
• Front and rear versatility
• Intuitive handling characteristics with smooth transition from center to side knobs.
• Comparable rolling speed and braking power as DHR II but with increased stability and a smoother transition to cornering knobs.
• Dual ply 120 TPI casing
• MaxxGrip rubber compound
• Tubeless Ready
• E50 Rated

THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Drew was initially going to share his first ride impressions from Whistler, as he was joining Maxxis for the Minion DHF media event. Mother Nature had other plans for them, and their ride plan was cancelled. You can’t test a dry-conditions tire to its true potential in the pouring rain and on sloppy bike park trails! So, we adapted, improvised, and overcame, and I (Sourpatch) get to share initial impressions from an afternoon of ripping Mt. Bachelor Bike Park. For those unfamiliar with the mountain, many of the trails at Bachelor are extremely loose and dry, with plenty of sections of inches-deep kitty litter.

Even though the press kit states that the new Maxxis DH-casing DHX tires can be run 2 to 3 psi below the previous generation DH casing, I chose to run my normal pressures to begin with. I started with 21.5 in the front and 24.5 in the rear, as I would in the Maxxis Assegai/Minion DHRII combo that was stock on the Norco Torrent DH. I quickly realized that that was not the right call – there was a lot of feedback through the handlebars, leading to a bit of hand fatigue and a slightly unsettled feeling. Even with too much air pressure, the cornering grip was very impressive, but not as impressive as their rolling speed.

I adjusted the tire pressure to levels I’ve never run on a DH bike, landing on 19psi in the front and 21psi in the rear, and boy oh boy was that something! Hand feedback was completely removed, replaced with a settled and highly damped feeling. I consistently found myself thinking “holy crap, these tires are so fast” in between moments of “how are they still gripping here, they for sure are gonna break loose.”

The Minion DHX provided cornering traction amongst the very best I have experienced in DH tires. I found myself leaning over harder and harder, letting those side knobs bite. Over roots and rocks, the tires held up very well, despite my best effort to put them in less favorable places. I did end up putting a very small flat spot in the rear wheel, so I will likely increase the rear tire pressure a tiny bit, but given the terrain in question, the support they provided is truly impressive.

Rolling speed is not something to worry about with the new Minion DHX tires. In fact, you might have to worry about them rolling too fast! They get up to speed very, very quick, and will hold that speed in every section of trail you cross. Even so, slowing down feels to be stellar too, with those large braking edges digging in nicely.

While these are just thoughts from a short afternoon, I am looking forward to seeing how the new Minion DHX tires hold up over time. We’ve got a lot of riding to do in the coming weeks as we equip our DH Group Test bikes with the new tires, so a proper long-term review will be coming sooner rather than later. In the meantime, if there is anything you would like to know about the tires, join the discussion on our new forum!