We took a good detailed sneak peek at Greg Minnaar’s new signature tire last summer when we spotted his prototypes in the pits of the Mont Saint Anne DH World Cup. Now at Sea Otter, the Maxxis Assegai is made official.
Greg Minnaar signature Maxxis Assegai DH race tire
Greg Minnaar’s downhill dominance is unquestionable, and over many seasons he’s proven he can win in any conditions and over all type of terrain & tracks. He routinely races on Maxxis’ most popular DH treads – Minions, Shorties & High Rollers – so when Maxxis reached out to Minnaar about creating his own signature DH tire, he sketched out something that cobbled together bits from each. Let Greg tell it…
“My idea was to design a tire around some of Maxxis’ iconic tread patterns. I started in the center by combining the Minion DHF and the Minion DHR II… the surface area of the DHF rolls well and gives you a good footprint on hardpack, greasy turns as well as confidence on wet roots and rocks. The DHR II added faster rolling speed and more aggressive braking.
Then I worked on the ‘extra’ tooth to give you more support when leaning the bike over so there’s a consistent feel all the way onto the side knobs. And that leaves me talking about my all-time favorite tire – the High Roller. Maxxis engineers and I came up with a remodeled High Roller side knob with very similar characteristics to the original. But with the support the extra tooth gives you, you have the ultimate wingman when cutting hard on a flat turn.
Finally, I took the height of the knobs from the Shorty. The knobs are well-supported, so the extra height aggressively bites into loam and dry, dusty conditions.” – Greg Minnaar
Greg chose to name his signature tire after the Zulu warrior spear of the traditional tribe of KwaZulu Natal from the South African region where he was born and raised.
The new Maxxis Assegai debuts with a downhill race spec, featuring a folding tubeless, dual-ply casing backed up with butyl sidewall inserts for strength & durability. It gets Maxxis’ top 3C MaxxGrip rubber compound and is available now exclusively through your local bike shop via QBP for $90 in both 27.5 x 2.5″ and 29 x 2.5″ sizes. Other casing options are expected to follow in the future.
