Maxxis Minion DHR II review: The benchmark hardcore mountain bike back tyre

Awesome aggressive grip, zero sketchy habits and a ton of well-judged carcass and compound options mean you’ll see a Maxxis Minion DHR II fitted to more new and well-used mountain bikes than any other MTB rear tyre. It works well up front in a lot of situations too. So what are the details that make it so good and where does it work best? Slightly binary behaviour and slower roll mean it might not be the Maxxis for everyone though and price is always an investment, but it is definitely one of the best mountain bike tyres available.

Design

The original DHR was a great tyre, but the release of the Mk II version a few years back was when back wheel Cinders really crashed the rubber ball. The big centre blocks got a little bit of High Roller (another leading Maxxis tyre model) style ramping to make it look faster, which combined with the lean-loving L-shape and split square side blocks from its big brother, the Minion DHF. Big gaps and serious sipes (central slots to allow the top of the tread to deform to the trail loads) give it a caricature ‘Swamper’ look and make sure it clears filthy conditions as well as that suggests too.

Specifications

As well as a retread, Maxxis bulked up the carcass options of all their trail/enduro tyres at the same time. A light dual-ply DD casing and a ‘silkworm’ wrapped Exo+ casing filled the middle ground between the existing ultra-heavy DH and lightweight Exo. This created a perfect rear and front combo for riders who were hitting stuff harder and harder as bikes got longer, slacker and faster and possibly had ten kilos worth of battery and motor on board too.

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Sizing options expanded to cover everything between XC and Plus, and 30mm and wider rims gained a specific 2.4in WT ‘Wide Trail’ version to restore the correct profile and pliability characteristics on a broad base.

Performance

Tyres start becoming favourites by being easy to fit, and while there are always some rims that seem to be a pain, Maxxis blow up without much stress or swearing on most rims we test. The slightly stiffer Exo+ and DD options also seem to inflate easier, although they can be more of a fight to fit at first. So overall, not the dreamiest to fit, but certainly not the worst either. Unlike a lot of tyres, they blow up exactly the size they should too.

Once on, the stress is pretty much gone. Presuming you got the right carcass weight for your riding (rarely kill a tyre = Exo, regular sidewall splitter = Exo+, regular rim dinger = DD, frame-breaking, shock-blowing animal = DH), your Minion will be a component you completely forget about. It’ll handle low pressures without burping, give a great balance of traction boosting compliance, but still stay supportive when you’re really throttling it through turns. It’s damped enough to add calm and control but doesn’t feel dead and even the heavily reinforced versions aren’t so stiff they’ll hammer your feet or blow bottles out of cages. Compared to similarly tough tyres at each level, it’s an acceptable weight too.

The wide, open, block tread is similarly utterly reliable whatever the conditions. Literally from loose, kitty litter trail centre surfaces in summer to dirty Welsh woods in winter, you can go super heavy on the brakes and slam lean angles knowing that a DHR II will let you get away with more than almost any other tyre. While the softer triple compounds start to round off pretty quickly, the well-supported knobs never rip off and while we have seen some warped carcasses, that’s a badge of hardcore honour, not an indictment on the casing.

The only downside is that even with the obvious ramping, those big blocks and gaps mean it’s almost a gear slower (sorry, without a Scandinavian rolling drum lab to play with that’s the best anecdotal metric I can give you) under power than a DHF and a gear and a bit slower than a Maxxis Dissector/Aggressor. A DHF is going to slide or slip more easily if you get heavy on the brakes or torque, though, and all-round Dissector/Aggressor grip isn’t even on the same page. The amount of sensibly progressive carcass options and sizing gives Maxxis an edge over the ranges from Schwalbe and WTB and makes Hutchinson, Michelin, Specialized, Bontrager, Vee etc. look very restricted in terms of choice.

Verdict

There are very few truly fit-and-forget tyres that excel in almost every situation. The Minion DHR might not flatter fitness, but it’s certainly a tyre I know I can always trust to have my back whatever the trail is doing. Crucially, the whole range means there'll be one I could recommend to any aggressive rider without worrying they’ll be nothing but ‘totally stoked’. Shopping around should get you a better deal on price too, and even the more basic dual compound options are better than most competition.