Maxxis Rambler - First Impressions

My experience mirrored your almost exactly. 

I too picked up two Ramblers from Amazon recently. I mounted them up tubeless to the PX-2's that came on my TCX Advanced Pro no problem. I run to two layers of the tape that came with a set of Giant SL-1 wheels I recently bought along with some Stan's 35mm stems. After a little tinkering with the curl you mentioned my air compressor made quick work of it.  

These tires are everything I was looking for in a gravel/adventure tire. They are soft and forgiving and at the same time give amazing grip when needed. What surprised me the most was how fast they rolled on pavement. I was blow away when I went to put out some effort on the road I almost thought I was on my Defy with S-Works 28's. Unreal. 

Unless I run in to any kinda of durability issues, I can see these being my go-to tires for this type of riding. 



 
 
 

Just an update after my first 100K event on these for those interested. 

I did the Rough Road 100K here in Morris, IL over the weekend on my TCX running the Ramblers tubeless. I went a little unorthodox for pressure but things worked out perfectly. I set the pressure at 55 in the rear and 40 up front. I did so because I'm a little bit heavier rider (220lbs) and I wanted the back to be a little more firm since there was a good deal of paved roads on this ride. When I tested the front any higher than 45 I noticed I got a lot more chatter (nothing crazy, just more than my liking). I was trying to avoid that if at all possible and keep the ride comfy for the rougher parts. I was able to average 17.6mph over the 62 mile course. 

 

The end result was just what I wanted. On the rough parts the bike felt comfortable and controlled. It soaked up the bumps and the ride was very comfortable. On the flat parts it was fast and accelerated quickly. 

Here's a picture of one of the roughest stretches that cause A LOT of flats. (photo credit to Rough Ride 100)
 

I tore through it no problems. Like I said before, s long as durability doesn't become an issue I think I found a set I'm gonna stick with for a while. I have another 100K event coming up on the 24th that has a little more gravel and little less road. 

curtiseddie wrote:Thanks for all the thorough reviews. Does anyone have a durability report, yet? In my experience with Maxxis MTB tires, they are great, but wear more quickly than other manufacturers I've used. 

Picked up a pair of these after reading the good reviews.  I don’t have a problem with flats, I don’t need big lugs, and I appreciate a fast and supple tire – so these look to be just what I needed.

I wasn’t sure what to believe on sizing after reading the reviews.  2 sources said they run small, and one said they run true to size.

Gravel cyclist 39.3-41mm depending on Rim

Gravel bike : 38.2

CX magazine: 37mm on 17.5 internal rim

Riding gravel : reports both 38mm and then 40mm for this tire. HUH??

“the Rambler measures out to a 38mm on my A-23 rims” (Getting rolling)

“ a full 40mm wide on the “average width” Velocity A-23” (at the finish)

WTF ?  From that I don’t know what to expect.  Realistically, they are probably 38mm tires I was figuring, but if they were 40mm, they would not fit my frame for sure.

Anyway, with that confusion, I bought both a 40C and a 38C.

First up, mounted and measured the 38C.  They measured 34mm.  WTF???  That is like a cyclocross tire!

I was pretty upset, needing to rebox theses and return them for the larger size.

Then I mounted the 40C tire, and it measured 37mm on 17.5 internal rim.  So, I guess CX magazine had it right.  They get the gold star. 

Putting the 40C on my rear, I had about 1mm frame clearance on each side.  That is not enough to take care of a wheel if it gets out of true (or broken spoke, or even heavy mud).  So, I guess it is the 38C (@34mm) for me at the rear.  At least I have 4-5mm total clearance between both sides of the tire.  The 40C is going on the front, although I have plenty of room for a larger tire (someday I may get a 45C knobby for riding rougher trails).

Tire sizing is always a black art…

Did an hour on these last night.

I’m impressed with their speed.  With a 4mph tail wind, I was easily doing 20mph.  The tread knobs are not much rougher than much of the asphalt I ride on when commuting, so they probably don’t hold the tire back much. Doing hard cornering, they transitioned easily from asphalt to grass to asphalt.  I spun them up to 24mph and did a fast hard corner on asphalt, and they stuck like a road tire.  I was leaned over hard on the side tread blocks, and only then could I hear them slightly complaining.  Much, much more inspiring than a knobby tire that gets all squirrely when cornering hard on asphalt. 

The ride did not seem to be any better than my 32mm Continental 4 seasons, even though I am running them at about ½ of the pressure.  But, maybe it is too early to make a good comparison.  It was freezing outside, and I had tubes in them.  Maybe with warmer weather and tubeless I can do a better comparison of the rambler to those lovely continental tires.