Maxxis High Road SL

The Maxxis High Road SL is currently the fastest road tyre Maxxis offers, and is designed purely for speed and grip. It feels really sprightly thanks to a ridiculously low weight, while both wet and dry weather grip is excellent. Limited tread depth means they just don't last as long as other road tyres, though.

The SL takes over as the flagship racing tyre from the old High Road. Some serious weight has been shaved (37g), some TPI gained (up 50 threads per inch to 170) and rolling resistance reduced – Maxxis claims 12%. The High Road SL is available in 23, 25 and 28mm widths and I'm running the latter. They're all for tubed use only, although rumour has it a tubeless version is in the works.

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Despite plenty of studies showing that wide tyres are just as fast – if not faster – than their skinny counterparts, I often find wide rubber feels a little sluggish. This is certainly not the case with the High Road SL, probably thanks to the amazingly low weight.

At just 177g on our scales these 28mm versions are actually 2g lighter than claimed, and they're ideal for hill climbs where every gram counts. A lot of tyres we've reviewed recently are tubeless compatible, which makes them heavier, but even against non-tubeless offerings there's a fair few grams to be shaved. For example, the Wolfpack Road Race Cotton weighs 233g in 26mm, while a Specialized Turbo Cotton weighs 240g – also in the narrower 26mm.

Due to the lack of racing over the review period (thanks Covid), I've been using them for fast-paced training rides... which often turn in to races anyway. Across more than a month of testing I've been nothing but impressed with the SL's performance in both wet and dry conditions.

I'm a rider who likes to attack descents, and for this the High Road SLs are ideal. Dry grip is on a par with the highly-regarded Vittoria Corsa Speed, while the new HYPR-S compound is similarly impressive in the wet.

Race only?

One area the old High Road could have fared better in was ride comfort, and this appears to have been addressed with an new 170tpi casing. Although still not the most supple tyres I've ever used, ride quality is good and on a par with the Continental GP5000.

I was worried about punctures, as Maxxis make it very clear these are for racing only. Despite not using them for time-trial miles, on a velodrome or indeed any of the other recommended uses, I was thoroughly impressed to not pick up a single puncture (despite the hedge cutting in my local lanes).

The High Road SL has Maxxis' K2 protection, a Kevlar composite layer they say is more resilient than regular Kevlar or Vectran. They also say it's still light and supple, and that's easy to confirm.

Lifespan

After 950km, some signs of wear are showing. There are no large cuts of note, but the rear is just beginning to square off. Maxxis says quite clearly this tyre is designed 'to be fast, not to last,' so we can't criticise that.

At such a low weight, limited mileage is to be expected – low weight means low mass, so less material to wear away – and I'm predicting around 1500km from a pair (with a front to back swap). That's roughly half what I get from a set of GP5000s.

It's a little lower than other race tyres too – I got 1900km out of a set of Turbo Cottons before punctures became too frequent to ignore. Only you can decide whether the compromised mileage is worth it for the weight saving.

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At £49.99, the High Road SL stacks up well against the competition, though obviously it will need replacing more often. For instance, the Specialized Turbo Cotton is £61 and the Vittoria Corsa Speed is £64.99, though the Veloflex Corsa Race TLR beats the High Road SL by costing just £45.

The Maxxis High Road SL is an excellent, high-performance tyre and one of the lightest out there. Other tyres certainly last longer, but competition of this quality usually comes with a financial penalty as well as a weight one. In my opinion, for hill climbs or TTs (if you don't run tubs) it's a no brainer, while for road racing – so long as you can justify the more frequent replacements – its speed and grip make it an excellent choice.

Verdict

Very light clincher tyres that are fast – and don't really last