From Bicycles to Race Cars: Maxxis' Rise as a Tire Giant
Maxxis may be a new name to some, but their growing range of performance tires give racers and track drivers of all stripes a chance to experience truly staggering performance without sacrificing much streetability or breaking the bank. We've done a little digging to understand how Maxxis came to be the force it’s become.
A Strong Start
Like most great companies, Maxxis started small. Founded in 1967, Maxxis International began as a manufacturer of bicycle tires in Taiwan. Growing steadily, Maxxis eventually became the largest manufacturer of bicycle tires in the world. In the ensuing decades, Maxxis expanded into new markets; offering products for motorcycles, cars, 4x4s, light trucks, trucks, buses, ATVs, UTVs, lawn and garden products, race karts, industrial vehicles, and trailers.
In 1985, Maxxis started its US operation. At its first location in suburban Atlanta, the company’s US presence consisted of a small tire distribution facility. Today, Maxxis International – USA works with its overseas partners to deliver high-quality tires to customers throughout North America, with distribution centers in Rancho Cucamonga, California; Grapevine, Texas; Lebanon, Indiana; Toronto, Canada; and Suwanee, Georgia, the home of its corporate headquarters.
The Reshaping of Their Brand
Maxxis took a step towards optimizing its performance rubber with the release of its first road racing tire, the ZR9, (Maxxis’ original R-compound tire) in the 2000s. Built in just one size, the ZR9 served as an R&D exercise for its first venture into motorsports. Because volume was very small and, globally, the company was growing exponentially, Maxxis wasn’t too concerned with the development of their racing tires until until the late 2000s.
Around that time, two Maxxis men unintentionally ushered in a new era for the company’s road racing branch. A major Maxxis shareholder and a manager, both obsessed with motorsports and trackday drivers in their own right, parked their cars in the company parking lot. One day, Maxxis’ president caught sight of these two cars—and how these cars’ wheels were shod with a competitor’s R-compound tire.
“Why aren’t those two using Maxxis?” he wondered. It occured to him shortly thereafter that Maxxis had never expanded the ZR9 past a 195/50R15, and therefore wasn’t truly serving the growing trackday community. The president asked R&D to correct this, and Maxxis’ engineers went to work. The result, the RC-1, was released in 2012. This time, the racing tire was available in a variety of sizes.
The RC-1, an R compound, resonated among the hardcore, trailer-it-to-the-track types, but Maxxis soon noticed the need for something a little more versatile. The growing popularity of extreme summer street tires that were more wet-weather friendly, encouraged the company to develop the VR-1.
Designed first for the Asian market, they deepened the tread depth to tackle afternoon monsoons. A couple years later, the VR-1 was released in the USA.
Maxxis has continued to support time trials and wheel-to-wheel racing with the intention of developing its tires into something nobody should resist trying. In fact, its Victra RC-1 R2 was selected as the official tire of NASA Spec E30 this year. Put up against stiff competition, the RC-1 R2 succeeded in NASA’s tests by delivering an optimum balance between dry traction, consistency, tire wear, heat resistance, and heat-cycle performance. As these opinions on the RC-1 convey, the tire will perform predictably regardless of the conditions.
The Maxxis RC-1 will be permitted in NASA Spec E30 races starting March 1, with all racers required to be on the RC-1 by May 1. In addition to its existing contingency program, Maxxis is offering a separate Spec E30 contingency program that will award tires to drivers in both regional and national races.
Clearly, Maxxis wants their customers to succeed and puts the incentives in place to help them do so.