Tire Picks for Leadville Trail 100 MTB

Published: 5/30/2025

Tags: leadville 100, tire pick, race setup, colorado, tire

📷 Photo by Matthew Trabold — Mosquito Pass, Leadville.

🛠 Updated July 16, 2025: After racing the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville, I’ve refined my tire setup based on data at altitude. Here’s what worked, what didn’t, and what I’ll run at the Leadville 100.

Best Tires for Leadville Trail 100 MTB

If you’re lining up in Leadville this August, what are you rolling on for those 100 miles? You need something that rolls fast, holds up to sharp fire road rocks, and lets you ride hard at high altitude while keeping air in the tires. This is a race known for flats, fatigue, and altitude induced carnage.

I haven’t raced Leadville yet, but I’ve spent a lot of time riding Colorado’s high-alpine fire roads and I raced the Silver Rush 50 MTB in Leadville this July — which shares similar elevation and some similar course conditions but diverges quite a bit in terms of technicality.

Altitude vs. Terrain: What Silver Rush 50 Actually Tested

Before being properly familiar with the Silver Rush 50, I suspected it to be somewhat similar to the Leadville 100 terrain. In reality, SR50 was rougher, looser, and more technical, with tight two-way traffic. Not the wide-open, hardpack fire-road flow that defines the 100.

That said, racing at 10,000+ feet was invaluable. I’d been based in Vail (~8,100 ft) for over two weeks, and I still felt the elevation during warmup and the opening climbs. That extra 2,000 feet hits hard — especially at race pace.

So while it wasn’t a perfect terrain match, it was an ideal test of racing at Leadville’s high altitude.

Silver Rush 50 Test Results 🔬

Here’s what I ran on the SR50 course in Leadville:

Front Tire: Rekon Race 2.4 ↗️
Rear Tire: Aspen 2.4 ↗️
Pressure: 13 PSI front / 15 PSI rear (for an 85kg system weight)
Result: Excellent grip on the loose climbs (my biggest concern with Aspen STs). No rim strikes and great control overall. I did suffer a rear sidewall cut with ~6 miles to go, but was able to finish at race pace thanks to the insert ↗️ — no tube required and no major time loss.

Key SR50 Takeaways:

Tire inserts saved my race. ↗️ I rode the final descent on the rear insert after a cut.
Low pressure + full suspension = control. No sketchy moments, even while riding rougher lines due to two-way traffic.
Aspen STs still make sense for Leadville. The SR50 terrain justified the Rekon Race front, but Leadville’s faster fire roads favor pure speed.
Tough to acclimate to 10k+ ft. Even with a 2-week Vail acclimation block, Leadville’s extra elevation was noticeable.

My Leadville 100 MTB Tire Recommendation

Front & Rear: Maxxis Aspen ST 2.4 WT | 120tpi/EXO/MaxxSpeed ↗️

This tire has become the go-to for fast XC marathon races, and for good reason — it’s incredibly light, fast-rolling, and at 2.4” wide, offers solid volume for comfort on rough fire roads.

Tire Pressure: 12 PSI front / 13 PSI rear (always check the Silca Tire Pressure Calculator)
Rider weight: ~85 kg with me and all the gear
Tire Inserts: Vittoria Airliner Lights ↗️ (front and rear)
Bike: Specialized Epic 8 w. RockShox Flight Attendant to manage my suspension

Running ultra-low pressure at altitude with inserts gives me more grip, better comfort, and reduces fatigue over 100 miles of rough terrain.

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Leadville Tire Lessons from Keegan (and My FS Take)

Lots of riders are making tire choices based on hardtail setups. I’m running this on a full suspension 120/120mm bike (Epic 8), which helps reduce impacts and lowers flat risk even at aggressively low pressures.

Notably, Keegan Swenson won Leadville on Aspen STs front and rear with the 170 TPI version for lower rolling resistance — but he flatted on the rear. He was riding a Santa Cruz Highball, a stiff hardtail, and running an increasingly common Frankenstein drop-bar setup with a 100mm fork. That probably didn’t help when it came to flat protection, especially bombing the descents at race pace. Of course, when you’re trying to push your already-held course record even further, these marginal gains are worth the risk.

Should You Use Tire Inserts for Leadville?

Yes. Leadville has a reputation for flats — especially on Powerline, Sugarloaf, and the fast descents with embedded granite and loose-over-hardpack. I run Vittoria Airliner Lights ↗️ , which weigh almost nothing, don’t affect feel, and add peace of mind at low pressure. There’s really no penalty to running these in my book.

Alternatives I Considered

Aspen 2.4 ↗️ : Better mud shedding if it rains — my backup option for very sloppy conditions.
Rekon Race 2.4 ↗️ : Rolls almost as fast as the Aspen STs but doesn’t perform well in mixed to sloppy conditions. The handling gain over the STs in dry conditions isn’t very worth it on this course. If you’re looking for a bit more descending/braking confidence - this could be a good choice on a dry day.

TL;DR: My Leadville Tire Setup

Maxxis Aspen STs ↗️ at low pressure with inserts ↗️ are what I trust for Leadville 100. You get the speed of a race-day tire, the comfort of low-pressure volume, and the protection you need to avoid race-ending flats.

I’ll be toeing the line at the Breck Epic Stage Race the very next day after Leadville — and I will not be running Aspen STs front and rear there. Totally different terrain, totally different tire demands. Head over here for Breck Epic tire picks ↗️.