Is there a Smooth, Meshsmooth, or Turbosmooth modifier above it in the stack? Any modifier that alters smoothing groups will undo previous smoothing assignments.
There are a few combinations of settings in the chamfer modifier that result in something like this. For example this one (packaged as a modifier preset for the lazy ones).
For flat laces, you can also use the shell modifier, just make them using an extruded plane, and pop a shell modifier on top to give it constant volume.
If you mean multires, go to the lowest res then press Apply Multires (in the editing panel). Or in 2.5 it's a modifier so you can just press the X in the modifier box.
I should have specified that the curve and iterations are just a modifier and replicating the reference that I was trying to remake, The curve is a modifier I can easily turn off, but thanks for the pointer.
Meh, you just need to understand what max is doing so you can work with it in a more complete way. Maya has its warts too and the problem you're hitting isn't really max specific its that you need to know a little more than what its showing you, which you can run into in any new application. 1) Working with maxs normals…