Tire chat (nerds only)

Only issue is the dual compound isn’t available in EXO+ casing right?  

I have a freebie specialized butcher T7 grid trail up next. Might trim all the knobs to make it roll faster as a rear tire. 

I tried Radial again (3rd go), this time with a Gravity MM up front.  I ran a Super Gravity Tacky Chan in the back because I had previously tried Gravity Radial MM & Albert in the rear, and didn't like either as a rear tire (either too slow, or poor grip in loose).  I ran the MM 3 psi higher than what I normally run a DH Argotal and ran the TC the same pressure I run a DH Kryptotal.  First run I dove right into a quick steep run that has loose ruts and loose off camber, and both felt pretty good.  Second descent was steep hardpacked berms, and while I had a ton of grip, I could feel both tires' side knobs squirming hard making steering unpredictable.  I was starting to notice that the TC has a tendency to drift back and forth on slightly off-camber in the dead zone between center and side knobs when I wasn't able to get it leaned over enough to ride the side knobs.  Third run was moderate grade high speed flow with jumps.  Any spot where it was loose and blown out, the Radial MM felt good, but anytime I got it leaned over hard on hardpack, I could feel the knobs squirming all over the place.  It also felt really unnerving both on lips and landings of jumps, where the casing would deform unpredictably.  That could probably have been remedied by going up even higher pressure, but at that point I have to wonder how much of the Radial compliance will be left and what the point is.  Fourth run had a lot of similar conditions to everything before it, but with a short steep drop/jump line.  The landing of the first drop is pretty raw (loose over hard), and both tires felt downright sketchy on that, squirming/rebounding/fishtailing all over the place.  My overall conclusions were that a) I clearly dislike Schwalbe's side knob construction, regardless of radial/normal casing, b) the MM Gravity Radial might work for me in the winter only (when hardpack is gone), and c) I haven't found a Schwalbe rear tire that I like.  I didn't feel like the MM up front was ever about to suddenly wash out like the Albert wanted to, so it had that in its favor.  The Gravity Radial casing I felt like had enough support to aggressively drive the rear (like I felt like there was the potential to find an ideal tire pressure), unlike the Trail Radial which was just a hot mess.  Also, Gravity Mary clearly never missed a meal, weighing in at 1400g on my scale.  The TC felt like what it was designed to be, a fast rolling race tire for super high speed berms and straight line braking - I could see how it would shine in those situations with a super aggressive rider, but it felt like too much of a compromise to me when not driving it 100%.

After the ride I took them off and put on a set of Maxxis High Roller 3 / DHR in DD/MG, which I felt in the past gives a lot of the radial compliance feel without the sketch / hardpack compromise.

I’m running those on my REEB SST right now. I really like the new Butcher, though the total lack of siping on the cornering knobs can lead to minor hydroplaning in wet conditions. The new Eliminator I’m so-so on - it’s certainly better braking, but notably slower than the old version. 

Unrelated to that, I tried a new combo (for me) from the new Conti range last night - Kryptotal Re/Kryptotal Fr. I really think my dissatisfaction with the KryptFr initially had more to do with the Xynotal slip-sliding around. With the KryptRe in back, the setup was fast enough and locked in corners, with very predictable turn-in behavior that was excellent even on flat and slick corners. 

What kind of terrain are you riding in?

Colorado front range.  Dry, rocky, coarse soil. It eats tires, but typically maxxis dual compound lasts fine.  This wore like 3x faster it seems.  

If you want fast rolling with a good sidewall you could try a Schwalbe Wicked Will SuperTrail. The SuperTrail casing is more supportive than EXO+. It only comes in their SpeedGrip compound, which is firm and long lasting. Fun tire for all-day missions in the dry. I do wish they had it in Soft (aka not that soft).

Thanks for the reply. 2.40 width? 

I admit I have (had) a lot of tarmac approaches and transfers to get to the trails, but even on limestone a 3C gets torn up in the rear way too quickly to make sense to run it in the back... 

Yes.

I’d be happy to test tires 🤣

Interesting. I had a set of wicked wills and liked them, did not know they came in the stronger casing. 

Ive been very very happy with the previous gen butcher and eliminator for all purpose riding on the east coast. It sounds like the newer versions arnt necessarily an upgrade. Any thoughts on what might be a good alternative? dhf/forekaster? krypto Re/xyno? Id like to try contis as trail tires, but id really like a super soft trail weight front and soft rear. im not a big guy and dont need 1200 gram tires on my bike for every day riding. i like the dh casing contis i have but havent heard anything good about the trail casings

The problem with the trail casing is that it only comes in endurance (or whatever it's called) rubber which is rock hard and has no grip as far as I've seen. 

They really lock the best rubber behind the heaviest casings for some reason, super soft is basically DH only (technically not anymore, but in practice still), trail only comes in the useless endurance rubber. 

Conti trail casing is dogsh*t unfortunately. burp like crazy and both tires F/R had wobbles after a week of riding. Would not buy these again.

The newish purgatory would be a good faster choice to go with the butcher up front. I’d also be curious to try Forekaster rear with the new Maxxgrip Dissector up front. 

So it's even worse... Good to know, thanks. 

Hi everyone,
I wanted to ask for some info and share my experience with Maxxis/Schwalbe radials… (Spoiler: not the ending I expected!)

I ride a 360° e-bike for trail/AM and some bikepark. Initially, I ran the classic Assegai 2.5 EXO+ MaxxGrip / DHR 2.4 DD MaxxTerra. (I'm not an aggressive rider pushing hard; I tried the DHF but it’s not for me… feels sketchy.)
The Assegai has this smooth transition that doesn’t make me feel exactly when I’m on the side knobs, but in the end, grip is there.
I don’t ride super fast or on very rocky terrain, so I keep pressures around 20-25 psi.

At the beginning of 2025, I tried Albert Gravity radials: UltraSoft 2.6 / Soft 2.5.
At first, liked them, even though ultrasoft is not as soft as maxxgrip, more comfort for my hands (small chatter damping is really noticeable), more tire deformation, and more traction. For my style, I thought I’d found the perfect tires. I didn’t raise the pressure much compared to before, otherwise they felt too stiff/bouncy and lost the characteristics I liked.
Ridden for about 6/7 months.

A few days ago, before prepping for the winter season before installing a front Magic Mary, I went back to the Assegai/DHR out of curiosity… the trails were still dry, so conditions were stable.

Immediately, the bike felt more willing to start the turn… leaning it felt more natural.
On a familiar "test trail section" (around 30 seconds, mixed conditions), I was able to let the bike flow without touching the brakes. Usually, I brake just a little here. Tried it again, same result, no brakes.Either with the radials the bike tracks better and picks up more speed (and therefore I have to slow down a bit), or the Maxxis simply give me a better feeling and therefore I don't brake.
After this test ride, I can say the small chatter damping of the Assegai/DHR is worse, and the volume, comfort, and technical climbing traction of a DHR 2.4 are lower than the Alberts(more volume, more deformation), but is that really all that matters? In some ways I feel like I have a better riding experience with the Maxxis (and I didn't expect that).

A bit doubtful, I put the Alberts back on and repeated the same loop. All my previous impressions were confirmed… plus, on some loose-over-hard corners, I noticed the Albert drift a bit, whereas I felt more confident with the Assegai.

I did another back-to-back test. Maybe the Alberts are slightly worn now, but I’m not fully convinced about radials anymore… maybe the Magic Mary is a different story.
 

At this point, rather than starting winter with a Magic Mary radial / Albert setup, I’m leaning toward: Maxxis High Roller III / DHR (and Assegai for spring/summer).

Maybe it’s just my impression, but has anyone had similar experiences? What do you think?

Having tried Radials a few time, I'd say you're not alone.  One tip I have is try running a Maxxis DD up front instead of EXO+, especially if you're on an ebike.  The 2ply 120tpi casing fabric is very flexible but more puncture resistant and is a bit more supportive on the sides.  So you can run a little bit lower pressure, which will get some of the comfort you found with Radials.  I've got a couple years riding Contis, plus most of my time before that was on Maxxis.  Adjusted for actual pressure I need to keep from dinging the rim or having the casing fold, in order of stiffest/harshest feeling on the hands to most compliant and damp, I'd rank the casings roughly like this:  Conti DH - Maxxis DH - Conti Enduro - Maxxis DD - Radial Gravity - Radial Trail.  (Not putting EXO+ on the range since I've never run it on an ebike.)  The Radials are so heavy that even if you run an Assegai DD, it'll still be lighter than Radial Gravity.

High Roller 3 is my current favorite front tire, but a number of my trails have a lot of loose sand & dust on them, plus hardpack and berms.  It's a lot more well rounded than the Argotal (more towards an Assegai than Shorty, whereas Argotal is closer to Shorty), but the side knobs are YUGE and super supportive on berms & off-camber.  The slightly more conventional knob setup combined with DD casing and MG rubber edge out the Argotal in SS/Enduro for me, although right now I have bikes set up with each.  If your bike park trails are mostly hardpack with only a little loose, then Assegai is probably better suited, but the HR3 won't be a disadvantage.  In wet, HR3 is hands down better.

Main thing I'd point out is comparing an Albert to Assegai is already a bad starting point as they're very different tires so your outcome would be expected. The MM on the front would be a closer comparison and yield "better" results. There's no radial DHR II comparison, if you wanted something similar from Schwalbe the Big Betty would be your choice. 

Thanks for the replies...

Assegai Exo+: it comes off from my previous "standard" MTB, which is why it was Exo+. Now on the ebike, if I try the HR3 front, it'll definitely be a DD.

As for the comparison, when i wanted to try radials, choice was between MagicMary and Albert.
Between the two, the Albert felt more suitable for year-round use, although more trail-oriented compared to the Assegai. The Magic Mary, on the other hand, I saw more as a winter/wet conditions tire.

Opposite experience for me

When I was testing the Yeti Mate, first ride mildly wet with DD Assegai and DHR II was not bad but sketchy on wet roots and overall almost lost the bike like 5 times which was never a thing.

Second ride with the stock Trail Mary and Trail Albert it was more wet yet I could keep all the lines I wanted, speed increased and so did confidence, never once I lost the front or rear riding the same tracks

Can anyone compare High Roller 3 DD vs Magic Mary Radial Gravity?  
 

Seems like either would be a great wintertime front tire…

I’ve ridden both a good amount as a front, they’re both great front tires. I personally prefer the tread of the magic Mary since it’s a little more communicative when it starts to slide out. The high roller probably has a little more overall grip but it’s a little snappy for my tastes. I always feel super confident in it until I suddenly don’t and I wash the front, which almost never happens on the magic Mary. That could easily be a skill issue though, as it’s only an issue when I’m really pushing. This is in loose conditions.

Are people still running Cush Core? New bike day today. Long travel full power e-bike with double down tires. I’m usually horrible to rear wheels and I’m thinking about going back to Cush Core front and rear. I’ve tried Airliner and Huck Norris in the past but didn’t like the ride feel. Is there anything else out there? Or do I just go straight to dh tires? 

Before my knee surgery the idea of an e-bike was out of the question and I would just be running dh tires like I did on my long travel bikes the last several years. I’m just not hitting stuff as hard now though, but I’m still rough on rear wheels even with the bum knee. My local trails haven’t gotten any smoother, most are getting rougher. 

(Don’t get meniscus repair surgery kids if you don’t have to)

The Magic Mary I bought for winter, when mounted was wobble when spinning, so I returned it. Since there wasn't another MM available, I took the opportunity and got an HR3 DD MaxxGrip.

First impressions:

- MaxxGrip compound is noticeably more sticky than ultrasoft (both tires are new unridden).

- MagicMary much more true-to-size (almost 2.5) and slightly rounder profile.

- HR3 profile is more "squarish" than I thought.. (30mm internal rim), reminds me of a mesh up between kenda hellkat and pinner. (Two tires i liked in the past... channel of the pinner, to me was more friendly than the dhf channel)

- Although the initial HR3 reviews (only had DH casings) made it seem like the HR3 had a new casing and was now truly 2.4, I found it undersized...
Even the DHR 2.4 I have in DD is undersized compared to the DHR Exo and Exo+... Isn't it just the DD versions that are all undersized? Maybe DH casing are more true to size ike exo/exo+?

- The HR3's channel is there, but it seems less abrupt than the DHF's. Since the side knobs are closer to the center and more vertical, maybe you should be able to reach them without feeling the large dead zone. In terms of transition to side knobs MM should be more linear...

I hope to be able to test it in a few days.

I'm much slower than I was two to three years ago (not enough riding), but the past few rides without one (threw it out intentionally) have been problem free. Schwalbe Trail casing at 1,4 bar on a 160 mm bike. I ran exo casing tyres exclusively and ran an ARD on the previous bike. 

Another option is Tannus, which is a little lighter and easier to install.  I previously ran Tannus on my bikes, but lately have not been.  I still was getting pinch flats, mostly on the bead so I decided to up the casings and up the pressure ~2 PSI.  Also I was annoyed with the tire change process and if you have to remove the insert in the field, its a pain.  

On my big bike for example I went Exo+ / DD with Tannus F/R with 21-23psi.  Now I'm on Conti DH 22/25 PSI.  I think my main decision to switch was I found Conti Enduro more supportive in the sidewall and square hits than Exo+ on my small bike so I tried no insert to see if I could get away with it.  So far no issues other than a few rim pings that would have been less jarring with a tannus.  I've gotten more used to higher pressure and feel grip is still good (mostly riding dry conditions).  In wet slow speeds lower pressure and an insert certainly were nice, as well as taking off the sting of square edge hits.  

Going back to rimpact inserts at least in the rear. Smashed my FR541 with a dh tire and 28 psi to the point I can’t use tubeless.  Cut the specialized dh tire at the same time.  

We have lots of sharp rocks  

I have 3 bikes with MM fronts, radials and regular casings, and 1 bike with a HR3 DD/MG which replaced an Assg.(dhr2 rear) I've put probably six rides on the HR3, mostly in the dry but at least two were 2 wetish/hero dirt with intermediate PNW mixed conditions. My impressions: The HR3 is small volume with big knobs. The tire profile is square-ish on my 30mm dtswiss. The side knobs are prominent and make contact early on lean in. I find it to be very grip forward if that makes any sense? On edge there is a lot of support, it feels very locked in and want's to hold a line. To me it feels more like a Tacky Chan than a MM due to the channel/locked in feeling. On break-away it's more sudden/sharp compared to the smooth slide of an MM but I haven't found it to be unpredictable. It's actually not terrible on hardpack either, not ideal but not sketchy. TBH this is now probably my new favorite Maxxis front tire. It's not going to replace my MMs especially not the radials but it's very good. I wouldn't hesitate to throw this on for the bike park, and it's been excellent for the shoulder season. This should last me well into winter at which point it will get replaced with a Shorty. 

So MM radial is still king?

I am completely fired up about the HR3.  I'm not a huge MM fan, but I did really like how the radial casing felt but still struggled with a vague corner entry and side knob bite feeling on the radial MM.  The HR3 is an absolute traction monster for me in deep dust and loose conditions, as well as chunder/rubble/ruts like we have in the back country locally.  I've come to appreciate how the narrower width actually plays well with the intended loose conditions and makes it easier to surf the middle of the ruts.  The locked in feeling you get from the side knobs in loose conditions is so confidence inspiring for me.  I got close to that feeling running a conti-krypto rear in front, but I am a fanboi of the maxxis maxx grip rubber and overall casing feel.  

Regarding tire inserts... I've mostly gone to DH tires and no inserts or an insert that doesn't impact the sidewall support as much as cushcore pro does.  I've come to appreciate the linear ramp up of the tire air volume without an insert and I think that the increased sidewall support on a DH casing tire can create some harshness.  On my emtb, I'm running a conti krypto dh rear with a tannus insert, which I find to provide good rim protection but not change tire feel for the worse.  On my park/enduro bike I am running a 2.5 DH dhr2 with a vittoria airliner enduro... I'm not quite sold on the vittoria enduro air liner for this usage yet, but it does provide notable rim protection and less harsh rim strikes and does not impact sidewall support negatively.