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Current status on my front MM Grav/Radial ultrasoft which has about 12 bike park days on it. vs the HR3 with the 6 local rides. There is some undercutting already appearing on some knobs on the HR3.
Thanks all.
This is the depth of information we must have.
Regarding Radial casing tires...
TLDR version:
1. I highly recommend you do BOTH tires Radial and not try to start with just one Radial tire and one conventional tire.
2. Depending on the casing you're coming from, it will take a number of rides (5-10?) for your brain/body to fully get used to the Radial before you can take advantage of it/feel comfortable on it. Too many 1-ride reviews here and other places.
More detailed version:
-When I first tried Radial tires, I did front only, trail casing with a Conti DH casing rear tire. It was too unbalanced, and Radial casing felt so soft and rolly. Didn't really like it. Did 3-4 rides like that, got a little more used to it, but wasn't really digging it. Then I put another Radial (Gravity casing) on the rear wheel and it was a whole different ballgame. The front and back of the bike were balanced in how they reacted to bumps, and I was way more confident and knew what the bike would do. Another 3-4 rides and I got used to them and changed my riding style a bit to adapt and I've had them on now for 10 months (I used to change tires every couple months) and really love them.
-Initially, I hated how vague they feel. You can't feel the knobs bite like you do on other tires. So you need to give your brain time to adjust to this style. And it won't be for everyone. As I've said before, the big unlock for me was tossing the Albert I had on the front for a Magic Mary as the more pronounced channel and bigger sideknobs translate to more 'communication' in cornering from the front tire. It really made me love these tires. I'm not a fan of the Albert on the front wheel, too much of a trail tire/vague feeling, as I've said before. I ride mostly soft/natural trails and steep stuff. If I lived in a place like CO or Arizona with tons of rock/harder soil, the Albert would likely feel better on the front.
Having given Radials 3 solid tries and not liked them, I'd like to point out that my number 1 issue with those tires is Schwalbe's knob patterns. The Albert is a really shitty front tire for me (sucks at loose and very rounded profile) and a fairly shitty rear tire for me (lousy braking down loose chutes). The Mary is a good loose tire for me but a compromised tire for hardpack, and a fucking boat anchor in the back. I think I still was feeling compromises on strictly the Radial aspect of the casing, but could probably find a set of pressures that work for me most of the time. I'd be really curious to see what a different brand like Maxxis, Conti, or Specialized could do tweaking their casing layup to something radial-esque using their (IMO better) knob patterns. Even when I tried a Tacky Chan SG in the back, I just didn't get along with their knob arrangement & rubber compounds (soft but quick rebound). I spent several hundred dollars of my own money trying Radials repeatedly in a variety of conditions - if anything, I wanted to like them given my investment.
But I also prioritize setting up my suspension for stability, predictability, and speed over comfort. For tires, I'd rather have a setup with slightly less overall grip but extremely predictable behavior when it starts to slide, versus something that is super high grip then unexpectedly loses all traction.
yeah still running one, I ride from home to my spots so If I get a unrepairable flat with the cushcore you can atleast ride back home. That alone is worth it to me. The rotating mass sucks but it beats walking 15km
Yes, I've been saying this for a long time. The thing holding Schwalbes back are there terrible (in relation to the competition) tread patterns.
-The Magic Mary is a good pattern, albeit dated and could benefit from being given a little bit of steroids in terms of knob stoutness/size. But looks like they have the High Roller III/Argotal prototype in the works for this.
-Albert is a disappointing tread pattern. Weak. 4 other friends and I, who've all ridden it, share similar feelings. It's good for some stuff, but even though it's an Assegai copy, it falls way short.
-Other patterns are kind of a mess... Tacky Chan: MASSIVE channel makes it very hard to ride as a front. Medicore braking on the rear. Big Betty good but knobs again spaced a bit too close for max braking traction on the rear, which is why don't see it on World Cup DH or really even EWS racers bikes.
Terrible thread patterns, what a Joke
What I’ve noticed is that there’s an intersection of people and terrain for which Schwalbe Radials are such a good fit that they’re convinced that all other tires are trash. I’m glad y’all like them, but my time on the Albert Trails was some of the most frustrating, terrifying riding I’ve done. I spent a full week methodically trying to find a pressure where they didn’t scare the shit out of me and failed. They’re definitely not for me and I’ve yet to see anyone in this area riding them, either. If Maxxis offered a radial version of the HR3/DHR2 I’m running now, I’d happily try it — those are tread patterns and compounds that I know go well around here.
Haha I knew that would fire you up!
Yes, if I had a dollar for every time someone said, "I can't wait until I can get a Radial version of (Insert tread pattern from a company other than Schwalbe)".
Even the guys at Pinkbike, who really like Radials (product of the year), have said multiple times they can't wait until they can get their favorite tread patterns (from other companies) in Radial or Radial-esque casings.
Schwalbe doesn't have as much overlap in their product line as Maxxis. A lot of us are asking for a rear focus radial, I think the front is covered. A TC would be cool but there's nothing really great for the non-leaners like a Dissector.
I'm probably partial to schwalbe since I have them on most of my bikes currently, but I think there's room for an updated betty to improve its cornering and spread the middle lugs out a bit more to help it penetrate while braking. I also think there's room in the lineup to introduce an argotal/hr3 type tire in their lineup or atleast update the MM to have more corner bite like the kryptotal front.
If I could have it my way, id run a tacky chan rear and kryptotal pattern up front but in a schwable casing - so maybe some of scwhalbe's patterns do suck 😆
What performance characteristics would you want to see out of a rear specific radial?
Burly but decently spaced side knobs that bite into loose when leaned over and give feedback that they're engaged, while not folding over when heavily loaded on hardpack berms or off-camber. Alternating center bar knobs with a lot of ramping on leading edge but enough space between them to dig into loose. Basically a DHR II or Kryptotal Rear, but able to conform to horizontal roots a bit better. Of those 2, I feel like the DHR II transitions into a predictable lateral drift a bit easier and grips hardpack better, but the KrR brakes better in loose and rolls on hardpack a bit faster.
Agreed here. Schwalbe is missing a DHR2/Kryptotal Rear/similar design. The Big Betty is close, but it a design that hasn't evolved in a long time and is too tightly packed/smaller center knob size, to bite like the Kryptotal R and DHR2 do.
The DHR3 is in the works though, to match the DHF2's design language, so Schwalbe needs to get on the gas.
I really enjoy the Albert Ultrasoft on the front of my XC/ trail bike (mix of hardpack and some rocks). I also super enjoy the 2.6 Albert Gravity on the rear of my Relay e-bike (very rocky loose terrain). In fact, after going through half a dozen Radial tires and trying them on both bikes under different conditions, for those above applications/ locations those are my favorite tires.
However, the Albert on the front of the e-bike, is pretty far back from most AM contenders (Assguy, Martello, Butcher, etc.) in the traction department (once again, very rocky loose terrain for this bike). The MM Radial, while pretty darn good up front on the e-bike, still has issues related to the tread pattern (more appropriate for wet, dirt, roots, etc. than my rocky hardpack) and also stability is a major issue (as in it's f**king dangerous!) unless you are running the Gravity version.
I'm building a new e-bike here shortly and plan to mount up front the Vee Tire Attack HPL 40 GX & in the rear I'll run the Albert 2.6 Soft Gravity. Both of these option work very well in this terrain on this kind of bike. My close second choices would be the Ass-guy or MM gravity radial up front and the Aggressor 2.5 DD in the rear.
Not sure where you're getting that info, but it ain't correct.
Not to derail the radial talk but anyone else experience a palpable loss in traction once the siping wears off the Continental Kryptotal Fr super soft?
DH casing if that matters.
I recently got the new Dissector v2 (MaxTerra EXO 2.4WT) aka baby Assegai and it is exactly something I always dreamt of for a short travel trail bike (140/130). I use my small bike for XC type riding in the rockies. Conditions are usually very dry, loose dirt and loose rock on top of hardpack.
The side knobs are wide yet not too tall. This makes them very stable and gives you that DHF level locked in feeling during hard cornering. Lack of side knob stability was my main complaint with Forekaster v2 and this solves that. The center tread also has wide knobs which result in a lot of ground contact overall. It rails corners almost as good as an Assegai (MaxxTerra) but rolls night and day faster. It is ever so slightly slower than Forekaster v2 but faster than DHF. The profile is round with smooth transition from edge to edge. It compliments the round profile of Forekaster, Rekon and other fast rolling tires really nicely. Most importantly, there is no "dead zone" so it is very predictable. It blows up to 59mm - 2.32" on 30mm id rim which is identical to my 2.4WT Rekon in the rear.
So far super stoked on this tire! I bet it will be really fun rear tire for enduro.
Sick to see it showing up in people's hands and hear how it's riding!
I just ordered a Rekon and Forekaster for my short-travel trail bike. My plan was to have a three-tire collection. Rekon, Forekaster, and DHF (which is currently on the bike). Then, when the DHF wears out, go to this new Dissector because I absolutely do not need whatever the DHF thinks I need. Then just install/remove tires as necessary to match the terrain I'm riding.
Thanks for the photo and quick review!
I'm also running one up front with a Forekaster out back and totally loving it. If there was a 27.5 model I'd probably be running one in back as well.
This one looks just right for that use case.
Im excited for the new Dissector. Unless things are really gnarly, I see no reason for a bigger front time on my all moutain bike. Currently running DHF/DHR2 combo and its so slow and draggy while climbing. Dissector/Recon or Dissector/Forekaster seem like the move on that bike.
So, basically quite a bit like the Hans Dampf?
(I really like the HD, it rails corners yet it rolls way faster than a similar size / compound Magic Mary)
Awesome, glad to hear you're digging it! This was the tire I mentioned a few pages back when we were discussing fast-rolling trail treads. I've been using it as a front tire on my 130/140 Stumpjumper for several months now, but for the launch at Whistler I mounted it front and rear on the Stumpy Evo. I was really impressed with it across the board. Between Whistler and a trip to Colorado right after, I put 180 miles, 25,000 feet of climbing and 40,000 feet of descending on them. Using the MaxxGrip/DD casing. The rear is about smoked, but I'm not a small man and again this was riding in mainly bone dry, rocky, and steep terrain. The MaxxTerra compound would have been a better choice for the rear.
Very interesting. Could be a good tire for my Sentinel. Maybe EXO+ MG front, Doubledown MT rear.
The "soft but quick rebound" bit might explain why I like them so much, and my friend too, we run our suspension the same so it's like the perfect compliment!
Idk why you guys have issues with the radial tires. I'm running the Magic Mary since 2017 and before I was on DHF/DHR2. Since I ride the MM I feel more secure in all kinds of situations where before with the Maxxis tires I would have sudden losses of front wheel traction I couldn't recover from. I'm now riding the MM radial trail in the front of my ebike for one season and the Albert in soft in the rear and it feels very good in all kinds of condtions: from dusty loose over hardpack finale trails to mud fests.
So far I didn't come to testing the Albert in the front though or compare them to other tires back to back. But they are certainly way better than the Specialized Butcher/Eliminator combo I rode last seson for a bit. That said I'm a light rider but with the ebike I weigh as much as an 80 kg rider on a non-ebike. But I'm not the fastest, most aggressive shredder with huge g-outs and cornering speeds so I can't reproduce these issues when they exist. I mostly ride natural, alpine single track. But in my understanding you can ride the radials with much higher pressures than tradiditional casings so just get a gravity radial casing and run it with a lot of pressure!?
I mean, the short version of it is that neither the Albert nor the MM have tread patterns which work well on the local terrain and despite going from underinflated to overinflated in 1psi increments I was never able to find a tire pressure which provided the support I wanted without uncontrolled rebounding off rocks.
I think your first clue is that you’ve been running MMs and they’ve been working for you for the last 8 years. A more compliant version of a tire which works for you sounds great. A more compliant version of a tire which doesn’t work for you is, uh, bad.
I'm late to the party, bought my first Hans Dampf (Super trail) in July and after almost 400km with it as a rear tire, I really like it for my summer conditions. Doesn't feel any slower than the lighter (a basic one, Evolution maybe?) Nobby Nic I used to run, I've done a few 45km rides on it, some more agressive stuff and even a bikepark day. Curious how it'll handle the mudfest that is winter here
Meanwhile my hardtail is running the ol' partsbin combo: DHR2 Exo+ front/Nobby Nic speedgrip rear 😆
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