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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 😆
Try it in the front.
Some quick update after testing the Highroller3 maxxgrip DD and DHR maxxterra DD for a couple of hours on easy trails.
Mixed dry/wet conditions.
Confirmed that the bike leans easily. Although there is a "channel," for me it's nothing like the DHF.
I didn't feel any dead zone.
Nice grip when cornering.
Unfortunately, the magic carpet ride feel of radials is unbeatable.
I don't know if there's something wrong with my setup, but I just can’t feel the "magic carpet ride" people describe with radials. I recently bought a Magic Mary and mounted it on the front. I've ridden it for three days, and the only time I notice something different is when I land with the front wheel first.
I started at 25 psi, about 5 psi more than with my previous tire (Assegai). Each day I dropped the pressure by 1 psi, but still no “magic” feel. The trails are very dry and fast right now, and I’ve ridden it on some chunky sections (big roots and rocks). The grip is great, but the overall feel doesn’t seem much different from the Assegai.
Am I doing something wrong? Or is the feeling everyone talks about only noticeable on softer trails?
I'm not sure, the feeling for me when I switched from Hutchinson tyres to Radials felt more like a drop-in fork upgrade than a new tyre. I've rode a mix of soft, slimy, sandy and rocky trails, it feels better on all of those and the effect is the most noticeable on harder terrain, as that's where the larger contact patch smooths things out the most, if the trail is soft I'll feel it less and feel the added grip/traction more instead.
Correct, me too.... with both radials more than a tyre it seems a fork/shock upgrade, or maybe a handlebar with more damped/muted feel.
Especially at the rear, an albert gravity radial 2.5 instead of a DHR DD 2.4(almost2.3)... feels like upgrading to a much better shock.These feeling are in standard trail sections, dry with bumps, rock, stones and so on... on a normal group ride on trails i also spend a lot of time like this (you're not always going straight uphill or shredding downhill) and that's what I liked most about radials... for me, in those situations they are less tiring and more comfortable.
As I was saying, for me and my riding, regarding the grip, the compound, the ease and confidence they give when you lean the bike, I prefer Maxxis. I had just gotten used to it, but I didn't really understand how the front albert 2.6 worked until I went back to try the assegai.
I'm waiting for the replacement of the defective Magic Mary Radial Ultrasoft to do a test with my rear Albert that I kept.
Maybe I'll love this combo for fall, winter, spring. But for dry, smooth, bike park... what can I put on the front Schwalbe that looks like an Assagai?
Bike check on Rosa's Cube on pinkbike seems to indicate she was running Tacky Chan in Radial.
Schwalbe teams have been running Tacky Chan & Dirty Dan Radials all season.
Schwalbe is missing a rear specific radial, you have to think after a season of WC testing a public release is going to happen. They said as much in a reply to an instagram post... I think I saw it on mtbr.
press release from pirelli - new XC tire
PIRELLI PRESENTS THE SCORPION XC RH:
THE FASTEST MTB RACING TYRE IN ITS CROSS-COUNTRY RANGE
100% Made in Italy, manufactured at Pirelli’s Milan-Bollate plant with FSC™ certified natural rubber*
Chosen by the athletes of Pirelli’s partner teams, including Samuele Porro, who rode it to a silver medal at the Marathon World Championships in Valais
The SCORPION XC RH completes Pirelli's XC range
Milan (Italy), 7 October 2025 – Pirelli launches the SCORPION XC RH, a 100% Made in Italy mountain bike tyre, manufactured at its Milan-Bollate plant with FSC™ certified natural rubber*.
The SCORPION XC RH completes Pirelli’s Cross Country premium range, joining the ranks of the RC and M models, which have been recently launched on the market.
Designed for today’s modern and spectacular Cross-Country competitions, where top speed is just as vital as bike control, the new RH (Racing Hardpack) is built for races where rolling efficiency is the top priority. Optimized for predominantly compact terrain, it offers reliable grip and handling when cornering on mixed surfaces.
With Pirelli’s now famous “Prototype” label, the RH has already been used by the company’s partner teams. The Alpecin-Deceuninck, Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli XC, BMC Factory Racing and Klimatiza Orbea teams have tested it in various important races, ranging from the Les Gets World Cup to the World Championships in Valais and Crans-Montana. In Valais, Samuele Porro (Klimatiza Orbea) decided – surprisingly, given the little time he had to test them – to run SCORPION XC RH tyres front and rear in the XMC race at the 2025 Marathon World Championships, eventually finishing as Vice World Champion.
RACE COMPOUND AND SPECIAL TREAD DESIGN
The secret behind the new SCORPION XC RH lies in its tread design and, above all, in a tailor-made formulation of the RACE XC compound. This combination of an innovative compound and a racing-oriented tread pattern, low in the centre with pronounced side knobs, allows the tyre to deliver record-level rolling efficiency, offering both exceptional speed and precise control.
The RH’s tread features a wide, compact central band with closely spaced, low-profile knobs, delivering outstanding rolling efficiency while still absorbing vibrations and maintaining excellent grip on the terrain. The aggressive shoulder knobs, directly inherited from the SCORPION XC RC model, provide exceptional cornering traction, a common weak point in ultra-fast tyres. The differentiated tread profile across the centre, transition, and shoulder zones maximizes straight-line efficiency while giving riders full confidence during fast, technical turns.
The SCORPION XC RH features the new RACE XC compound, with a formulation specifically optimized for the RH model to meet the project’s core objectives: maximum speed and precise stability. It was carefully calibrated by Pirelli technicians who work on compounds, from Motorsport to Cycling, combining ultra-fast rolling performance with good chemical grip – crucial on compact terrains and mixed-race conditions - to deliver superior results, even when pushing to the limit. The RACE XC compound represents Pirelli’s ultimate expression of off-road speed for Cross-Country racing and is today the highest-performing compound in the company’s MTB range. Internal lab testing has shown that the new SCORPION XC RH is the fastest model of Pirelli’s entire Made in Italy XC range, and that it is more than 40% faster than the old RC model.
LITE AND NEW PROWALL CASINGS
Like the SCORPION XC RC and M models, the new RH tyres are available with two high-performance casing options: the classic LITE and the redesigned ProWALL. The ProWALL features a new fabric layout - still 120 TPI Nylon - with reinforced sidewalls for maximum protection and stability.
The new SCORPION XC RH tyres are already available at leading cycling shops and online, in the 29x2.4 size, with graphics in the standard and Team Edition versions.
*The percentage of natural rubber out of the total weight of the tyre is equal to about 17% for the LITE version and 20% for the ProWALL version. Natural rubber is the product’s most important component – FSCTM licence N003618. The FSCTM logo guarantees that the natural rubber used by Pirelli comes from responsibly managed forests, protecting the environment, biodiversity, workers’ rights and local communities.
Pirelli is moving the production in house? They were previously made by Panaracer, right?
Anyone spent much time with a HR3 in the rear? I'm a huge fan of it for my conditions in the front, but kinda curious how it'd do out back. My main complaint with a DHR2 in the back is how fast it wears down in our soils - the braking grip drops off dramatically once the knobs wear down to the point where the sipes start fading, which is only like a couple months here.
I'm really looking forward to trying whatever the mystery Maxxis tire is - looks like it has a lot of things I like about both the HR3 and DHR2. I could see running that tire front & rear year round here.
I have, it was excellent but didn't last long at all... mostly because the HR3 is only available in maxx gripp. For now, I am using the conti krypto rear dh soft for any application where I want dhr2 braking performance and side knob bite, but more penetration through dust/loose conditions and better wear.
It pains me to run different tire mfg's front and rear, digs at my ocd for sure. That being said, DD hr3 maxx grip front, dh soft krypto rear in back is (*chefs kiss*) magical.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing also... maybe bust out the Sharpie paint pen to calm my OCD.
If you know, you know...
So I need some other opinions to make sure I'm not crazy or having a one off experience. I got a chance to mount up a muddy mary gravity pro radial to take on a bike park trip last month. I found the tire to not only ride and track well but to be the absolute easiest to install DH tire I've touched in a decade. Anyone else found the new gravity pro Schwalbe's to be easy to work with or was it just a lucky thing?
Mary gravity was super easy, and my albert gravity was the hardest tire I’ve ever put on and taken out (dt fr541).
Same rim for both? same tape?
There is no difference between the bead core, and layup of the tires.
I found it to be almost too easy, it was so loose that I had to use compressed air, which is something I never had to do with DH Continentals (which are a bit more of a pain to mount, especially with inserts). Next time I'll probably put it with an inner tube first to seat it on one side.
Yea, same rim and same tape, FR541 and two layers of stans tape. Its even same after a summer of use, when others have been much looser after use.
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