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If these suck I'm blaming you
i'm sure you'll love them, give them a couple rides to find the pressures
A good way of quickly getting a feel of the difference is to only change one tire at first. Then pump both tires(one normal and one radial) to say 25psi, and now try to pinch the tires to feel the difference at the exact same pressure. Also push down your thumbs from the top to see how they differ here as well.
The radials need a few rides to break in but you still get a quick idea of how they will work out on the trails by doing this. I still see people trying to run radials at same pressures as before and I at least feel that if they would just perform the simple test as described above, there should be a change of heart given how obviously different they feel at the same pressure.
There is a hole in the lineup though when it comes to radial Schwalbes.
The Albert is a killer hardpack/ loose over hardpack rear tire on an Enduro or aggressive e-bike. It even makes an impressive front TRAIL bike tire in hardpack. It also wears really well. But the Albert was fully inadequate for my e-bike up front.
The MM Radial is very, very good, but it's still too much a loam dirt type tread pattern for aggressive use up front in hardpack & loose over hardpack. It skates around unpredictably and folds over at times. Schwalbe needs an Assagai/ Mazza type tread pattern in combo with the radial casing.
Also, don't run these radial tires on an aggressive bike in the trail casing, they can legit be scary. If you keep pumping up the psi, they become bouncy balloons. They move so much that you'll need the gravity casing for a bike that gets jumped, etc. or literally the tread will disappear out from underneath you and you'll be on a rim at a very inopportune moment.
Hey guys, quick question: the thumbs down button is for when someone doesn’t like the product I’ve turned into my whole personality, right?
"Schwalbe needs an Assagai/ Mazza type tread pattern in combo with the radial casing." Haha well, the funny thing about this statement is that the Albert IS a copy of the Assegai tread pattern that Schwabe then neutered by making knobs closer together/smaller/less aggressive. If they added 1-2mm of height to the knobs, spaced them out more, and beefed up the side knobs, you'd have a proper version of the Albert. But the general pattern was copied from the Assegai formula. Just implemented poorly for a shred tire. But well for a trail tire.
Agreed on pressures. If you have to go above ~26.5psi on the trail casing, jump up to Gravity casing so you can run lower pressures and get less 'bounce'.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that those who prefer a stiffer fork setup get along better with the radial MM, or even the magic mary in general.
Lately I've been riding an mm radial and kryptotal fr interchangeably and I notice i've been opening up low speed compression when running the kryptotal. The mm radial feels like there's a bit of give before it grips and I find myself riding the bike accordingly. When I switch to the conti, it has a more defined edge imo.
Shredda rear
Hum, maybe. Have you tested it?
I have a Mazza Race on the way and am comparing it back-to-back with a standard Mazza Enduro as well as the Veetire Attack HPL (started off great, was downright scary last week how much I was losing the front) I removed last week. Will report back.
One thing that occurs is that like everyone else I don't want to throw away tires that still have useable life. So, then you end up comparing a well-used tire to a freshie, and that's just not a fair comparison.
Shredda rear looks good but only comes in a gravity casing.
Trail casings are working well for me. I'm light and I ride light.
Single lap on a friend’s bike. I wasn’t pushing but it did feel pretty good, and he’s a fan as well as being one of the faster locals.
Schwalbe needs to use the side knobs from the Tacky Chan on the Magic Mary and it would fix 99% of the MM's issues.
Anyone have experience like this with the newest Maxxis HR3? I’m splitting/tearing knobs at the base… on the front.
Tire hasn’t been ridden all that much.
Was just curious. I’ve always changed the front fairly quickly and when the sides are starting to deteriorate shape or lose hold at the base. But this is a new one for me to have deteriorating centers and that’s before the side are going
You email them about it??
No need to add anything, go and measure, knob height is already more on the Albert
Honestly, no.. I just was operating under its a wear item and did not think to bring them into it. Not trying to give a bad wrap either as I genuinely dig the tire a lot. Just curious if others might have experienced anything similar with this specific tire. I guess I will reach out to them
shit happens to the best of us and it is possible they had a bad batch of tires and would like to know? If it is just wear then they would say no warranty and your in the same spot you were. Worth a shot!
Wouldn't bigger/longer knobs just make it less of an Allrounder and make it grip worse on compact surfaces?
The number on trait of that thread design is that you are never really on the wrong tire apart from extrem circumstances.
After looking at this Rear Shredda a bit more it has too much void space to work for my hardpack with loose rocks.
My next set up I'm trying is the Mazza Race up front with the Martello Enduro in the rear. Both are 2.6s (actual width closer to 2.47") and will be on a mullet/ MX full power e-bike.
I can see that, especially if you are dealing with a lot of sharp stuff. Luckily most of my local rock is rounder so usually I just worry about the casing strength.
Okay fellow nerds, you’ve convinced me. I’ve always been a DH tires on the DH bike, trail casing tires on the “trail bike,” (anything less than the full on DH bike.) I want to see the effect of heavier casing tires on the pedal bike.
So here’s the question: if I’m going from Super Ground US Tacky Chans to the burlier casings, will going to Gravity be enough of a jump to justify it? Or would I need to get all the way to DH to really feel the difference ? IE- if I’m taking a weight penalty by bumping the casing, would I be selling myself short and not really reap the benefits by going gravity instead of DH? AND, would it make sense to min/max by doing something like DH front Gravity rear (get maximum support on the front, slightly lower weight on the back?)
I shudder to start buying more tires (my plan this year is to donate all my failed experiment tires to deserving kids or beginners riding around on Mike Bears,) but I’m intrigued by this talk of better cornering and want to feel for myself if I can stomach pedaling around heavier tires if they make a drastic difference.
I’m 165 lbs and on an HD6 in the Portland area if that’s relevant to your suggestions.
You guys are the best.
Why do you want burlier casings? Riding characteristics or puncture resistance?
I mostly always ran straight Exo tyres with an insert in the rear, moving to a trail casing Schwalbe I dropped pressures (1,4 bar to the previous 1,5 bar) and removed the cushcore from the back without a penalty, for now.
Not all casings are created equal.
Mostly I want to see if it’s a benefit! Have I been unconsciously retreating from cornering as hard as I could? Does it calm the bike on chatter enough to outweigh(ha!) the pain of pedaling around heavier tires? It’s to mix it up and see how it feels!
I don't think we have enough information to understand what you are looking to improve. What is your current front tire (name, compound, casing) + pressure, rear tire + pressure.
If you aren't getting punctures and you like to pedal for your trails, I'd be a bit hesitant to strap more weight to your tire for some downhill performance on a trail bike. Moving to a super trail is 90g added, which likely won't be noticable uphill, but jumping to super gravity is 230g and up to downhill is 310g which you will notice uphill. It'll be more apparent on the rear for pedaling but adding more weight to the front may add a bit more power needed to unweight the bike for bunnyhops, direction changes.
I don't have a specific stats on the climbing degradation, but you'll likely be 5-10% slower uphill adding 200-300g to the rear, and 2-5% if its on the front. I certainly notice 200g more on a full day of riding.
Have you tried other tire pressures on your current setup? Have you played with different suspension settings? Trying these first is free and can make major changes. You can try new bracketing of your suspension. Maybe your suspension is packing out and you need faster rebound. Or you have too much compression and it's making it harsh. You could play with your tire pressure as well, reducing 1-2 PSI will give you better grip, but may create tire roll in hard fast supported corners. Adding 1-2 PSI may allow you to push into a turn better if you are feeling unsettled from tire roll. Repeating the same track(s) to see if that gets you the ride feel you are looking for will help.
I am of the opinion that if you are pedaling, get the lightest tire that will run the pressures you prefer and stay together for the terrain you intend to ride on the bike.
I could be overthinking it. But here's the thing, with a QBP account, it's not that big a splurge to try something new and maybe I'll love it.
I definitely mess with variables (why have all the knobs if you don't try your crazy theories!?) but this is the one thing I haven't yet tried.
I guess the reality is nobody will be able to give particularly prescriptive advice, as you don't ride my trails at my pace (fast, so fast! ha) and that I just need to try it out and feel the reality myself. I agree with your "opinion that if you are pedaling, get the lightest tire that will run the pressures you prefer and stay together for the terrain you intend to ride on the bike." but am intrigued by the effect of stiffer casings and overall weight.
Carcass layers dosen't change from Super Ground -> Super Trail. The 70g increase comes from the Apex supportive sidewall layer. This yields a noticeable benefit in tire stability during corners as well as pinch flats.
HD6 is a bit of a brawler, and considering it's Enduro based intentions, is probably better served with a Super Gravity on the back imo. Yes its heavier by 230g, but you get extra carcass layers and a even taller Apex supportive sidewall layer.
Fast and cornering is what the Tacky Chan excels at, so you are probably well served by that tread pattern.
Well there it is- I'm just gonna try it and if it's overkill I'll pass them along to someone heavier than me! Thanks for the info and opinions everyone.
Hearing rumors on the tech thread about Specialized and Maxxis releasing a radial or radial like casing. Anyone know more about this?
Does the Maxxis HR3 have a different DH casing?
I'm interested in this. Would love to have 1000gm tire with a radial style casing and some solid side knobs. Albert size knobs are too squirmy and Magic Mary needs more contact patch for hard conditions and its a pretty slow roller. I'm still on the Albert soft rear and MM radial supersoft front.
Not directly the same, but my HR3 doubledown looks and feels like a normal Maxxis casing to me.
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