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Speaking of Schwalbe, a friend of mine is looking to try out some new (Schwalbe) options. He's currently running a magic Mary and big Betty in trail soft on the pedal bike and a DHF (not sure of the specs, probably exo 3c) and a tacky chan ultra soft (a hand me down) on the Levo SL. Trail casing is enough, he rides light.
I was thinking radial magic Mary ultra soft for at least the pedal bike. As per above eddy current might be a good option. Albert is very assegai-esque?
Comments on Shreddas? Tacky chan for the rear? Any other options.
Shredda rear as a front works well in a variety of terrain. Match that with a Albert rear in 2.6 and you have a great natural terrain setup. Sure a Magic Mary front would increase rolling resistance but that Shredda is so confidence inspiring. Front and rear Shreddas for the best max grip winter setup especially on snow and soft ground.
Gotta call you out on this, @Primoz, because this is a general pet peeve of mine. "3C" is almost a meaningless designation at this point when talking about Maxxis tires. Is it a MaxxGrip or MaxxTerra 3C tire he's on? Because there's a world of difference between those two compounds and those two types of riders. To further confuse things, Maxxis also offers a "3C MaxxSpeed" compound, although I know that isn't available on the DHF. At least I hope not.
I know you and I've ridden with your crew, so I'd bet that it's a MaxxTerra tire that your friend is riding, but I don't want to assume.
Historically Maxxis has really been offering EXO 3C only in MaxxTerra, except the DHF, which has come in MaxxGrip for ages
Fair nitpick, honestly no idea, but I'd assume MaxxTerra too.
DHR2 comes in 2.4 EXO MaxxGrip also.
Anyone in the know (or Schwalbai) have an idea of when we'll actually see Tacky chan / big betty in radial? What's taking so long?
Out of curiosity, what kind of improvement are you and others hoping to achieve in a tc radial vs the current tc?
Radial casing compliance and feel, for me at least.
The albert radial rolls pretty well but the side knobs peel and squirm too much when leaning the bike over on the front for my taste.
The MM radial is a slow roller but has a more stout side knob for front wheel cornering traction on lean.
Tacky chan tread pattern looks like the best of both worlds- fast rolling, sturdy side knobs.
The open tread pattern of the TC brakes better on loose as well. TC is a better match for a MM front overall in my book. I also like the TC on the front but you need to be more attentive of the transitional gap especially on hard pack.
Amaury confirmed in Downtime Podcast they're using a special softer rubber from Schwalbe on their race tires (unclear if just for cold temps/wet as had been reported--which is likely).
I went from an mm to an mm radial and I felt there was actually less support in the sidewall.
My overall impression is that the mm radial is great for slow to medium speeds but when you start looking to the tire to be more supportive, it leaves a bit to be desired.
I love the tc gravity on the rear for everything from trail to bikepark, but I do think that tire is more conforming than a Michelin dh16 or conti dh casing.
I can’t help but think that the strong bite of the tc cornering knobs would fade away in a radial casing unless something in the sidewall is changed.
Based on the last few posts, I'm thinking:
Stumpjumper Evo: Magic Mary trail radial ultrasoft, tacky chan trail soft
Levo: I was thinking about Shreddas, but I see the only come in gravity pro ultrasoft...
By the sound of it I’d assume you didn’t change tyre pressures with the radials?
I thought the same as well, sidewall support is significantly worse. However when I increased pressure to bring back a adequate level of support, the grip is still much better than the non-radial stuff.
I’ve ridden the mm radial at pressures between 18 and 32. It doesn’t have the same levels of support as other tires and it becomes noticeable (to me) when riding trails that are 15+ mph.
If I were to list the tires I’ve ridden in terms of sidewall support it would probably go something like:
Mich dh 22
Mich enduro ms
Conti kryptotal dh
Mich enduro mh
Mm gravity
Mm radial gravity
Assegai exo+
I didn't try the shreddas but to me they seem to be a bit overkill, even on an ebike. Like almost 1,6 kg for a tire. Maybe on very loose/muddy terrain they might make sense but in the summer? That Dario diGuglio guy from pinkbike seems to cut a shreddar down. I think he even moutned the rear version in the front because of the smaller knobs. With the magic mary existing I see not sense going with a shredda in the summer. Its a way more versatile tire.
The Shredda's can definitely be seen as overkill, but so are coil shocks on trail bikes. It dosen't mean there aren't benefits to such upgrades.
We are in a era where some riders obsess over weight, and some care very little about an extra 200g if it means they have more grip/confidence on the downs.
Good thing there are options for both user groups!
My personal experience on Druid V2: Shredda Rear on the front (Tacky Chan rear) is a insanely fun combo especailly on Black Natural Trails.
With summer coming, I will be changing to something faster rolling on the front. We don't need deep soil penetration for dry summer trails here.
Stay tuned for updates to the TC. It works better on the front of the bike now.
Drop now, or I'm getting Contis. 🤗
He's not cutting Shreddas down. He runs the rear Shredda on the front wheel and an Albert or MM on the rear wheel.
He also has a very large FTP, so the extra ~15w of resistance from the Shredda Rear (on the front) vs. a Magic Mary is not that noticeable.
I'm not only talking about weight but the knob height in the sense that on more hard packed trails or rocks tall knobs fold and give you that drifting/unprecise feeling.
I notice it with the magic mary and assume it's worse with the shreddas.
Well I guess that's good as the current one is pretty piss poor up front unless you have grippy enough terrain to get to those side knobs and stay there.
I've never had an issue with the dead spot in a front tire until the TC but in my loose rocks it was a lot of mad grip with edge biting followed by massive slip when terrain prevented full commitment, and it got tiresome.
Also, I agree with radials just not working at higher speeds for me. You can add a lot of air pressure to counteract this but then they feel like a balloon and any advantage is gone. They are fantastic at trail bike speeds, and I do rather like the gravity Albert 2.6 on the rear of my e-bike.
Grid Trail is in my experience less protective but more supple, with better feel than the Conti Enduro. As far as softness/grip goes, I’d place T9 and T7 as softer than the Conti compounds, but not quite as soft as MaxxGrip and MaxxTerra respectively.
The Albert Trail Pro casing seems to be too weak for enduro stuff. At least for me with full power ebike, lighter rider and I'm not that fast and don't ride gnarly trails with sharp rocks. So probably won't work for heavier/faster riders and/or low pressure. The Magic Mary Trail Pro seems to have more meat and could work for me in the back. Didn't test it yet.
First ride on shreddas today (running a shredda rear on both front and rear wheels)
Super draggy and too aggressive now the ground is getting firmer going into the spring - squirms a bit on the hard pack and quite a bit over roots and rocks
Would be awesome in steep loam with the braking and deeper tread, but will probably be taking these off in favour of MM radial front / TC rear - and will keep them safe for next winter.
Hopefully news on radial TC and BB soon
Riding the in the PNW, the radials are the best tires I've ridden in wet conditions. More grip than any comparable tire I've ridden and feel great at high speeds, although the MM doesn't match the outright cornering of the HR3. There is definitely an adjustment period from standard casings but at my weight (170) I don't have to run excessively high pressure. I think whether they work for you is likely terrain and rider dependent. I love them in the wet but don't see as much advantage in dry conditions.
I'm also the odd one out because I love the TC as a summer front tire on familiar trails. You definitely have to lean into it though - can be a bit terrifying until it hooks up!
Have fun buying two sets of tires in the next couple of months i guess?
Nah, the tire stash is healthy but I'd love to get back on a TC.
Some thoughts on a few different topics here:
I spent last summer with a Vittoria Martello (trail casing, 4C) on the front of my tallboy used for riding my local trails, I think it offered a pretty capable well rounded tire. The feel is similar to the old butchers where in corners it never really feels locked in like a minion but there's adequate but not great grip. I've got exactly 2 short (<1 min) descents that have any actual steep bits near me and if there's something that pushes the jack of all trades master of none feel of the tire it would be that it was confident braking. Definitely overkill for the majority of my locals but rolls well enough that it's fine to pedal around XC stuff, ultimately it feels like it's well suited as a rear tire for trail bike stuff (not much of a surprise). My enduro bike has a DH casing / Soft Xynotal which works out well for me as a good balance of rolling speed and traction, but the braking grip is the weak spot (and only gets worse as the rubber wears) so I'd be tempted to try an enduro casing Martello in that spot.
Those E13 tires were interesting, I had the TRS (DHR) in enduro casing Mopo ompund and the knobs seemed like they had very stiff base rubber but very tacky rubber on the outside. A major contrast to Maxxgrip where the knobs are more pliable and Conti Super soft where the base and outer rubber seem seem to be somewhere between the maxxis and E13 compounds. Vee's website was functional (hooray) and they were running a bogo tire deal so I picked up some attack HPL/FSXs, and the surface rubber is very soft and sticky, with the supporting rubber being a good bit softer than the E13s. I thought the E13 tires were pretty good so I'm excited to try the Vee's.
I haven't tried enough tires to know whether it's the compound or the tread, but the Assegai feels like it lags behind the Crypto front in both cornering feel and total grip. I initially got a bad impression from the assegai using the with the stock 35mm width Ibis rims on my old ripmo AF, they always felt super vague but I don't know whether to chalk that up to the rim width or the flex of the rim. I've since run them on 30mm rims and they're great but I prefer the feel of the Conti which have also bailed me out in sports where I was not expecting to be able to hold a line through a corner.
I think one thing that will be good about the industry settling in on a few different tread patterns is that we'll be able to narrow down what sort of rubber compounds / knob stiffness are best for each tread type and trail conditions because the current top end DH oriented options are pretty wildly different from brand to brand.
https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/schwalbe-tacky-chan-trail-pro-ultra…
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