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I got bombarded by them on instagram, posts on every blog, multiple tire related forums... I don't even remember everything I read it was such a frenzy.
FY, I should have said was referring only to Gravity since that's my experience.
Anyone have a read on the differences between the 2.4 and 2.5 Radial Tacky Chan? If it’s just a wider casing, I’m inclined to order the 2.4 for less transition between center and side knobs, but I wasn’t sure if there were other differences.
The tread pattern was also changed to make less of transition. Schwalbe say the 2.5 will be better if this is what you're looking for
The tread is very different, take a look at the photos on their website. Before it was like a pair of wide knobs, then 3 small/narrow rows of 2, then the wide ones again. Now it's 2 wide, 2 medium, 2 wide.
Thanks @KylerOnBikes and @AndehM !
I wasn’t sure if the 2.4 had an updated pattern, but now I see it clearly doesn’t, and also isn’t offered in Radial! Looks like I’ll try the Romy Diagonal rear for now with the Magic Mary front I already have, and then swap it for a 2.5 TC Radial in June if I can get one.
Anyone finding the Trail Pro radial casings incredibly thin in the sidewall? Just slashed one on some not that rocky terrain and I haven't had that happen in ages, even back when I was running Grid Trail casings and living somewhere far rockier. Plus just by hand they feel like by far the thinnest sidewalls of any >1100g tire I've ever felt.
Bummer after just two days with everything else about how they ride being pretty fantastic.
So Eliminator, Romy, Grapper or Butcher radial for BC/PNW riding this summer- Lightweight midpower ebike
Currently have a Albert, but the knobs are starting to tear off and the sidewall has developed a ton of sidewall leaks
I only have 1 ride on the Romy so can't tell you how it fully is, but visually it is a very different tire than the other three. It compares more to a Dissector or Xynotol. Visually it seems like a fast rolling tire for harder conditions and may not be where you want to prioritize. Looks like a great mid travel trail bike Colorado tire if it holds up for me tbh.
I have the Tacky Chan on the front, and it is much more aggressive tire that would be closer to those others. I was a bit surprised how large the blocks are the lugs are taller than a DHR and the Conti Kryptotal.
First off, there is warranty on schwalbe tires so you should check that out.
You should consider the Eddy Current, now comes in radial. Gravity casing weighs 1480g for 29x2.5, but it's pretty damn durable. Ideal for rear wheel on e-bikes.
Romy could be good. Defintley faster rolling and lighter at 1355g. But on the rear you may chew through the tread pretty fast.
Its typicaly reccomended for 130-140mm trail bikes.
Or like others mentioned, split the difference and go Tacky Chan.
P.S. Nice to see the Mary in your profile pic come out at the listed 1190g.
Was there any update to the trail pro radial chasing to the previous/ first gen ?
Would like to know this too, to relay info to guys I ride with. It certainly feels like this on the TC (well done on that BTW, loving it).
I sliced an albert gravity at the tail end of last season after only 5 or so rides on it and haven’t sliced a dh casing tire in probably 10 years. The conti dh tire I took off had threads starting to expose on the sidewall and made it 1.5 seasons without a slice. So I’d say the schwable radials don’t hold up as well as I would expect given their weight.
I’ve sliced a Conti DH tire but it was in the Massunutten rock garden so not entirely unexpected. (Just riding not racing)
First trail bike ride on the Romy Trail Radial Soft yesterday and I’m very conflicted on it. It was great on trail/tech climbing and all my times were the same and great on the downhills where I hit off cambers and side hits outside of the trail. Where I didn’t like it were flat sections of trail and pavement. It feels like you have exhaust back pressure slowing you down slightly, slightly, slightly. I’m trying to convince myself this doesn’t matter and is worth the tradeoff of grip and trail feel.
The feel of radials front and rear is unmatched. It’s like riding in a Honda vs a Mercedes. I like a snappy bike but I just can’t stop thinking about how damped and refined the rear radial makes the bike feel.
I currently have four radial Albert Gravity SuperSoft tires mounted (first version) and one 2.6 has a pretty decent wobble on my just-built-and-straight wheel. Front, no inserts, with TPU tube. Hopefully that's just the fold from the packaging, otherwise I'll warranty it. Has anyone else had a wobbly one?
I think the other commenters were correct in saying the refined tread pattern of the TC, and the updated Ultrasoft Compound, may be what you are noticing.
No updates to the Trail, just the Gravity casing.
@theweaz you'd probably like this. The previous gen Gravity Pro casing leaned more towards a Super Gravity casing. The updated version is closer to a Super Downhill.
I’m personally really excited to try swapping the Albert Radial rear for a Romy Diagonal in the same compound and casing (Trail Soft). The Albert is definitely plush feeling, but it does feel like it saps a ton of energy from the bike when climbing or on moderate downhills. I also really prefer being able to slide the rear wheel around a bit instead of the “always locked on” feeling of the Albert’s very full tread.
Tacky Chan rolls faster than Albert and is a lot easier to initiate a drift in (rear). That was one of my issues with Albert also - it was really hard to consistently get it to slide into corner pockets. TC behaves a lot like a DHR in that regard.
With the removal of the old gravity pro casing, what are you guys going to run on your trail bikes?
I'm currently trail pro front and gravity pro (old) rear on my canyon spectral and was originally planning to go gravity pro front and rear after the front gives out because it just feels way too balloon like to give me confidence in corners.
But now, I would have to go new gravity casing front and rear, so basically downhill casings on a trail bike. I can quickly see me hating life.
Trail casing for trail bikes.
I get your concern. I primarily go with a trail casing front, enduro rear if given the chance on my ~130mm bike. I decided front and rear trail with Schwalbe based on weight. The Schwalbe Trail casings are the same weights as comparable Conti Enduro. General forum talk and tests make it seem less robust than that option, but I haven't seen an actual test with increased pressures accounted for. We'll see if it holds up, I'm a bit skeptical.
I had issues with the 2024 radial trail casings being too squirmy, but have not had that problem with the 2026 Trail Pro casings. I'm happy to run those front & rear on my trail bike... will eventually replace the Grav Pro on front end of my ebike with one too once it wears out, might try it rear also as I'm on the lighter end of the spectrum. 2026 weights seem dead on for the 4 I've purchased & weighed.
Simply no „radial“ casings and instead the regular ones.
Sadly it seems like the best solution is going with a different brand that has a more robust trail casing. I just picked up a Gravity Pro casing Romy to replace my sliced Trail Pro version and as I'd expect it's a bit of a pig, but sturdy and nice to not have to worry about. It just seems like there's a big gulf between the two, with the Gravity Pro casings feeling like a pretty proper DH casing and the Trail Pro casings having absolutely paper thin sidewalls that at this point I don't trust to hold up, even if the support feels decent.
Yeah I’m kind of pissed they just added 2 layer of chasing to the gravity, when I need a gravity rear I don’t want a DH tyre, and now there’s no option anymore to stay with the radial, and imo radial front and non rear feels like 💩
FYI, casing, not chasing. There is no H in tyre casings.
It's not so much that 2 layers were added, its that now both of the 2x67epi carcass layers are now extend ontop of each other under the tread cap (before it was just one layer that extend to the end of the lap.
Here is some non radial tire talk - I’ve been running the Michelin Wild Enduro MS Racing Line front and rear for a season and a half now. In general I’d say it’s been the best set and forget tire I have used. Similar loose condition performance to other all-rounders like the Magic Mary or High Roller, but holds up better on hard pack. I really like the casing too - supportive without being harsh, not too heavy, and haven’t had any flats (yet).
Thinking I’ll try the new Performance Line option as a rear tire to get more life out of it. Hopefully the harder compound doesn’t sacrifice too much on wet roots/rocks.
I'm curious what you feel with the mixed setup? It looked to me like this was more common than not on WC bikes. I personally like it on all of my bikes but there's a chance that's an issue with an unrefined palate
Even the performance line still rolls slow af while being average in grip
It feels faster on smooth climbs/roads, definitely not as smooth/efficient on tech climbs, but where I noticed the difference I didn’t like at all was downhill, I feel like I’ve got 10mm less travel and a stiffer rear end, plus, they just don’t grip nearly as much on roots/of camber sections
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