You can see that a few of the entire side lugs are starting to peel off
I see a significant bias to right-hand turns, the knob you're pulling looks nothing like the knob on the other shoulder. I favor one turning direction slightly because of my foot-forward preference, but I actually am not sure I've ever seen a disparity in left and right shoulder knobs like you have on both tires.
There is heavy center knob wear relative to the shoulders, and little wear on the braking edges. My father-in-law does this to his tires because he rides primarily paths on a Levo SL1 and doesn't lean aggressively on dirt or paved. I'm switching him to T5 compound specialized xc tires.
350ish miles of the Wasatch Front. Lots of loose, sharp rocks (shale) and gravel. Ebike. Magic Mary & Albert Radials. Make of this what you will.
350ish miles of the Wasatch Front. Lots of loose, sharp rocks (shale) and gravel. Ebike.
Magic Mary & Albert Radials.
Make of this what you will.
That rear wear certainly looks like you've been riding over sharpness. I never had a problem either with MM US on the front of my EMTB, rear is a different story like we've seen from many people here. I've been very happy with how well the new Eddy Current has been holding up in SoCal conditions and it performs well too. It's no TC but I have double the miles on the EC and very little wear. I think anyone on an EMTB should give the radial EC a try.
350ish miles of the Wasatch Front. Lots of loose, sharp rocks (shale) and gravel. Ebike. Magic Mary & Albert Radials. Make of this what you will.
350ish miles of the Wasatch Front. Lots of loose, sharp rocks (shale) and gravel. Ebike.
Magic Mary & Albert Radials.
Make of this what you will.
This is how Schwalbe tires die. Maxxis wouldn't fully rip off as often, but would be hanging by a thread. In my PNW experience, old-version MaxxTerrra 3C wore out well before the Schwalbe side knobs left the chat. I personally define worn out as notably worse cornering. So good job, you actually ride your bike hard. People freak out about a Schwalbe side knob tearing, but happily ride Maxxis side knobs fully undercut with no support - it's interesting psychology.
Let's see how the new MaxxTerra compound does. From reports I'm guessing I'll personally get same mileage from them as Schwalbe Soft out back.
I see the same wear pattern across my ebike & trail bike running identical compound tires, it's just massively accelerated on the ebike. The ebike's only like 10-15 lbs heavier than an enduro bike so not significant when you look at overall system weight (rider + bike). I always see more pronounced wear on one side's side knobs (right in my case) because of my cornering bias.
I've never gotten to the point of tearing Schwalbe side knobs off because the center tread leaves the chat well before that. I have gotten to that point on Conti Super Soft though, especially up front (that develops a horizontal crack at the base through the shell rubber, and then the knob loses all stability). I've got a year+ old Kryptotal Rear Enduro Soft that looks better than a month old TC Trail Soft. I still need to try the new formula MaxxTerra.
That's interesting and makes perfect sense to me. When I ride machine built jump trails, I typically want to air up from my tire pressure for...
That's interesting and makes perfect sense to me. When I ride machine built jump trails, I typically want to air up from my tire pressure for natural trails, otherwise I roll tires on berms and especially on hips where I'm turning off a lip. This effect is both slow and feels sketchy as hell, and when I pump up my tires I feel like I can pump more efficiently and put weight into the bike in more places.
Radials have less casing stability, which is their selling point but also their weakness, so I can imagine them being less stable on machine built jump trails (or any high G-force jump), worse for pumping, and potentially shedding speed.
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding...
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding in general. Especially when you can air the tire back down on a tech trail and then you get back into that radial casing feel so it almost feels like having a different tire on. It's like... Shock tuning. In that, it works in both settings for DIFFERENT reasons. Whereas with most other tires I feel there is a quite narrow range of acceptable psi. Mostly in that airing up too much makes it completely worthless for traction.
Ran Alberts front and rear for my previous bike, basically all I do is hard pack jumps so it worked a treat.
Going to throw Romys on the new bike. Just for science...
I know some people have not agreed with the narrative, but I believe radials are specifically for people who want to run high psi tires, NOT for people who want more traction out of the same psi feel in terms of general riding in a straight line, compliance, etc. I think the vast majority of industry tires have already proven to have excellent traction at the 'correct' psi.
In my experience none of them have quite displayed exceptional traction while aired above their optimal psi. The Schwalbe Radials have retained cornering ability while offering the straight line support of a higher psi. Optimal for heavier riders, or riders who love to take dogshtt lines in technical chunk (hey, those BOTH describe me!)
I feel like the hot take is radials are good for low profile tires, alberts romys and maybe something else. They may not feel great with tall knob tires where you're stacking vagueness on top of vagueness, even when you are in the absolute slop and need mud spikes. Not like I have experience, but only saying that because I THOUGHT they would be game changers for slop, and some dudes I talked to online said not really. Just made an already vague riding experience even MORE vague. And I couldn't quite disagree with their logic. Take their word for it, at least.
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️ And stuff with tall knobs like the...
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️
And stuff with tall knobs like the Mary, with the more compliant chasing feels more precise and less vague overall than the same tyre with the regular casing
On natural wet or dry, off camber, wet or dry, I find them superior to regular casing
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail bike and have some faster rolling for summer. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get the pressures nailed. So far I am leaning back to the idea that trail casing just might not be for me.
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding...
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding in general. Especially when you can air the tire back down on a tech trail and then you get back into that radial casing feel so it almost feels like having a different tire on. It's like... Shock tuning. In that, it works in both settings for DIFFERENT reasons. Whereas with most other tires I feel there is a quite narrow range of acceptable psi. Mostly in that airing up too much makes it completely worthless for traction.
Ran Alberts front and rear for my previous bike, basically all I do is hard pack jumps so it worked a treat.
Going to throw Romys on the new bike. Just for science...
I know some people have not agreed with the narrative, but I believe radials are specifically for people who want to run high psi tires, NOT for people who want more traction out of the same psi feel in terms of general riding in a straight line, compliance, etc. I think the vast majority of industry tires have already proven to have excellent traction at the 'correct' psi.
In my experience none of them have quite displayed exceptional traction while aired above their optimal psi. The Schwalbe Radials have retained cornering ability while offering the straight line support of a higher psi. Optimal for heavier riders, or riders who love to take dogshtt lines in technical chunk (hey, those BOTH describe me!)
I feel like the hot take is radials are good for low profile tires, alberts romys and maybe something else. They may not feel great with tall knob tires where you're stacking vagueness on top of vagueness, even when you are in the absolute slop and need mud spikes. Not like I have experience, but only saying that because I THOUGHT they would be game changers for slop, and some dudes I talked to online said not really. Just made an already vague riding experience even MORE vague. And I couldn't quite disagree with their logic. Take their word for it, at least.
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️ And stuff with tall knobs like the...
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️
And stuff with tall knobs like the Mary, with the more compliant chasing feels more precise and less vague overall than the same tyre with the regular casing
On natural wet or dry, off camber, wet or dry, I find them superior to regular casing
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail...
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail bike and have some faster rolling for summer. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get the pressures nailed. So far I am leaning back to the idea that trail casing just might not be for me.
If it helps, I don't find that I have to run excessively high pressures (I'm 170 lbs). For PNW summer riding I'm a few PSI above what I would run on standard casing tires (i.e. EXO+)
Tacky chan radial front (trail): 24 PSI
Romy radial rear (trail): 28 PSI
I wasn't a fan of the Albert on either end of the bike.
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️ And stuff with tall knobs like the...
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️
And stuff with tall knobs like the Mary, with the more compliant chasing feels more precise and less vague overall than the same tyre with the regular casing
On natural wet or dry, off camber, wet or dry, I find them superior to regular casing
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail...
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail bike and have some faster rolling for summer. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get the pressures nailed. So far I am leaning back to the idea that trail casing just might not be for me.
If it helps, I don't find that I have to run excessively high pressures (I'm 170 lbs). For PNW summer riding I'm a few PSI above...
If it helps, I don't find that I have to run excessively high pressures (I'm 170 lbs). For PNW summer riding I'm a few PSI above what I would run on standard casing tires (i.e. EXO+)
Tacky chan radial front (trail): 24 PSI
Romy radial rear (trail): 28 PSI
I wasn't a fan of the Albert on either end of the bike.
Word. I’m running fairly similar but pressures to you at the moment in a similar environment. I’m about 160lbs kitted. Im 25 Albert and 27 Romy right now.
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding...
What I've been doing with them is absolutely airing the shtt outta em BMX style, and for me personally it's been a game changer for riding in general. Especially when you can air the tire back down on a tech trail and then you get back into that radial casing feel so it almost feels like having a different tire on. It's like... Shock tuning. In that, it works in both settings for DIFFERENT reasons. Whereas with most other tires I feel there is a quite narrow range of acceptable psi. Mostly in that airing up too much makes it completely worthless for traction.
Ran Alberts front and rear for my previous bike, basically all I do is hard pack jumps so it worked a treat.
Going to throw Romys on the new bike. Just for science...
I know some people have not agreed with the narrative, but I believe radials are specifically for people who want to run high psi tires, NOT for people who want more traction out of the same psi feel in terms of general riding in a straight line, compliance, etc. I think the vast majority of industry tires have already proven to have excellent traction at the 'correct' psi.
In my experience none of them have quite displayed exceptional traction while aired above their optimal psi. The Schwalbe Radials have retained cornering ability while offering the straight line support of a higher psi. Optimal for heavier riders, or riders who love to take dogshtt lines in technical chunk (hey, those BOTH describe me!)
I feel like the hot take is radials are good for low profile tires, alberts romys and maybe something else. They may not feel great with tall knob tires where you're stacking vagueness on top of vagueness, even when you are in the absolute slop and need mud spikes. Not like I have experience, but only saying that because I THOUGHT they would be game changers for slop, and some dudes I talked to online said not really. Just made an already vague riding experience even MORE vague. And I couldn't quite disagree with their logic. Take their word for it, at least.
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️ And stuff with tall knobs like the...
Meh at the pressures I run my Schwalbe radials I do have exceptional traction and more than enough support 🤷🏼♂️
And stuff with tall knobs like the Mary, with the more compliant chasing feels more precise and less vague overall than the same tyre with the regular casing
On natural wet or dry, off camber, wet or dry, I find them superior to regular casing
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail...
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail bike and have some faster rolling for summer. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get the pressures nailed. So far I am leaning back to the idea that trail casing just might not be for me.
I’m 80kg rider weight with everything.
No rocks, just lots of roots and dirt
29psi rear with the Romy 2.4
22psi front with the Mary 2.5, both trail pro radial
I tried the Romy radial 2.4 front and it was noticeably more narrow than the 2.4 diagonal rear so I went back to the 2.5 albert. I'll save the radial romy for the rear in the dead of winter with maybe a supersoft tacky chan front. In Western WA so not too many rocks but my trails are mostly manmade with lots of jumps and berms, higher cornering speeds.
I see a significant bias to right-hand turns, the knob you're pulling looks nothing like the knob on the other shoulder. I favor one turning direction...
I see a significant bias to right-hand turns, the knob you're pulling looks nothing like the knob on the other shoulder. I favor one turning direction slightly because of my foot-forward preference, but I actually am not sure I've ever seen a disparity in left and right shoulder knobs like you have on both tires.
There is heavy center knob wear relative to the shoulders, and little wear on the braking edges. My father-in-law does this to his tires because he rides primarily paths on a Levo SL1 and doesn't lean aggressively on dirt or paved. I'm switching him to T5 compound specialized xc tires.
I'm not sure sure I'm right hand biased. I think its the limitations of smartphone lenses. Once upon a time I had dreams of being a professional photographer (until I realized I enjoyed having money better). The tiny lenses on smartphones are really, really bad and the shortfall is made up in software, but sharpening the corners doesn't help with close ups. I think the bottom left of the image(s) is really, really soft, so you can't see the detail on that side as well as the other side. I have 3 or 4 side lugs starting to go on the Albert, and they aren't biased to one side or the other.
Anyone else experiencing HR3s cracking at the bases of lugs? Seems to be my biggest issue with every one that I've used so far (like 5 or 6 different tires)
Romy 2.5 trail soft looks good. Not that big. Not any taller than an Albert, thats for sure. Excited to try this out in the rear paired with a Tacky Chan trail ultra soft in front.
Tacky Chan works great in the rear also, but seemed to wear out a bit quick. I think dual Tacky Chans really is a "race" setup like Schwalbe says.
Anyone else experiencing HR3s cracking at the bases of lugs? Seems to be my biggest issue with every one that I've used so far (like 5...
Anyone else experiencing HR3s cracking at the bases of lugs? Seems to be my biggest issue with every one that I've used so far (like 5 or 6 different tires)
Same here. And not just the lugs, also on the side of tire. Did not see this on DD but only on DH casing.
After others saying their Schwalbes lasted a long time I thought perhaps I got a bad batch so purchased another Romy trail 2.4 diagonal casing mid compound to try in the rear. Unfortunately it's the same issue with super fast wear. Pictured is the tire after one ride of 25 miles in Western WA with multiple side knobs already undercutting/tearing. I love the performance of the tire but this is the fastest wearing rear I think I've ever used. Back to continentals...
After others saying their Schwalbes lasted a long time I thought perhaps I got a bad batch so purchased another Romy trail 2.4 diagonal casing mid...
After others saying their Schwalbes lasted a long time I thought perhaps I got a bad batch so purchased another Romy trail 2.4 diagonal casing mid compound to try in the rear. Unfortunately it's the same issue with super fast wear. Pictured is the tire after one ride of 25 miles in Western WA with multiple side knobs already undercutting/tearing. I love the performance of the tire but this is the fastest wearing rear I think I've ever used. Back to continentals...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise...
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a...
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a...
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a...
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise...
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a bit of wear on mine, mainly on the side knobs with the long central sipe, although it still has life left. I wonder if the amount of siping causes more squirm of/or force onto the base of the knob causing the undercutting.
After mine bites the dust I think I'll put a dissector on.
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a...
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise...
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a...
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a bit of wear on mine, mainly on the side knobs with the long central sipe, although it still has life left. I wonder if the amount of siping causes more squirm of/or force onto the base of the knob causing the undercutting.
After mine bites the dust I think I'll put a dissector on.
Usually if a beam is more flexible at the far end from a rigid connection it will cause less stress at the connection.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise...
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a...
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a bit of wear on mine, mainly on the side knobs with the long central sipe, although it still has life left. I wonder if the amount of siping causes more squirm of/or force onto the base of the knob causing the undercutting.
After mine bites the dust I think I'll put a dissector on.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise...
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a...
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a bit of wear on mine, mainly on the side knobs with the long central sipe, although it still has life left. I wonder if the amount of siping causes more squirm of/or force onto the base of the knob causing the undercutting.
After mine bites the dust I think I'll put a dissector on.
Usually if a beam is more flexible at the far end from a rigid connection it will cause less stress at the connection.
I don't know whether sipes can contribute to tire wear at the base of tire knobs, but I don't think your beam example applies here.
The point of sipes on a tire knob is to generate more mechanical friction with the ground, with the goal of creating more traction and transmitting greater forces between the ground and the knob.
I think your beam example assumes that forces being applied through the knob are held constant, and so the beam that flexes at one end will apply less stress to the rigid connection compared to a beam that's inflexible (or much less flexible) at both ends.
I see a significant bias to right-hand turns, the knob you're pulling looks nothing like the knob on the other shoulder. I favor one turning direction slightly because of my foot-forward preference, but I actually am not sure I've ever seen a disparity in left and right shoulder knobs like you have on both tires.
There is heavy center knob wear relative to the shoulders, and little wear on the braking edges. My father-in-law does this to his tires because he rides primarily paths on a Levo SL1 and doesn't lean aggressively on dirt or paved. I'm switching him to T5 compound specialized xc tires.
That rear wear certainly looks like you've been riding over sharpness. I never had a problem either with MM US on the front of my EMTB, rear is a different story like we've seen from many people here. I've been very happy with how well the new Eddy Current has been holding up in SoCal conditions and it performs well too. It's no TC but I have double the miles on the EC and very little wear. I think anyone on an EMTB should give the radial EC a try.
This is how Schwalbe tires die. Maxxis wouldn't fully rip off as often, but would be hanging by a thread. In my PNW experience, old-version MaxxTerrra 3C wore out well before the Schwalbe side knobs left the chat. I personally define worn out as notably worse cornering. So good job, you actually ride your bike hard. People freak out about a Schwalbe side knob tearing, but happily ride Maxxis side knobs fully undercut with no support - it's interesting psychology.
Let's see how the new MaxxTerra compound does. From reports I'm guessing I'll personally get same mileage from them as Schwalbe Soft out back.
I see the same wear pattern across my ebike & trail bike running identical compound tires, it's just massively accelerated on the ebike. The ebike's only like 10-15 lbs heavier than an enduro bike so not significant when you look at overall system weight (rider + bike). I always see more pronounced wear on one side's side knobs (right in my case) because of my cornering bias.
I've never gotten to the point of tearing Schwalbe side knobs off because the center tread leaves the chat well before that. I have gotten to that point on Conti Super Soft though, especially up front (that develops a horizontal crack at the base through the shell rubber, and then the knob loses all stability). I've got a year+ old Kryptotal Rear Enduro Soft that looks better than a month old TC Trail Soft. I still need to try the new formula MaxxTerra.
I'm curious what pressures and casing you're running? I swapped from DH MM radials to an albert/romy trail pairing to try and lighten up my trail bike and have some faster rolling for summer. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get the pressures nailed. So far I am leaning back to the idea that trail casing just might not be for me.
If it helps, I don't find that I have to run excessively high pressures (I'm 170 lbs). For PNW summer riding I'm a few PSI above what I would run on standard casing tires (i.e. EXO+)
Tacky chan radial front (trail): 24 PSI
Romy radial rear (trail): 28 PSI
I wasn't a fan of the Albert on either end of the bike.
Word. I’m running fairly similar but pressures to you at the moment in a similar environment. I’m about 160lbs kitted. Im 25 Albert and 27 Romy right now.
I’m 80kg rider weight with everything.
No rocks, just lots of roots and dirt
29psi rear with the Romy 2.4
22psi front with the Mary 2.5, both trail pro radial
205lbs geared up.
-Albert trail radial soft front 2.5: 28 psi
-Romy trail diagonal mid rear 2.4: 28 psi
I run 24 front, 28 rear normally in non radial.
I tried the Romy radial 2.4 front and it was noticeably more narrow than the 2.4 diagonal rear so I went back to the 2.5 albert. I'll save the radial romy for the rear in the dead of winter with maybe a supersoft tacky chan front. In Western WA so not too many rocks but my trails are mostly manmade with lots of jumps and berms, higher cornering speeds.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DcB0DpWMkG-/ Last guy mentions a "semi radial" tyre in the back 🤔
I'm not sure sure I'm right hand biased. I think its the limitations of smartphone lenses. Once upon a time I had dreams of being a professional photographer (until I realized I enjoyed having money better). The tiny lenses on smartphones are really, really bad and the shortfall is made up in software, but sharpening the corners doesn't help with close ups. I think the bottom left of the image(s) is really, really soft, so you can't see the detail on that side as well as the other side. I have 3 or 4 side lugs starting to go on the Albert, and they aren't biased to one side or the other.
Anyone else experiencing HR3s cracking at the bases of lugs? Seems to be my biggest issue with every one that I've used so far (like 5 or 6 different tires)
Romy 2.5 trail soft looks good. Not that big. Not any taller than an Albert, thats for sure. Excited to try this out in the rear paired with a Tacky Chan trail ultra soft in front.
Tacky Chan works great in the rear also, but seemed to wear out a bit quick. I think dual Tacky Chans really is a "race" setup like Schwalbe says.
Same here. And not just the lugs, also on the side of tire. Did not see this on DD but only on DH casing.
After others saying their Schwalbes lasted a long time I thought perhaps I got a bad batch so purchased another Romy trail 2.4 diagonal casing mid compound to try in the rear. Unfortunately it's the same issue with super fast wear. Pictured is the tire after one ride of 25 miles in Western WA with multiple side knobs already undercutting/tearing. I love the performance of the tire but this is the fastest wearing rear I think I've ever used. Back to continentals...
Are you experiencing this on the front as well? I've been running a romy in the rear for most of the summer, no undercutting of the knobs, riding 2-3x per week. I don't find our trails particularly hard on tires, especially a firmer compound like mid.
No, Front is an Albert 2.5 soft radial that's been on since May and is showing ever so slight feathering of the side knobs but otherwise looks great. This is the third Romy (2 trail mid, 1 gravity soft) I've had on since May. Riding this bike 2-3 times a week. Every rear tire I've run before these in this area has lasted 6+ months
That's wild. Warranty it?
Finally had a chance to try out some radial tires on a Norco Sight TQ (schwalbe MM ultra soft trail/TC soft gravity). Borrowed it from a buddy that runs the shop in my hometown. I have been running MM/TC, MM/MM, ECF/TC combos for the past couple of years. No idea what the tire pressure was. First thing I noticed was how tall the radial TC knobs were compared to a diagonal version. Climbing traction was pretty wild up a service fire road that was heavily eroded and mostly made up of blast rock, you could feel the tire doing its thing. Descending was mostly dry mixed surface with alot of organic duff. The most stand out feature was the damping, made standard tires feel like overinflated basketballs. Off camber traction was noticeably better, I am not super aggressive in how I corner so I cant say I noticed a significant grip increase. I will probably get a set for my enduro bike but uncertain on a set for my trail bike.
DAMPING
would be handy to have some dampening when things get too dusty
I will take the L there, sometimes we fire a little too close to TDC.
You know, I wonder if the excessive wear has to do with the amount of siping on some of the side knobs. Starting to notice a bit of wear on mine, mainly on the side knobs with the long central sipe, although it still has life left. I wonder if the amount of siping causes more squirm of/or force onto the base of the knob causing the undercutting.
After mine bites the dust I think I'll put a dissector on.
Hill, Robot. Robot, hill. 🙂
Usually if a beam is more flexible at the far end from a rigid connection it will cause less stress at the connection.
So what would you suspect is causing premature wear?
I don't know whether sipes can contribute to tire wear at the base of tire knobs, but I don't think your beam example applies here.
The point of sipes on a tire knob is to generate more mechanical friction with the ground, with the goal of creating more traction and transmitting greater forces between the ground and the knob.
I think your beam example assumes that forces being applied through the knob are held constant, and so the beam that flexes at one end will apply less stress to the rigid connection compared to a beam that's inflexible (or much less flexible) at both ends.
Hey @schwalbai, did the revised tread pattern for the tacky chan include the diagonal version or was it just the radial casing?
Just radial so far from what I’ve seen
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