Yeah, i really like schwalbe radial stuff, been riding magic mary for years now. For me if MM had like 1mm higher shoulder knobs it would...
Yeah, i really like schwalbe radial stuff, been riding magic mary for years now. For me if MM had like 1mm higher shoulder knobs it would be absolute perfect tire for me. Right now i'm experimenting with shredda front with cut knobs. Here's my shredda:
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too...
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?
I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too aggressive for what I ride with rocks and roots, even in winter
Have been thinking about cutting it down so I'll actually use it rather than just running a rear shredda on the front again this winter, looks great in your photo
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of...
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of runs and it was quite squirmy on rocks. So i cut it down a bit more, so now i have 7mm side and 5,5mm height in knobs. The goal was tho have a magic mary with higher side knobs. It feels realy good, like on rails in soft ground and still good enough on hard pack. Note that i ride mostly natural stuf, no hard berms riding. Here is a picture on the last version:
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure if Schwable does the same?
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too...
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?
I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too aggressive for what I ride with rocks and roots, even in winter
Have been thinking about cutting it down so I'll actually use it rather than just running a rear shredda on the front again this winter, looks great in your photo
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of...
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of runs and it was quite squirmy on rocks. So i cut it down a bit more, so now i have 7mm side and 5,5mm height in knobs. The goal was tho have a magic mary with higher side knobs. It feels realy good, like on rails in soft ground and still good enough on hard pack. Note that i ride mostly natural stuf, no hard berms riding. Here is a picture on the last version:
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure...
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure if Schwable does the same?
The grip is still there, so i don't think that there is a harder compound a few mm down. You can also find a lot of pic from pros cutting dirty dan like i did on shredda.
I have run albert front, romy rear as well as romy F/R and romy R with a tacky chan F and Mary F. How much rolling...
I have run albert front, romy rear as well as romy F/R and romy R with a tacky chan F and Mary F. How much rolling resistance comes from the rear tire depends on your bike's weight distibution which varies slightly based on head tube angle, chainstay length, etc but in general 70-75% of rolling resistance comes from the rear tire per the biggest tire nerds of all (gravel and road riders who test this stuff like crazy). As for the Romy, it works well as a front but I would limit this only to shorter travel bikes. I ran the front happily on my Reya (120) but tried it on my enduro bike for fun and did not like it. The tread does clear mud a little better than the albert but with the shorter knobs doesn't penetrate as well. Pretty minimal difference in front rolling resistance between albert and romy. My preferred combos:
Short travel trail bike: Albert radial soft front, romy diagonal mid rear
Mid travel trail bike: Tacky chan soft or ultrasoft front radial, romy diagonal gravity or trail (depending on your speeds) soft rear
Enduro bike: Magic mary ultrasoft gravity or trail (depending on your preferences) front, tacky chan gravity diagonal soft rear
I only run radials on the rear of my hardtail. Don't like them for any bikes where I'm riding faster, too vague in the corners.
I'll disagree, having both now I don't see a use case where I'd pick the Albert over the Romy ever. The Romy is just a better tire everywhere. I don't think the Albert needs to exist anymore.
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too...
How much did you cut your Front Shredda down by?
I've got a Shredda Fr sat unused for a year now as it just looks way too aggressive for what I ride with rocks and roots, even in winter
Have been thinking about cutting it down so I'll actually use it rather than just running a rear shredda on the front again this winter, looks great in your photo
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of...
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of runs and it was quite squirmy on rocks. So i cut it down a bit more, so now i have 7mm side and 5,5mm height in knobs. The goal was tho have a magic mary with higher side knobs. It feels realy good, like on rails in soft ground and still good enough on hard pack. Note that i ride mostly natural stuf, no hard berms riding. Here is a picture on the last version:
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure...
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure if Schwable does the same?
Single compound on Ultrasoft! Not 100% certain on the others (Soft, Mid, Speed), but I believe they are single compound as well.
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of...
This was the first cut i did where the side kbobs were about 8mm and center knobs about 6mm in height. I did a couple of runs and it was quite squirmy on rocks. So i cut it down a bit more, so now i have 7mm side and 5,5mm height in knobs. The goal was tho have a magic mary with higher side knobs. It feels realy good, like on rails in soft ground and still good enough on hard pack. Note that i ride mostly natural stuf, no hard berms riding. Here is a picture on the last version:
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure...
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure if Schwable does the same?
@schwalbai Do you happen to have any information about the release of the new 2:2:2 pattern prototype we've been seeing?"
Sorry, i have no rumors to share. But it's Shredda season, and like others have done earlier in the thread, cutting a Shredda F down makes for a great intermediate tire.
Sorry, i have no rumors to share.But it's Shredda season, and like others have done earlier in the thread, cutting a Shredda F down makes for...
Sorry, i have no rumors to share. But it's Shredda season, and like others have done earlier in the thread, cutting a Shredda F down makes for a great intermediate tire.
Out of personal curiosity: Do you find the Mary is lacking in a specific area that a 2:2:2 tire would preform better in?
In my experience, the side knobs of the MM are relatively small and squirmy when leaned over on hardpack, compared to an Argotal or High Roller. Those 2 tires do pretty well on mixed conditions summer trails that go back and forth from blown out loose to hardpack. Also, because those tires have a small open transition zone, there's feedback to the rider when you've got the tire onto the big side knobs. In those conditions, the TC is a closer comparison, but is not ideal due to the exaggerated transition zone (notice how the sponsored athletes almost never run it up front anymore).
Out of personal curiosity: Do you find the Mary is lacking in a specific area that a 2:2:2 tire would preform better in?
I like big knobs for good braking traction on very steep dirt. But not so big that it seriously compromises the rolling resistance, like with the Shredda. Braking control on steep stuff is absurd with shreddas though.
The proto 2:2:2 tire looks like it could strike a good compromise in knob size vs rolling resistance.
Out of personal curiosity: Do you find the Mary is lacking in a specific area that a 2:2:2 tire would preform better in?
Braking traction. The Tacky has excellent braking traction but the lack of transtion knobs can be scary at times. Mud clearance could also be increased with a 2-2-2.
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front...
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
amazing stats. Curious - were any riders riding tacky's front and rear? Or new DHX?
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front...
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
amazing stats. Curious - were any riders riding tacky's front and rear? Or new DHX?
No one in the top riders I collected data from with the Tacky Chan front and rear. Greg Callaghan was on DHX front and rear. Richie was on Magic Mary front and rear. Three riders where on Schwalbe Albert front and rear in top 50.
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front...
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
Nice to see Pro's agree with me personally! :-) Without a doubt the best combo for pure speed and grip in most common conditions is MM-F / TC-R.
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front...
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front...
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race: - it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders. - Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins - Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype - The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
No, sorry. But I can surely tell that there where just a few old diagonals, probably less than 5 in the selected field. We are talking about top elite men and women here, so I expect that they're getting at least some support from a bikeshop, so running the newer stuff shouldn't be a problem
Now that we've gotten some consistently wet weather I put the trail pro radials back on (MM front/Romy rear). The Wet season really is the best use case for the trail casings. Speeds are a bit lower so tire squirm isn't as noticeable. The compliance over wet roots is noticeably better than standard casings. Still feel like molasses on jump trails though.
Now that we've gotten some consistently wet weather I put the trail pro radials back on (MM front/Romy rear). The Wet season really is the best...
Now that we've gotten some consistently wet weather I put the trail pro radials back on (MM front/Romy rear). The Wet season really is the best use case for the trail casings. Speeds are a bit lower so tire squirm isn't as noticeable. The compliance over wet roots is noticeably better than standard casings. Still feel like molasses on jump trails though.
Radials in the wet. Standard casings in the dry.
yesterday I encountered tacky light mud, but not enough to leave any ruts the mostly clay soil. when it's properly wet we don't ride locally, it's just peanut butter. albert front / romy rear both trail soft. as advertised, these do not shed mud that great, especially the albert. the soil probably matters and it was sticky. (at the end of the ride, I went up a paved climb and came down it at like 20mph, and still didn't eject a lot of the sticky mud.) if I rode in these conditions often I'd definitely need tires that clear mud better, MM front for sure, but I don't know about the eddy current vs other options in the rear.
the albert performs great at low lean angles on the dead leaves and slippery rocks, as expected. but the romy did better than I would have guessed - I don't want it on the front of this bike (170/150) but it wasn't a liability at all. schwalbe soft grip on damp roots and rocks is definitely better than conti soft, but it's still greasy packed up with mud.
I'm definitely going to use a gravity pro radial rear late spring into summer, but I'm not sure if a trail pro is enough for the front.
Nice, thanks
Looks like you also cut the bracing out between the center knobs where they have it every other row, I'll give that a go
From your trimming, do you think the schwable knobs are the same compound all the way through? Maxxis 3C uses a hard base layer, not sure if Schwable does the same?
The grip is still there, so i don't think that there is a harder compound a few mm down. You can also find a lot of pic from pros cutting dirty dan like i did on shredda.
I'll disagree, having both now I don't see a use case where I'd pick the Albert over the Romy ever. The Romy is just a better tire everywhere. I don't think the Albert needs to exist anymore.
Single compound on Ultrasoft!
Not 100% certain on the others (Soft, Mid, Speed), but I believe they are single compound as well.
@schwalbai Do you happen to have any information about the release of the new 2:2:2 pattern prototype we've been seeing?"
Sorry, i have no rumors to share.
But it's Shredda season, and like others have done earlier in the thread, cutting a Shredda F down makes for a great intermediate tire.
PLEASE release the Schwalbe 2:2:2 tire. I need it
Out of personal curiosity: Do you find the Mary is lacking in a specific area that a 2:2:2 tire would preform better in?
that prototype tire looks like someone wanted a tacky chan with better braking, thus taller unramped knobs.
In my experience, the side knobs of the MM are relatively small and squirmy when leaned over on hardpack, compared to an Argotal or High Roller. Those 2 tires do pretty well on mixed conditions summer trails that go back and forth from blown out loose to hardpack. Also, because those tires have a small open transition zone, there's feedback to the rider when you've got the tire onto the big side knobs. In those conditions, the TC is a closer comparison, but is not ideal due to the exaggerated transition zone (notice how the sponsored athletes almost never run it up front anymore).
I like big knobs for good braking traction on very steep dirt. But not so big that it seriously compromises the rolling resistance, like with the Shredda. Braking control on steep stuff is absurd with shreddas though.
The proto 2:2:2 tire looks like it could strike a good compromise in knob size vs rolling resistance.
Braking traction. The Tacky has excellent braking traction but the lack of transtion knobs can be scary at times. Mud clearance could also be increased with a 2-2-2.
So I put together some stats about tires people had at the Finale World Champs and to my surprise, the Magic Mary (radial) on the front and Tacky Chan on the rear was the most successful combination, winning in elite women, elite men, junior men and women e-edr. I say surprise because I always considered the Magic Mary a bad tire for Finale's hardpack conditions 😆. I raced in the open and ran an Albert Radial on the front paired with a Romy Diagonal on the back and they felt perfect, but now I'm very curious to try the Mary/Tacky Chan setup on harder conditions as well. Anyway, another few cool tire stats from that race:
- it was basically a two-horse race between Maxxis and Schwalbe: 26 vs 24 riders out of the 77 I identified (I did the top 50 plus something elite men, 20 elite women and podiums for juniors). Continental was a clear third with 10. After that it gets thin fast: 11 tyre brands in total, eight of them with 1 to 4 riders.
- Most common combo was actually Assegai front / Minion DHR rear with 19 riders, ahead of Mary/Tacky Chan on 16 and Kryptotal/Kryptotal on 9. The Maxxis pair got 2 medals and no win, the Schwalbe pair 4 medals and 3 wins
- Schwalbe was on 5 of the 12 medals. The rest were spread around: Maxxis 2, Specialized 2 (Butcher, on the junior silver and bronze), one Vittoria Mazza (Ellecosta), one Goodyear (Libnik won junior women on a Wrangler/Newton), and Courdurier took elite silver on an unmarked Hutchinson prototype
- The elite top 10s were mixed: the 20 riders were on 7 different tyre brands. Schwalbe 7, Maxxis 6, Vittoria 2, Continental 2, and one each for Hutchinson, Michelin and Kenda
I put more info about this on the EnduroChronicles insta page, go check it out if you're interested
amazing stats. Curious - were any riders riding tacky's front and rear? Or new DHX?
No one in the top riders I collected data from with the Tacky Chan front and rear. Greg Callaghan was on DHX front and rear. Richie was on Magic Mary front and rear. Three riders where on Schwalbe Albert front and rear in top 50.
Nice to see Pro's agree with me personally! :-) Without a doubt the best combo for pure speed and grip in most common conditions is MM-F / TC-R.
Did you count old/diagonal TC vs new/radial TC?
What did we decide on TC rear for non racers when it comes to wear rate?
No, sorry. But I can surely tell that there where just a few old diagonals, probably less than 5 in the selected field. We are talking about top elite men and women here, so I expect that they're getting at least some support from a bikeshop, so running the newer stuff shouldn't be a problem
In case someone missed it, here's a summary of the 2026 DH WC season stolen from the dark side.
Now that we've gotten some consistently wet weather I put the trail pro radials back on (MM front/Romy rear). The Wet season really is the best use case for the trail casings. Speeds are a bit lower so tire squirm isn't as noticeable. The compliance over wet roots is noticeably better than standard casings. Still feel like molasses on jump trails though.
Radials in the wet. Standard casings in the dry.
yesterday I encountered tacky light mud, but not enough to leave any ruts the mostly clay soil. when it's properly wet we don't ride locally, it's just peanut butter. albert front / romy rear both trail soft. as advertised, these do not shed mud that great, especially the albert. the soil probably matters and it was sticky. (at the end of the ride, I went up a paved climb and came down it at like 20mph, and still didn't eject a lot of the sticky mud.) if I rode in these conditions often I'd definitely need tires that clear mud better, MM front for sure, but I don't know about the eddy current vs other options in the rear.
the albert performs great at low lean angles on the dead leaves and slippery rocks, as expected. but the romy did better than I would have guessed - I don't want it on the front of this bike (170/150) but it wasn't a liability at all. schwalbe soft grip on damp roots and rocks is definitely better than conti soft, but it's still greasy packed up with mud.
I'm definitely going to use a gravity pro radial rear late spring into summer, but I'm not sure if a trail pro is enough for the front.
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