After two rides cracks have appeared behind the side knobs on my new front tyre. It’s a trail star compound Hans Dampf.

I heard the life expectancy of Schwalbe tyres is less than most but this is most concerning!

I heard the life expectancy of Schwalbe tyres is less than most

I’ve not heard that. Mine have been great. Is it an OEM tyre?

3 of my mates did the same, and I’m hearing about more all the time, they sent them back and got differant tyres

I’ve got one on the rear, I put it on brand new before I went out to les arc for a week, after one day it looked bad now just over a month in it looks like I’ve put it through hell and back, most of the nobs are hanging on by a thread. I’m pretty sure my first set I had a year or so ago didn’t do it.

It’s not an OEM one, it’s an EVO one with Trail Star compound.

Exactly the same experience, with an HD on the back, the tyre is wrecked in about 6-8 weeks. It’s lasted about half the time of a Maxxis in my experience, yet doesn’t offer twice the grip.

The Magic Mary on the front is really odd, the side knobs are starting to tear, yet the centres are near unworn.

I’ve got two spare I’ll be using up, then going back to Maxxis.

Seen a few reports about folks returning to importer and getting them replaced, worth a try, if even just to punt them on.

Mine lasted reasonably well…but as the tears got worse they were horrible to ride. A day at BPW finished my rear one off. Tyres seem to last me reasonably well though.

I like the and will be putting another one on the rear once it gets too wet for the Rock Razor.

Personally I cant see past Hans Dampfs but I have had the same problem but with the pacestar on the rear , I dont suppose running them at around 20psi helps but that my preferred pressure, I reckon I change the rear twice a year,I try and wait until Bike discount has the offer on and but the pair for around £60 😕

yeah happened to a pair i had.

Same happening with mine but they’re a good 6 months old and the nobbles haven’t come off.

thats what happens though with such compound tyres. i remmeber using intense tyres in chamonix and throwing them away after the weekend!

😀 for a bit of balance i have run a fair few Hans Damph and so do all my mates and we have never had this problem. I put a brand new Magic Mary on a few weeks back before an Alps trip and after the first day there wee tiny cracks along the outer nobbles but after 26,000m of descending they still look exactly the same as after that first run.

Im not too sure if there are bad batches out there or not but ill keep running them for a bit longer.

Just replaced a Racing Ralph – 6 weeks old – Schwalbe cost too much – before I ran a set of Geax at half the price and they were just as good and lasted better …

Sounds like a established issue.

Is it just the softer Trail Star compound ones this affects? I suppose the Vert Star would be even more susceptible to this.

Good tyre had them a while. But they tend to need changing before they look worn. As in tears appear under the side knobs. I actually ripped of a side knobble in a fast turn leaving a big whole in the tyre.

I also use HDs and have not had a problem with them, neither have the numerous mates who run them. Mine lasted 6 months of riding all weathers at least 3 times a week.

I´ve had this happen to my Magic Mary´s, both sides, and also the Rock Razor´s on one side (my best cornering side). I was concerned but they lasted loads and loads past that point. The cracking got worse but didn´t rip off. Like Mac says above, the cracks appear but don´t seem to get worse quickly.

Fantastic tyres. I´m a total convert.

What do expect with such soft compounds?

Pace star doesn’t do this.

What do expect with such soft compounds?

I don’t expect the knobs of any tyre to start to tear off after two rides.

had the same with 3c high rollers!

No issues with mine either. Maybe some had bad batches or your having too much of a good time.

The Pacestar on the back is holding up fine, just this Trailstar one on the front which hasn’t. Spoke to people I ride with today and theirs have done the same, just after more use.

I have the exact issue with the tread falling off my HD on the rear (trail star compound); are we saying this isn’t an issue with a pacestar? I have the same tyre on the front and the wear is a lot less pronounced. Is there a better 650b choice for a rear tyre currently? Oh, and with winter around the corner do Continental do something similar to the baron for 650?

Both of mine did the same in no time at all.

Soft compound of the trailstar… You can’t have it always… Mine has done the same on the front after a week riding Torridon… Rear pacestar is fine though.

Anyone know what durometer is for them? Must be 40a at least

Pacestar rear, trailstar front is what I heard- TRailstar rear don’t last long. The front wears a fair bit faster than a chili Trailking – but lasts ok (although not on alp style scree and rock!)

If it’s not separating from the carcas in general — Front may look a bit of a mess quite quick but works well till the ‘sipes’ or plenty of the knobs are gone..

2.2 protection BC trailking is a good partner outback if your happy with the rolling on the HD – tread is very durable – sidewalls not quite as tough though

Trailstar on rock do that: Dampfs, Marys. I personally don’t cherish the grip-slip feel of the weakened side knobs rolling over. I find that Pacestar Dampfs perfectly grippy up front and they don’t erode the same way.

I’ve had a trailstar on the front for the last 6 month’s now (riding 2-3 times a week) and have just started to notice some small cracks on the bottom of the sideknobs, although they still seem to ride ok.

I wouldn’t want a pacestar compound on the front for anything other than bone dry conditions.

They must have changed something then. I’ve been running HD on the front and NN on the rear for nearly 2 years now. Both are evo trail stars and have worn well considering the rough sandstone terrain I often run on. The NN has worn right down so will be ditched over the next few weeks but the HD is looking pretty good. The NN on the rear did start to crack early on but they stayed intact and seem to have lasted well I think. I might stick an HD on the rear this time.

I can only speak about hans dampf on the rear and my general opinion is they are not the best option out there. I managed to rip all the centre knobs off one in a weekend, effectively turning it into a semi-slick. Also they tend to lose grip in spectacular fashion at a certain amount of lean. Maxxis minion or Michelin wild grip’r are much better for grip and life time.

My rear HD Pacestar lasted about a year before it started to look a bit shabby, and that is with me panic braking on rocks and running low pressures, even though I’m not the smallest bloke. Sound for me. Just replaced it.

Front Trailstar is worn, but fine, and has stayed on.

Mine lasted the best part of a year – the tred was still attached but had become really squirmy. I thought that as I’d run a trail star front / pace star rear, they’d lasted pretty well.

What I found though was that they were fine for a while and then just stopped being good. The tred didn’t look too bad until you looked at it closely and saw the tears.

The Rock Razor / Magic Mary on my bike at the mo have worn well too. I’ll admit though that I’m not super hard on tyres…even when I went to the Alps my Super Tacky’s didn’t get too destroyed.

The Hutch Toros on my old Rockrider did this, didn’t get any worse though and didn’t lose any knobs.

I also had a set of Conti GP4000s on my road bike that cracked, I tweeted a pic to conti and they said to send them back and they’d replace them.

Anyone know what durometer is for them? Must be 40a at least

The vertstar maybe, but the trailstar is 60/62 ish

Just my two cents but HDs are shit anyway.

Oh and to use them in places like the peaks you have to run a million PSI or they just pinch every two seconds.

Just my two cents but HDs are shit anyway.

Oh and to use them in places like the peaks you have to run a million PSI or they just pinch every two seconds.

Learn to bend your legs?

I never had a pinch in a year of using them which included plenty of Peaks riding plus Hebden and nights up at the local DH runs. I run 20 – 25psi in my tyres and have no issues.