Schwalbe Tacky Chan review

The Schwalbe Tacky Chan has a surprise up its sleeve: it’s less draggy and tiring on autumn-winter trail-enduro rides of decent length.

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By ben_haworth

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https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/schwalbe-tacky-chan-review/

I laughed out loud when they reveiled the name, I love it.

The name is weirdly quite problematic inasmuch as you’ve got to actually pedal around with it blazoned on the side of the tire :-/

Tacky “anything” is going to be hard to spin in Schwalbe’s normal namescheme, notwithstanding it’s desirability in terms of tire properties. Tacky Terry, anyone?

IDK why they didn’t do the obvious and go with something like “Audacious Amaury”.

Ive been running these a while now and I would say they’re a fast dry/middling conditions tyre thats really surprisingly good in the mud, as opposed to a mud tyre thats fast, but either way, a really good all round tyre. My new favourite for most conditions.

I’m running Trail soft rear, trail Ultra soft front FWIW.

I might want these. My trail bike has to cover some ground and it’s a chore with my current Maxxis jobs.

are folks running these on the front or rear?

Is it a Magic Mary alternative? Or a Hans Dampf/Big Better alternative?

From my experience:

Its faster than a mary on the front, less mud grip, more dry grip.
Its faster than a rear betty, less braking and climbing grip, better cornering.

So if you want max wet grip I would still go MM Fr, BB Rr, but if you want more speed in more conditions, TC Rr with either TC Fr or MM Fr.

Hans Dampfs are never great at everything.

Interested in these, was the tyre only used as a front for the review?

Not available in sub-DH casings yet

I see Merlin have them in stock in Super Downhill, Super Gravity and Super Trail though Super Trail in soft not ultra soft.

Edit: Thanks Ben, that answers my questions. Merlin also have some Hans Dampfs super cheap but I just know they are a false economy.

I bought my Trail soft/Ultra combo from a regular supplier so they’re out there.

benpinnick

From my experience:

Its faster than a mary on the front, less mud grip, more dry grip.
Its faster than a rear betty, less braking and climbing grip, better cornering.

So if you want max wet grip I would still go MM Fr, BB Rr, but if you want more speed in more conditions, TC Rr with either TC Fr or MM Fr.

That make a lot more sense, Ben’s review describes the Mary as more of a summer tyre than the TC, but that’s a much more aggressive tread, according to Schwalbe the Tacky Chan started life as a cut-down Betty so would never expect it to be as grippy as a Mary.

I actually have a 29*2.4 Trail ultra soft I used for photos if anyone wants it – never been outside 🙂 #stealthad

I’d like to try one, but my front tyre line-up is pretty stacked as it is with the Hillbilly, Verdict, Vigilante, Butcher, Wild Enduro, Minion DHF and others all doing sterling work in various conditions.

Most of those roll fine, but I tend to go for a lighter carcass with insert. It’s a stiff carcass that can make a tyre feel super-draggy IMO.

@benpinnick I may take that off your hands if it hasn’t been snapped up already

When will they launch the Sticky Vicky ?

@whatgoesup – beat me to it, although I was thinking “Sticky Sue.”

I’m thinking devash has never been to Benidorm

[benpinnick]

benpinnick

Full Member

Ive been running these a while now and I would say they’re a fast dry/middling conditions tyre thats really surprisingly good in the mud, as opposed to a mud tyre thats fast, but either way, a really good all round tyre. My new favourite for most conditions.

I’m running Trail soft rear, trail Ultra soft front FWIW.

benpinnick has it…

Those of you wanting to purchase a Tacky Chan off the back of Benji’s review might be a bit misled. It’s a fantastic tyre for sure, but it came about as a result of the Commencal/Muc-Off team predominantly wanting a “faster Mary”… That was the main design brief initially. Along the way, various prototypes were built and tested, and this is the tyre they ended up with…

All of the marketing for the tyre so far has been based upon its DH pace… But trust me when I say, it’s a fantastic UK trail tyre in the lighter casing versions (which are out there with distributors and shops, just not in vast qty’s yet). Yes, it behaves differently to a Mary at the extremes of conditions (it’s not as predictable as a Mary when it’s really muddy/sloppy, but it’s more predictable than a Mary over firm ground and hardpack/rock), but there’s a lot of crossover too where if you were running a Tacky Chan in place of a Magic Mary, most of the time you wouldn’t notice the difference except in rolling speed… The Tacky Chan is considerably faster rolling than a Mary! REALLY noticeable in fact…

are folks running these on the front or rear?

Is it a Magic Mary alternative? Or a Hans Dampf/Big Better alternative?

You can run either end… Or both… Depending on what you want to achieve.

I’d suggest as benpinnick has done above, a soft compound rear and an ultra soft front will make a good all round UK trail combo with the softer compound up front… Alternatively, as Amaury Pierron typically does, you could run a Magic Mary up front for that ultra predictable front end right into the slipperiest conditions with a Tacky Chan on the rear for quite a bit more speed and a minimal loss in grip… Or you could run one on the front of your trail/xc/downcountry/whatever the latest marketing term for just riding trails in your local woods is bike, in combination with say a Nobby Nic or even a Wicked Will on the rear, for that business up front party out the back type setup.

From my experience:

Its faster than a mary on the front, less mud grip, more dry grip.<br style=”box-sizing: border-box; –tw-translate-x: 0; –tw-translate-y: 0; –tw-rotate: 0; –tw-skew-x: 0; –tw-skew-y: 0; –tw-scale-x: 1; –tw-scale-y: 1; –tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; –tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; –tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; –tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); –tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000;” />Its faster than a rear betty, less braking and climbing grip, better cornering.

So if you want max wet grip I would still go MM Fr, BB Rr, but if you want more speed in more conditions, TC Rr with either TC Fr or MM Fr.

Hans Dampfs are never great at everything.

Again spot on… Though I will caveat that better riders than you or I have won EWS races with Hans Dampf’s F&R in the past!!!

Ive been running these a while now and I would say they’re a fast dry/middling conditions tyre thats really surprisingly good in the mud, as opposed to a mud tyre thats fast, but either way, a really good all round tyre. My new favourite for most conditions.

I’m running Trail soft rear, trail Ultra soft front FWIW.

How does it compare in terms of speed to my tyres which are (looks up on web…)

Front Tyre: Maxxis Assegai, 29”x2.5 WT 3C MaxxTerra/EXO+/TR

Rear Tyre: Maxxis Dissector, 29”x2.4 WT 3C MaxxTerra/EXO+/TR

@molgrips no personal experience but I think Pinkbike’s review may cover that for you

Looks very much to me like a DHF outer tread, and close to Dissector inner tread with a few Assegai mid blocks.    As I have a DHF already I won’t bother spending £75 to replace it, but its an option when the DHF is done for, even perhaps as a pair.

I described them to someone like dissectors on steroids. They roll like a dissector, but have way more grip as it gets wetter. Assegai is more like a Mary, reliable grip but rolling speed is sacrificed (alot in the case of the Assegai maxx grip!)

I demo’d the forthcoming Aeris AM at Hamsterley the other week (so @benpinnick ‘s bike at a guess), running the Tacky Chan. Coming from Maxxis DHF 2.5 MaxxGrip up front, and a Dissector MaxxTerra out back, these tyres zipped along at an unbelievable pace. They felt quite firm (compared to the Maxxis, I’ve no personal experience of the MM/BB etc), but also really pinned and direct on trail/hardpack surfaces, berms etc.

I only had very limited experience in the mud, I tried a couple of steep off-piste lines but these were above my talent-level in terms of sketchy greasy roots so can’t really comment on their ability in the mud.

@benpinnick Thanks for the review.

If one was looking to pinch a Magic Mary off the front of his Forge hardtail (trail centres, long/xc style days out and full-suss deputising duties) and transplant it onto an Aether 9 (enduro/off-piste/rougher stuff), a Tacky Chan might make for a really quite nice replacement by the sounds of it?

Maybe there’s something about that yawning chasm between the centre tread and the shoulder knobs that helps reduce drag?

This on the DHF makes it drifty when not leant over. Is this not drifty, seeing as nobody mentioned it?

Coming from Maxxis DHF 2.5 MaxxGrip up front, and a Dissector MaxxTerra out back, these tyres zipped along at an unbelievable pace.

That’s a fast pair of tyres anyway.

I suspect the bike you were demo-ing was quicker than yours?

This on the DHF makes it drifty when not leant over. Is this not drifty, seeing as nobody mentioned it?

Every 5th set of centre knobs is suitably wider, filling some of the void…

The problem if you don’t have enough of a void is that it can make it difficult to engage the side knobs, so the tyre feels like it doesn’t have enough edge bite. The problem with too much of a void is that “will it, won’t it” corridor of uncertainty experience where the tyre drifts off centre until leant over enough to find the edge bite.

It works well for me. Possibly not quite the 100% level of predictability on the front as with a Mary in typical UK conditions, but the trade off is more rolling speed…

When will they launch the Sticky Vicky ?

Or the Stuck Norris perhaps?

What bike for Trackie Stans?

I described them to someone like dissectors on steroids. They roll like a dissector, but have way more grip as it gets wetter.

Anyone thoughts on these vs Conti Xynotal as a better Dissector for the rear?

About to put a Kryptotal Re on for the winter, but I’ll need something for next spring-autumn.

I’ve been running a super trail ultra soft tacky Chan for a while now on the front and as above it’s really really good.  Incredible amounts of grip so far on the trails and it rolls so fast. 

coming from a conti argotal I’m not sure it’ll be quite so good in proper winter conditions but is better at everything so far. 

Looks pretty ace- anyone compared it with the Conti Argotal yet? They don’t quite seem for the same job but the Argotal is “mud tyre but randomly fast and good at hardpack” so maybe some overlap.

(for me the argotal enduro/soft’s made a lot of tyres pointless, it’s totally my one to beat now)

benpinnick
Full Member

I described them to someone like dissectors on steroids. They roll like a dissector, but have way more grip as it gets wetter.

Do they have better slidey manners than the dissectors? Really liked mine til it broke traction but then it was like an old DHR, just all over the place.

Those are my first “trail” tyres and I can’t believe what you lot consider quick. They’re pigs, but then, I’m used to XC tyres.

That will be the Assegai @molgrips. That’s a slow roller for sure.

Good to know. Perhaps I’ll bin that first as at £75 a pop I may only be able to afford one…

Do they have better slidey manners than the dissectors? Really liked mine til it broke traction but then it was like an old DHR, just all over the place.

Much better. And they grip roots/rocks really well due to the Ultra Soft (but not especially slow) front.

Awesome, thanks Ben! Will definitely give one of these a try at some point.

@molgrips, we’re just coming into the season where Assegais are probably at their best- they’re at the wet end of the allrounder thing so a mix of hard trails but also chopped up mud might make you appreciate them more, up til now it’ll have been mostly just wasted energy.

(IMO they’re just not that good, not in maxxterra anyway. Just a kind of cursed mix, you’ve got not especially grippy rubber, but wet-oriented tread, which could be pretty much designed to make you shit your pants on wet greasy rock. And also cloggier in the wrong mud than either a spike or a dhr2. So you give up quite a lot of true allrounderness, and what you gain is more wet grip but untrustworthy. I reckon a lot of the sales are dependent on the name on the side)

I have little confidence in my Assegai.  The first time I rode that bike I laid it over into a rooty 90 degree corner as I was used to doing on my Patriot with Hans Dampf and it wiped out instantly and I almost died. From then on I felt very nervous and unstable on it.