Schwalbe users – which back tyre to go with a Magic Mary?

As a vague tangent, I was listening to a Pink Bike podcast the other day where someone reckoned – which is what I’ve always thought – that Schwalbe’s rubber compounds have never been as outright grippy as other brands’ ones, most notably Maxxis, but that the radial construction adds enough extra conformity to the ground that it was no longer an issue.

Even more tangentially, I reckon the remorseless downhillification of ‘trail’ tyres is what will eventually lead to the complete e-bikeification of mountain biking. We’ll reach a point where ‘standard’ tyres will be so draggy that only elite level athletes will be capable of moving their downhill spec, Hyper Tacky rear rubber under their own power.

Anyway, Rock Razor if you can find one 🙂

Northwind I can’t wait for the next chapter 🙂
Hey, when did emojis start working again.

I’m running a Hans Dampf on the rear which is a decent all rounder, I have a Rock Razor which is for dry weather only but can be a laugh in slop but don’t expect to stay upright for long.

Ive just fitted a radial albert trail soft to the rear of my trail bike to accompany the radial mary trail ultra soft on the front which i was mightily impressed with. Will report back on how it handles conditions over next few weeks.

Ive alao just got a DD HR3 for the feont of the enduro bike so will be an interesting comparison.

Interesting indeedy…pulls up a chair and biscuits….

Used to run a MM / RR on the hard tail, which was an amusing combo.

Always found the Hans Dampf a bit meh, and the side nobs came off too easy (though may have been fixed since). Also found it harder to slot into the casing sweet spot (essentially a Maxxis Double Down casing) for a rear tyre with Schwalbe.

Currently have MM front and Kryptotal back, which seems pretty much bob on. DHR2 DD has also been pretty decent. I’m not so bothered about rolling speed or weight though, as all my riding is very up/very down.

I will never understand the love for Hans dampf.

I thought it was quite widely hated?

I was actually back on a rear one on my mullet bike in the summer and autumn, since it was £17 – and it was quite adequate for my needs, if a bit sketchy on steep stuff, lacking in edge grip on off cambers and not as fast rolling as you’d hope 😀

Thats why it was £17

Yep, I knew what I was getting into.

Hans Dampf gets a lot of hate, it’s really not that bad a rear tyre, if it’s cheap enough..

I’ve paid more for worse tyres. Yes at rrp I’d probably not bother, but if a bike came with one fitted I’d not change until it was worn.

I mostly run a Hans Dampf because it was the cheapest super gravity tyre I could find and it does a reasonable job (the V2 version is a big improvement on the V1). I could go for a more grippy tyre but I don’t want too much drag. I think a Tacky Chan would work well but they’re not cheap as they’re too new.

MM front, Nobby Nic rear on both bikes, with inserts (because I love the MM’s and I won the Nobby Nics!). I find the NNs easily get damaged on rocks and a bit draggy. Fancy a change on the rear next time

I had a Hans Dampf super gravity that came fitted to a new bike. I didn’t realise they had a reputation so I just rode it everywhere and shock horror, it was fine. A week in Málaga finished it off though.

It certainly rolled a hell of a lot faster than the Kryptotal I have now.