Schwalbe’s Radial tires have exploded in popularity since their release last year, and for good reason. The redesigned casing offers increased grip and decreased rolling resistance, so it’s no surprise that riders are trying to get some Radial tires of their own. The only remaining question is which Radial tires to get? There are tons of combinations of tread patterns, casing thickness, and rubber stickiness to choose from, and we’ll be breaking down exactly which tires we recommend for you and your riding environment to maximize your grip.
With all the meticulous engineering that goes into your rear suspension design, or the incredibly powerful brakes and metallic pads you just installed, it’s easy to forget that your bike’s interaction with the trail is limited to the relatively small contact patch of your tires on the dirt. All of the tricks you have to increase your cornering grip or maximize stopping power while hurtling at break neck speeds between tight trees and pointy rocks are constrained by a bottleneck that is smaller than your footprint. Tire companies are aiming to be as efficient as possible with that tiny footprint, maximizing the grip provided by each knob during its short meeting with your double black dance partner.
Schwalbe claims that their new Radial construction is the most efficient use of that contact patch yet, and you can read all the details about it in our deep dive article. We only briefly touched on spec options in that article, and now we’re going off the deep end into every spec option you can choose from when shopping for your own set of Schwalbe Radial tires.
Like with just about all mountain bike tires, deciding on the brand of tire you’re going with is only the first step in figuring out which tire is going to work best for you. The four variables you need to consider are width, rubber compound, casing thickness, and tread pattern. Each of these choices will influence exactly how the tire performs when those knobs are called upon to keep your rubber side down, and we’ll go over all of your options to make sure you’re making the right choice.
The hot patch tells all
Tread Patterns
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For now, Schwalbe is offering a rather limited selection of tread patterns in the Radial construction, and you have four tread patterns to choose between. Those are the Albert, Magic Mary, Shredda Front, and Shredda Rear. If you’ve been a long time Schwalbe enthusiast, then the Magic Mary is an old friend that needs no introduction, but the other three options were introduced into Schwalbe’s lineup as fresh faces last year. Each tread pattern has its strengths and weaknesses, prioritizing certain conditions and terrain, allowing you to tune your tire choice to your personal riding scenario.
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Magic Mary
Twelve years ago, Schwalbe introduced the Magic Mary at the start of the 2013 Downhill World Cup Season, and it was Stevie Smith’s tire of choice when he took the overall that year. Even now, all these years later, the tread pattern has remained one of the most well rounded and ubiquitous tires for enduro and downhill riders in variable conditions. The Magic Mary’s tall knobs have ample space between them to penetrate loose soil and clear mud very effectively, making it a staple choice for riders in the wet season. It’s also a great choice if you’re riding in deep dust during the summer time, making it a tire you could potentially ride all year round.
 The 2013 Magic Mary |
 12 years later. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! |
Taking a closer look at the knobs, the center knobs use a 2-2-2-3 pattern, sporting the occasional transition knob to increase predictability while leaning over to the side knobs. Those center knobs have ramped fronts to improve rolling resistance and squared off backsides to help with braking performance. Each side knob is well supported, giving the Magic Mary a strong feeling when it’s leaned over and those side knobs are fully engaged. While not as tall as knobs you’d find on a dedicated mud tire, the Magic Mary has relatively tall knobs that make it one of the most well rounded and versatile tires that is a good choice no matter the season.
Schwalbe designed the Magic Mary as a front tire primarily, but it’s well suited as either a front or rear tire. That transition knob gives it the predictability lots of riders expect from a front tire, and the tall flat braking surfaces give it the anchor-like braking capability that riders expect from a rear tire. So if you’ve got the same size wheels front and rear, you could simplify your whole tire setup and use the same tires front and rear year round.
While the Magic Mary is a versatile tire that’s completely out of place, its weak spot is hardpack, bermed out trails like you’d find at a well loved bike park. Those taller knobs can get squirmy when the pace is high and the dirt is hard, giving some vagueness that can be unnerving at best. My dream riding scenario for the Magic Mary is fall, winter, and spring in the Pacific Northwest, riding the variable conditions ranging from slightly drier than hero dirt to completely soaking wet. Everything within that range is the Magic Mary’s strong suit, and only occasionally falters during A Line laps in the summer.
Albert
With significantly less history than the Magic Mary, the Albert is a brand new name in the Schwalbe lineup. While it’s lacking the alliteration Schwalbe has become synonymous with, the Albert has quickly established itself as a favorite of enduro riders with its fast rolling speed and highly predictable grip characteristics. Not many Downhill World Cup athletes have taken this tire to the start line, but Enduro racers have been putting this tire to work. Since its release last year, many Schwalbe athletes have relied on the Albert in the variety of conditions you can expect to find in an enduro race.
Looking at the tread pattern, the Albert has a 2-3-2-3 center knob distribution, with more frequent transition knobs than the Magic Mary. Those center knobs are also a bit shorter and more tightly packed than the Magic Mary. Each knob is siped, meaning there’s a slit through the center of each knob, allowing it to easily conform to whatever you run into out there. With steep ramping on the front and shallow ramping on the back of every knob, this tire is built to minimize rolling resistance and maximize consistency in its preferred conditions.
With shorter knobs and less space between each knob, the Schwalbe Albert excels on hardpack trails where the speeds are high and your knobs don’t have a chance to dig into the terrain. Shorter knobs are less susceptible to squirming when the speeds pick up and you’re hitting fighter pilot levels of G-force in the corners. Tightly packed knobs are also going to get more rubber on the road in those scenarios, giving you maximum confidence on hard pack trails you’ll commonly find in dry places like Colorado or California.
But if the skies open up and the trails turn soft, then those tightly packed knobs won’t shed mud nearly as effectively as the Magic Mary or another tire with some more space between each little rubber tower. Those knobs also aren’t quite tall enough to get effective purchase in any soft soil they find themselves in, and can quickly get overwhelmed if you take it out of those dry conditions.
With predictability in spades, the Albert is a fantastic front tire on a trail or enduro bike, but is also a great option for a relatively fast rolling rear tire with great cornering characteristics. An Albert on the rear paired with a Magic Mary on the front is a great combination that is well rounded and slightly faster rolling than a dual Magic Mary setup. My only concern is the braking characteristics of the Albert, and while it doesn't have quite the same bite as a Tacky Chan or a Maxxis DHR, it'll certainly get the job done.
Shredda Front/Rear
Two new tires that were introduced last year are the Shredda Front and the Shredda Rear. These two tires have quickly gained a reputation of being the meatiest rubber you can get your hands on. You’d be forgiven if you thought these got pulled off a dirt bike and modified to fit on our relatively skimpy mountain bike wheels. With the tallest knobs we’ve seen so far, the Shredda Front and Shredda Rear are both designed to dig into loose dirt, and are going to have quite a lot of rolling resistance when pedaling. These two tires are purpose built for grim conditions where grip isn’t readily available, and you have to go digging in the dirt to generate it. While neither are advertised as “mud” tires like the Dirty Dan, their use case isn’t all that different.
 Shredda Front. Take me to your loamer |
 Shredda Rear. More reasonable, but still slightly unreasonable. |
Up front, the Shredda Front has a 2-2 knob pattern, with siping in each knob and lots of space between each knob. Each side knob has a similar siping design to the Albert, albeit with a lot more rubber behind them. The Shredda Front is not shy about its intentions, and will do everything possible to find grip on those sopping wet days, at the expense of rolling speed. If you’re pedaling all day and trying to cover some serious miles, there are lots of tires that will better serve you, but if you find yourself at the start of a Downhill race right as the storm cycle hits, there’s no front tire you’d rather be looking down at.
In back, the Shredda rear has a 2-2-3 pattern, and a wide braking surface to shut things down at a moments notice. A shared feature between the two Shreddas is the side knob design, but the Shredda Rear has wider gaps between each side knob. While the Shredda Rear knobs lack the same prominence of the Shredda Front, they’re still taller than the Magic Mary knobs, and while they won’t roll fast, the Shredda Rear is your grippiest rear tire option through a PNW winter.
Where the Shreddas falter is in anything but those loose conditions. Taller knobs are prone to buckling and squirming when pressed hard into packed dirt, and they do not inspire confidence during a summer time bike park day. I would strongly recommend running the Shredda pair on an ebike in the winter months, where you’re less stressed about the rolling efficiency and only concerned about gripping up in loose corners on the way down.
Potential Future Schwalbe Radial Tread Patterns
With only four options to choose from, you’d be right in thinking that your choices are quite limited when shopping for Radial tires. But if you take a look at some forums, you’d find that Schwalbe sponsored riders have been putting in some time on Radial tires that are not yet released, and we might get a chance to get those sometime in the future. There’s no guarantee that these will become production tires, but it’s the best lead we have, so let’s take a look at what’s been spotted out there.
Dirty Dan
We already mentioned the Dirty Dan earlier, and it looks like some World Cup Downhill riders have been riding a Dirty Dan that’s gotten a Radial construction. We saw this tire make an appearance at this year’s DH World Champs, where the unrelenting steeps of Champery were treated to an absolute deluge before practice. The Dirty Dan is a dedicated mud tire, and the Radial Dirty Dan was the tire of choice for all the Schwalbe riders clawing for grip on the way down the hill. Schwalbe’s Dirty Dan typically only gets used at Downhill races when the weather doesn’t cooperate, and I expect that to be the case with the Radial Dirty Dan as well.
One cut and one uncut Dirty Dan. Plus something else lurking behind them...
Both the Shredda Front and Dirty Dan have a similar 2-2 knob pattern with incredibly tall spikes, and the biggest difference is a little extra side knob on the Dirty Dan. It’s definitely the lowest hanging side knob I’ve seen on a tire from any brand, and it could save your life if your front end starts to tuck and this tiny little knob is the last line of defence before you start breakdancing on the trail. It looks like the Dirty Dan is slightly more aggressive than the Shredda Front, but they certainly have a similar use case, and I foresee some overlap between the intended use of these two tires. A saturated and steep track is just the ticket for the Dirty Dan.
Tacky Chan
A few years ago, Schwalbe introduced the Tacky Chan, and it’s quickly become a staple rear tire among enduro and downhill riders around the world. It’s a lower profile option with a similar tread pattern to the original Maxxis Dissector, and is popular for its fast rolling yet impressive braking characteristics. Some World Cup riders have been spotted on what appears to be a Radial Tacky Chan, which means that may trickle our way one day. The siped center knobs follow a 2-2-2-2 pattern with variable spacing between the center knobs to give better support when transitioning over to the side knobs, making it a viable option for both front and rear tires alike.
Like any good spy shot, you'll need to cast your gaze to the out of focus background
Most riders opt to run the Tacky Chan in dry conditions, where the tire doesn’t need to penetrate ground, and instead gets its traction by scratching the surface. This tire can definitely get overwhelmed in wet conditions, and won’t clear mud nearly as well as a Magic Mary or a Shredda. I would recommend pairing a Tacky Chan in the rear along with an Albert on the front for trail bike riding all summer long. You’d be ready for big pedal days, bike park days, and everything in between.
Rick Race
While cross country riding isn’t our bread and butter here at The Lost Co, the Rick Race has been spotted in a Radial construction at the Cross Country World Cup races this year. Now this is a fast rolling tire, and if you’re trying to go around a cross country course in a record amount of time, this is probably the exact tire you should be looking for. Again, we don’t know if this tire will ever be available to the public, but there’s certainly a chance that cross country racers could get the same Radial experience us enduro and downhill riders have been enjoying for the past year.
UFO - Unnamed Fast Object
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Perhaps the most exciting potential new Radial Schwalbe tire is this new aggressive tread pattern that was recently spotted on the World Cup circuit. It has some very simple but large knobs going down the center in a repeating 2-2 pattern, and it’s a completely new tread that we haven’t seen before. This is pure speculation here, but it looks like an intermediate tire that could work well in both hardpack and loose conditions. Those center knobs are tall yet wide, which seems like they could strike a balance of finding traction in loose conditions but also holding up to the G-Forces you’ll experience on hardpack trails. While some tires have incredibly complex knob shapes and layouts, this one is as simple as it gets, with uniform square knobs all the way down the tread. It’s definitely reminiscent of a Maxxis Highroller or a Continental Argotal, which have been popular options for downhill and enduro racing in mixed conditions. |
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Rubber Compounds
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Next up, we’ll look at the rubber that makes up each of those knobs we talked about. Rubber compound has a huge effect on a tire’s performance as well as its longevity, and Schwalbe currently only offers two rubber compounds for their Radial tires. Because all Radial tires are currently gravity oriented, so are the rubber compounds, with only Schwalbe’s two softest rubber compounds being available at this time. You get to choose between their Addix Soft and Addix Ultra Soft, and their names are pretty apt descriptors of their ride characteristics. Addix Soft rubber is denoted with an orange stripe just off the center of the tread, while Addix Ultra Soft dons a purple stripe. Aside from that stripe, they look identical to the naked eye, but the Ultra Soft rubber is unsurprisingly a softer compound than the Soft rubber. The Ultra Soft rubber will offer more grip than the Soft rubber at the expense of increased rolling resistance and wearing more quickly. More grip is almost always a good thing, so if you’re after the most secure connection between your bike and the earth, you should opt for the Addix Ultra Soft compound. A common choice with rubber compounds is opting for an Ultra Soft tire in the front, paired with a Soft tire in the rear. Ultimately, we’re more worried about running out of grip in the front than the rear, so opting for the softer rubber up front gives peace of mind on those flat turns where your front tire can disappear in an instant. Since the rear tire gets subjected to more skidding and wear, a harder rubber can prolong the life of the tire. I would say that a Soft rubber compound tire lasts about 30% longer than an Ultra Soft, and a Soft rear tire wears at a comparable rate to an Ultra Soft front in my experience. |
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During our winter months when the dirt is soft and the roots are scary, I would always choose Ultra Soft rubber both front and rear. Because the dirt is so soft, you really won’t wear through tires quickly, and you’re going to benefit from the softer durometer rubber more with fewer downsides. Plus, I really notice a difference in grip on slick roots, with the Ultra Soft rubber sticking rather than sliding much more often than Schwalbe’s Soft rubber. Wet roots are my number one enemy when it’s raining, so Ultra Soft is a no-brainer in the winter months.
Casings
Yes, all of the casings use a Radial construction, but you can still choose how burly the Radial casing is. Schwalbe is giving us two options, and those are Trail Pro and Gravity Pro. Again, the naming lines up with the intended use. Trail Pro is a lighter duty casing, while the Gravity Pro is the DH focused option. While the Radial casing has different ride characteristics, the difference between the heavy duty casing and the lighter duty casing is the same story. Lighter riders or less experienced riders are going to get along just fine with the Trail Pro casing, while heavier or more aggressive riders are going to benefit from the Gravity Pro casing.
For the number focused crowd out there, a 29" Trail Pro tire weighs ~1200 grams, while a 29" Gravity Pro tire weighs ~1400 grams.
I’ve found that the Trail Pro casing rides similarly to an EXO+ Maxxis casing, and the Gravity Pro Casing is similar to a Double Down or DH casing from Maxxis. A common move is running a lighter casing on the front than the rear, and that’s a great option for these Radial tires as well. On trail bikes, the Trail Pro casing on front paired with the Gravity Pro casing on the rear is a great setup that balances a reasonable weight with increased stability and flat protection on the rear tire. We always recommend running at least as supportive of a casing on the rear tire as the front tire, as the rear is typically going to take more head on impacts and get most of the G’s in a corner. For that reason, I would recommend a Gravity Pro in the rear for just about everyone, and it’s your choice of Trail Pro or Gravity Pro in the front depending on the application.
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Width
Last and least important is the width of the tire. It may be controversial of me to say it’s the least important, but I want to be clear and say that while it’s the least important of the four factors we’re covering, it’s still an important consideration to make when tire shopping. Your tire width determines a few characteristics of the tire, including the volume, bracing angle, and contact patch. Depending on the tread pattern you’re after, Schwalbe only offers one or two widths, and those are 2.4” and 2.5”. Those numbers are incredibly similar, and they’re going to provide very similar ride characteristics on trail.
Overall, the 2.4” tire is going to offer a lower volume, so you may need to run marginally higher pressures to get the ride feel you’re after. But with a narrower profile, it’s also going to have more support in corners and be slightly less susceptible to rolling over and making a sealant mess on the trail and your rotors. It’s also going to have an ever so slightly smaller contact patch, which means a bit less grip and a bit less rolling resistance. These are all going to be marginal changes, and I think the psychological effects of your expectation of a tire are going to make a much bigger difference in your experience than the actual physical differences.
Schwalbe’s Radial tires have been measuring a bit narrow compared to the advertised width, and are consistently about .1” narrower than advertised at their widest point when fully inflated on a 30mm rim and have been given ample time to expand. So if you’re on the fence about which width to get, we typically recommend getting the slightly wider 2.5” width if it’s an option for the tire you’re interested in.
Conclusion
It’s not often that a mountain biking product comes along and has such a wide spread positive reception, and the Radial tires have received nothing but praise since their release last year. We’ve been putting them to the test and have been similarly impressed with their unique trail and overall increased grip. Next time you’re shopping for a fresh set of rubber, I would strongly recommend picking up a set of Schwalbe Radial tires with the perfect tread pattern, casing construction, rubber compound, and width for you!
