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Intro
Schwalbe’s radial casings shook up the mountain bike tire world a couple years ago, but Schwalbe wasn’t done yet, and they just updated their lineup with new casings, new compounds, and new tread patterns for all of us tire nerds to get excited about. I’ve been riding the updated Tacky Chan and the all-new Romy to figure out where each tire excels and who they’re best for. In this article, I’ll review the latest and greatest rubber from Schwalbe, and I’ll explain exactly what’s changed on the inside. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive in!
Overview
Schwalbe has revised and modernized their incredibly popular Tacky Chan, and it’s now finally offered in a radial construction. There’s also a brand new tread pattern, the Romy. The Romy is a super fast rolling trail tire that’s built to maximize fun. But truthfully, I think it’s too bad that Schwalbe isn’t leaning into the alliteration with their tire names anymore. They’re even discontinuing the Nobby Nic and the Big Betty, but at least Jimmy John’s is still holding it down with the Turkey Tom and the Totally Tuna.
Taking a look at the cross section of the tire, it’s not nearly as appetizing as one of those sandwiches, but you can still see what’s going on. This is the new Gravity Pro casing, which now uses 6 plies of rubber underneath the tread, and 4 plies in the sidewalls. And instead of stuffing tomatoes and lettuce in there, Schwalbe opted for their Apex protection to prevent pinch flats and a fabric sidewall protection to prevent slices. The previous Gravity Pro casing used just 4 plies of rubber all around the tread, so this updated version is a bit more burly, and is perfect for enduro bikes, ebikes, downhill bikes, or really any bike that you’re going to send down some rough terrain. Trail Pro is unchanged for this generation, offering the exact same level of support and protection as before, and is a great front tire option for trail/enduro bikes, or as a front/rear option on shorter travel bikes.
Another important ingredient is the rubber compound, and while Schwalbe’s Ultra soft rubber may look the same, it’s updated to be grippier than ever. A pro tip is that these stripes on all Schwalbe tires are on the same side as your brakes, which makes it super easy to tell if your buddies tire is on backwards. The Ultrasoft compound is now a slower rebounding rubber, which means your tires should stick to whatever they’re hitting for just a little longer than before. More contact means more grip, but that also means more rolling resistance. This is definitely the slowest rolling rubber Schwalbe has ever offered, but that’s the sacrifice you make if you want ultimate grip. This is actually the same rubber that Schwalbe’s downhill athletes have been using at the world cups the last few years, and while we still can’t ride like the pros, at least we can finally have the same tires as them. The Soft rubber compound is unchanged, and is still a relatively soft rubber that lasts quite a long time. Perfect for rear tire use when paired with an Ultra Soft front.
Also worth mentioning for the XC folks watching is that there’s a new Race casing and Mid rubber compound. These are definitely XC-focused, and I am not going to be the expert on these new options, but the Race casing is the new lightest tire casing option and the Mid rubber compound is the second hardest rubber option. So if you’re trying to ride your bike up a fireroad as fast as possible, I imagine those are going to be great options, but let’s get back to the gravity tires!
One of the most exciting changes to the Schwalbe tires is the new Non-Pro level of tire. Schwalbe hasn’t given this line of tires a real name, and is calling them their “Schwalbe line”, as opposed to their “Schwalbe Pro line”, so we’ll refer to them as the Non-Pro tires to make things clear. These Non-Pro tires are a slightly more simple tire, with less tech packed in the sidewalls, but they’re still high performance tires that are great for riders more concerned about saving a few bucks rather than having the most advanced tires out there. They come in the same Mid and Soft compounds as the Pro tires, and you can choose between Trail and Gravity casing depending on your use case. Both casing levels are built with a diagonal construction, and they’re much cheaper than the Pro tires.
The Pro tires are the same price point we’ve gotten used to, a little over a hundred dollars a tire, but the non-Pro tires only cost sixty nine dollars. The non-Pro tires have slightly less tech packed into them, with a plastic sidewall protection instead of fabric, offering slightly less premium performance, but a very similar level of protection, at a much lower price. You can get these with Mid or Soft rubber compounds, and either Trail or Gravity casing. The biggest sacrifice of the non-Pro tires is that they’re not offered in a Radial casing or with Ultra Soft rubber. So, if you want these highly desirable tire specs for maximum grip and performance, you’ll need to pony up for the Pro level tires. I think these Non Pro tires are perfect for lapping the bike park where you’re not worried about being the fastest guy down the hill, and you’re more focused on how many laps you can stack before your hands lock up. Or if you’re just fed up with paying an arm and a leg for a new set of tires, try out the Non Pro tires, and you’ll save quite a bit of cash.
The Pro tires are exactly what the pros are using out there riding at speeds we can only dream of, and they’re available in either a radial or standard diagonal construction. While radial tires have been incredibly popular among ourselves here at The Lost Co and tons of our customers, not everyone is looking for a tire with a radial casing. A radial tire is more supple, but it’s a compromise in some scenarios. When you’re pushing into a super hardpack berm or a big jump face, the more pliable radial casing will feel slightly more vague and is more prone to folding over than a standard tire even when you bump up the pressures. To address this, and give everyone more options when getting their perfect tire, Schwalbe is now offering their Pro casings in both Radial and Diagonal versions. So if you’re mostly ripping hard packed flow trails or jump lines all day long, then you’re probably better off with the diagonal casing. If you’re riding more natural trails that are rooty and rocky and don’t have any big A-Line booters, then you’ll probably want the radial casing. Of course you can still ride either casing on any trail without any problems, but if you want to get super nerdy and really specialize your tire setup to what you’re riding, Schwalbe’s newest tires are now offered in both Radial and Diagonal options.
Tacky Chan Review
While it’s got the same name, the Tacky Chan has been revived with a revised tread pattern compared to the old Tacky Chan. Looking at them side by side, the new Tacky Chan looks like it hit puberty and started taking creatine, because it’s beefier in every way. The center knobs are much larger with much more volume, and they’re a bit wider set from each other, giving more complete coverage over the whole tread. The side knobs have also been refined, and all of these changes have made the Tacky Chan an overall more aggressive tire that still retains a lot of the rolling speed it’s known for.
Schwalbe’s main goal with the original Tacky Chan was World Cup downhill racing, and that focus hasn’t changed at all with these updates. Schwalbe is still aiming for this tire to offer as much cornering and braking traction as possible with as little rolling resistance as possible. That’s a pretty tall task, but that’s what they’re going for. Interestingly enough, new Tacky Chans with a diagonal casing actually use the old tread pattern, and you need to get a Tacky Chan in the radial casing to get the new tread pattern. I had no idea that was the case and asked Schwalbe for a set of Gravity Pro Radial Tacky Chans and a set of Gravity Pro Diagonal Tacky Chans to get a direct comparison of the two casing styles, but that didn’t really work how I expected, and they’ve got different tread patterns. Turns out not all Tacky Chans are created equal these days, so make sure to get a Radial version if you want the latest tread pattern.
I’ve been doing my best to put the Tacky Chan through its paces on my TR11, and while I’m certainly not a world cup level racer, the new Tacky Chan on the front and rear has been fantastic for the local races that I compete in. Shout out to the NW Cup! Compared to the previous Tacky Chan, I think the biggest difference is the braking traction. Those larger and wider center knobs channel some Big Betty braking characteristics, which I think was the highlight of the Big Betty. Hitting the brakes on that old tire was like dropping an anchor behind you, and it feels like its spirit lives on in the braking power of the new Tacky Chan.
While the previous Tacky Chan was mostly used as a rear tire, I think the new version is definitely more versatile as either a front or a rear tire. Those larger and wider knobs give you a lot more coverage between the center knobs and the side knobs, and while it’s still got a 2-2 tread pattern down the center, there’s a much smaller channel than the previous version. Front tires with that big channel like the previous Tacky Chan required a very committed cornering style, with precise and decisive transitioning to the corner knobs, while tires like the Magic Mary with the transition knob allow you to roll the tire over to the corner knobs at your leisure. This new Tacky definitely has a little bit of float between the center and side knobs which rewards committed and aggressive cornering, but it’s got less float than something with a true channel like the old tacky chan or a Minion DHF. It also rolls fast enough and brakes well enough that it’s a great rear tire, making it very capable of wearing both hats.
Even though they have the old tread pattern, the Diagonal Tacky Chans are some seriously sweet tires for the right person. The diagonal casing has some very different ride characteristics than the radial casing, and like expected, isn’t quite as supple as the radial version. The diagonal tires are distinctly damped, with a more muted trail feel than a radial tire. It’s kind of similar to comparing suspension with a stiffer tune to suspension with a lighter tune. With the stiffer tune, you’ll typically run slightly less pressure and let the damping do more of the work, and with a lighter tune, you’ll typically run slightly higher pressure and let the spring do more of the work. With all tires, the casing is the damper and the air in the tire is the spring. The tire casing is a very different damper compared to what’s packed in our forks and shocks, but its role is largely the same. That stiffer diagonal casing is a more damped ride, and you’ll run a few less psi to let the casing do more of the work.
I haven’t tried it yet myself, but I think a Gravity Pro Radial Tacky Chan in the front paired with a Gravity Pro Diagonal Tacky Chan in the rear could be a killer combo. I’ll try it out at the next race, and hopefully it does me well.
Romy Review
Let’s move on to the all new Romy tire, which I’ve been riding on my Sentinel for the last couple months. I’ve been using the Gravity Pro Radial with the Soft compound in the rear with the Trail Pro Radial with the Soft compound in the front, and these are the lightest duty tires I’ve ridden in a long time. I was actually really excited to try these out and get my Sentinel to roll a little faster and just feel a little more lively as we get into summer riding. I’m guilty of putting heavy and sticky tires on all my trail bikes which makes them feel pretty sluggish, and lightening up your tire setup is the easiest way to make your bike feel way lighter than it actually is.
The Romy is a super unique tire, and I’ve never ridden anything quite like it before. The knob shape is definitely inspired by the Albert, but each Romy knob is a little wider, shorter, and has a little more space around it. These Romys have been insanely fun in dry conditions on Galbraith mountain, our local trail system here in Bellingham, and they can get a very surprising amount of grip on dry hardpack trails that have seen countless tires in their lifetime. They roll super fast, and I’ve had more fun than ever on flowy jump trails like U-line or Mohawk because these tires feel so efficient and just fly out of corners. This feeling of efficiency is definitely magnified because the Romys replaced a set of Shreddas. I’d basically been training with ankle weights all winter, and replacing them with Romys feels like my bike weighs 5 lbs less, even though it’s actually a difference of less than a pound.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for the Romys, and these tires get super overwhelmed as soon as it gets wet or the dirt starts to get a little loose. When it gets muddy, these short little knobs just can’t quite get through to the meat under the mud, but honestly that’s not too surprising. These little knobs aren’t cut out for the slop, so we’ll give them a pass there, but I was also surprised that they weren’t great in loose churned up dirt. A couple weeks ago I raced in the Hot Laps Slalom, which is a super fun and super unique race through some of the sickest turns out there, and I was rocking the Romys front and rear. The berms were freshly built with some perfect PNW dirt, but with some seriously fast cats ripping them as fast as possible they turned soft and tilled up pretty quickly. The Romys weren’t the most confidence inspiring through the soft ruts, and I could feel them pushing through perfect loamy dirt trying to find the bottom instead of hooking up and helping me turn. To be fair, the Romys weren’t designed with racing in mind, so I was slightly outside of the intended use case.
So, if you’re primarily riding dry, hard-packed trails and you want a tire that’s efficient, fast-rolling and surprisingly grippy, the Romy is a great option for you. I had more fun than ever on bermed-out jump trails than with any other tire setup than ever before, and generally I really enjoyed my time on the Romys.
Conclusion
Overall, Schwalbe’s new changes don’t make things any easier to understand, but tire nerds like myself are sure to enjoy all the extra choices when speccing out their perfect set of tires. I hope this made things a little more clear for you, and please give us a call if you need help understanding what the heck Schwalbe’s done with their new lineup. I’ll be riding the Tacky Chan in the front and rear for the rest of the summer, as they’ve quickly become my favorite option for racing and ripping the bike park!
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