Nearly all of my MTB wheelsets are UST so I’ve been searching for good downhill tires I can run tubeless. Recently the good folks at Schwalbe sent over Big Betty and Muddy Mary tires to put to the test. In the past I’ve had great results with the Fat Alberts and Wicked Wills, so I was pretty stoked to give these two tires a shot. I chose the Muddy Mary and the Big Betty based on the terrain I typically ride: granite, shale, hardpack (and I do mean hard pack), and sometimes mud that just won’t dry up.

The Big Betty and Muddy Mary both come in a few flavors. I am writing about the Evolution line which is a folding, tubeless, TrailStar version. It’s a mouthful for sure but these days tires are offered at many price points and configurations, making them more accessible and versatile for the rider. Both the Big Betty and Muddy Mary tubeless tires come in at 1100 grams each (XC riders, pick your jaws up off the floor). These tires are a bit heavy but for what they’re designed for and considering you don’t need a tube, the weight isn’t too bad (DH tubes are approximate 200 grams each).

Both tires feature single-ply construction with a thread density of 67 EPI (ends per inch). The Snakeskin sidewall protection is essentially fabric which offers about the same amount of protection as rubber. The tire carcasses along with the tread are designed to prevent side pinch punctures for more safety and stability. Limited Slip Technology (L.S.T.) is also a cool feature: it’s a special rubber compound that reduces the chances of the tire slipping on the rim (helpful if your tire  is a bit too low on pressure). The TrailStar compound is a blend of rubbers with an easy rolling base layer and a medium soft center compound followed by a soft center compound. Schwalbe also offers a softer compound mix called the VertStar which offers a super soft center and side rubbers but those are for DH competition.

The Big Betty 26×2.40 is a true high volume 2.4 inch wide tire. It’s designed for the drier side of things and offers great grip on a variety of terrain like rock, shale, and hard pack. Stability is decent on looser soil as well. I found that I could achieve high levels of braking force with these tires which made me feel comfortable diving into turns. Speaking of turns, the Big Betty transitions well from upright to pitched positions with no squirming in between. This is a great feature for riders who are getting comfortable at riding higher speeds on the slopes.

The twin row of sequenced vertical/horizontal ramped and sipped blocks along with a hollow square block does a good job keeping vibrations at bay away while offering high traction. The double row of cornering blocks excel at keeping you on line when pitched. Overall the design of the tire is somewhat tight so mud shedding is not as great as other tires out there.

The Muddy Mary 26×2.35 is another high-volume tire and is actually a bit bigger than 2.35 inches – it’s closer to 2.4 inches. This tire has its pattern arranged more openly with each center block sipped horizontally and the cornering blocks sipped vertically. The open tread pattern allows for good mud and debris shedding.

The Muddy Mary features an alternating wide block and single square block across the center along with a single flanking transitional square knob and aggressive cornering knobs. Due to the very square pattern, these tires don’t roll as well as the Big Betty but offer more grip on a wide range of terrain, including soft loamy terrain.

Installation was a snap for both tires on Mavic Deemax Ultimate and Easton Havoc wheels. Both wheels are UST and the tires went on easily with a floor pump and single tire iron. I like to thoroughly lubricate the sidewalls of the tire with soap (diluted dish soap works), and then pump them up to about 35 PSI to let the beads seat properly before I drop the tires down to 25/27 PSI (F/R) which is my running pressure.

How did these tires fair? I found I really liked the Big Betty tires and got used to them right away. You could almost say these were my go-to tire when I was packing my gear. I felt comfortable pitching the bike into corners and braking with confidence. However, the TrailStar compounds on both tires started to show signs of wear after nine full days of riding the slopes hard. The sharp knobs began to tear at their edges, mostly due to the hard braking that was needed to slow down my FR and DH rigs on the slate and hardpack surfaces. The high-speed berms at Blue Mountain are nearly as hard as concrete (talk about packed dirt) and many of the technical areas are on slate. So the amount of abrasion I put these tires through is perhaps more than some will experience.

The Muddy Marys worked nearly as well but I found they were best when used the day after a rainfall when the terrain was moist and the rocks were wet. The Muddy Marys offer a good speed-for-traction tradeoff – it certainly took a bit more effort to get them moving. But once they were heading down the slopes, these tires gripped well. Pitching the Muddy Marys into corners was fun, though I did note a touch of squirm on some occasions (on the harder terrain) but nothing like a Maxxis Ardent (another tire I enjoy). The tread on these tires held out a bit better than the Big Bettys, perhaps due to the fact there was less friction on the tire in the softer soil.

Check out the Schwalbe Big Betty ($90 MSRP) and Muddy Mary ($96 MSRP) tires for DH and FR mountain biking.

I would like to thank Schwalbe for sending down the tires for review.

The 2010 Nobby Nic mountain bike tire from Schwalbe offers big performance gains over previous versions which is impressive given this tire’s venerable and award-winning history. Through several evolutionary changes, engineers were able to improve rolling resistance 15% while slashing 30g from the weight – and yet the thing still grips the trail like a jungle cat!

To understand some of the technology and design decisions that go into mountain bike tires, it’s important to start at the beginning: choosing a rubber compound. Tires start out as a melty, soupy mix of rubber (natural or synthetic) with additional ingredients like carbon, silica, waxes, and oils blended in to influence the performance characteristics of the final product. No matter what is added to the compound, engineers must balance the trade-off between high grip and low rolling resistance meaning it’s impossible to maximize both in a single compound.

Knowing this, many tire manufacturers have created “dual compound” tires that place two different rubber mixtures in certain areas of the tire. This works pretty well but Schwalbe decided to take things further with the Nobby Nic, creating a TRIPLE nano compound tire. With three compounds, each engineered at the molecular level, Schwalbe created a tire they describe as one of the first “allgrounders.” (If you really want to geek out on rubber and tire tech, check out this section of the Schwalbe website.)

Without going into a ton of detail, here’s an overview of the three compounds and how they’re used in the Nobby Nic. The first sub-layer is designed to offer low rolling resistance with essentially zero grip – which is legit since this portion of the tire rarely contacts the ground. The center tread sports a longer lasting, strong compound which translates into great traction and braking grip. The side tread compound takes grip to the max for cornering and wet conditions but the trade-off is quick wear and super high rolling resistance (fortunately these knobs get the least use on the trail).

Schwalbe offers the Nobby Nic in just about every configuration you can imagine from narrow to wide, tubed or tubeless, and 26-inch or 29-inch sizes. I’ve been testing the 29er, 2.25-inch version which officially weighs in at 640g. The uni-directional tire features a folding kevlar bead that’s lightweight and provides a tight fit on my XC One wheels.

Deep down I’m really an XC rider and looking at this burly, knobby tire gave me a bit of heartburn. I decided to install the Nobby Nic as a rear tire on my hardtail 29er because, after all, I can always use more grip to get me up hills. My biggest concern was the tire would feel like an anchor holding me back on short stretches of pavement or fast hardpack but in reality that simply wasn’t the case. While I certainly wouldn’t call this a low-rolling resistance tire, the allgrounder title may not be much of a stretch after all.

One good test of a tire’s grip is what I call the ping test: ride a stretch of trail with gravel over hardpack and listen for the rock pings against your down tube. The Nobby Nic pings with the best of them and I had a hard time getting the tire to spin out on short, steep climbs. Through sandy stretches I found the tire performed equally well and didn’t squirm or float like other tires I’ve ridden. Of course at low speeds the Nobby Nic will get bogged down in sand like any other tire so always remember to keep up your momentum.

Cornering with the Nobby Nic felt secure and it wasn’t long before I was safely leaning further and further into turns. Matching the Nobby Nic front and rear should improve cornering even more and is a good idea if you plan to ride aggressively through wet or AM conditions. I found this tire worked equally well on the clay and roots in Georgia and the rocks and sand in Colorado.

The Nobby Nic ($87.45 MSRP as tested) is a high performance tire with a design that’s evolved as close to perfection as any other through the years. If you ride a variety of conditions and need the versatility of a three compound tire, look no further than the allgrounder Schwalbe Nobby Nic.

Thanks to the folks at Schwalbe for providing the Nobby Nic for testing and review.

This review is for those who spend all their time pointing their bikes down hill; for those who live for the double diamond; and for anyone who is confident at the sight of mega gnarly rock strewn terrain. Yeah, that’s right, this is for the crazy people who call themselves downhillers or freeriders.

Schwalbe just introduced a new dry tire, the Wicked Will ($83.55 MSRP) for riders who love to toss their bikes down the nastiest terrain you can imagine. The new “Curve Claw” blocks on the sides of the tread produce a tremendous amount of cornering grip and the low block design makes this a very fast rolling tire. The Wicked Will tire is perfect for those who find themselves bombing down high speed runs with tight and twisty hardpack berms.

These heavy weight tires (1370grams each!) are clearly designed to be ridden downhill and looking at them they’d be right at home on a dirt bike. Installing the Wicked Wills took 3 tire irons and a bit more work than usual due to the tight fit, two ply construction, and stiff side walls. I added a little soapy water to the sidewalls to seat the beads perfectly on the rim and went with 35 psi in the front and rear. As always, follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing any tires and make adjustments for your own preferences. Now for the fun part!

Tracking down the slopes with the Wicked Wills was great thanks to the extra mass of the tire which helped me keep the bike pointing in the right direction. Pedaling hard on the flats, these tires didn’t skip a beat and kept me moving to the next section without slowing my momentum or shimmying side to side.

Taking the Schwalbe hard into corners was awesome – I couldn`t believe the amount of extra traction that these tires delivered compared to the previous set that I had on! Coming off the corners I almost forgot that I needed to slow for upcoming technical trail features (TTFs). I really appreciated the stability the Wicked Will tires offered as they minimized unwanted side to side movement and kept my steering on track.

Under braking the tires held up well and did not lock up unexpectedly. Even when braking on very hard surfaces such as rock and hard roots the tires did well at stopping without slipping too much. On the rare occasions when the tire did start to slip, the tire never moved sideways. Rather it just locked and remained on line.

The Wicked Will is a great DH-specific tire that will get you down any slope with ease. The super tough sidewalls help prevent snake bites due to bashes from rocks or logs (I did lots of that on the slopes) and the slipped knobs and curve claw blocks on the sidewalls will keep you on your line with laser-like precision. If you give these tires a shot you won’t be disappointed!

A big shout out to the folks at SunRingle for the STR8 Track wheels, and the folks at Schwalbe for the chance to give these tires a serious test run.

My overall rating:

5 out of 10 for climbing
9 out of 10 for cornering
8 out of 10 for rolling and efficiency
7 out of 10 for loose condidtion
10 out of 10 for hardpack
9 out of 10 for stopping in a straight line

Specifications from Schwalbe:

• Downhill, Double Casing, Wire Bead
• 26 x 2.50 only
• Gooey Gluey compound
• 1370 grams
• 20 – 50 psi
• 2 x 67 EPI (TPI)