[Closed] Magic Mary combos for the Alps...which version?

Snake skin isn't very tough.. Go for SG.

Cheers, after reading up a bit more it seems MM rear is a bit of a pig to pedal. Might go for MM 2.6 SS front and HD 2.35 SG rear. I'm not a tyre destroyer so I don't think I need SG on the front....?

Why take the gamble? Destroy a tyre in a park away from Morzine (e.g Chatel, Morgins) and you're gonna have a very bad day.

I think ultra soft only comes in the SG carcass, and that’s what I’d want on the front in the alps

Definitely get SG or DH carcass on the back- I’m fairly light and I’ve put 3 holes in a snakeskin Hans Dampf riding my normal Yorkshire trails. Snakeskin seems very fragile, even more so than Exo.

Extra weight and grip on the front doesn’t make that much difference to pedalling ime, certainly nowhere near as much as it does on the back.

When you have lift access to long rugged trails, tyres are not the place to cut corners.

I went to Morzine last year and ran 29 x 2.35 MM soft snakeskin tubeless in the front and 29 x 2.35 MM super gravity soft tubeless in the rear. Had no issues, this is actually the same combo I run in the UK all year around. I dont find the MM that draggy compared to other tyres but find the braking so much better for the local stuff I ride and in Morzine when there.

Thanks for the input. To complicate things I'm doing a 3 day bikepacking ride in the Alps on the same trip and would like to use the tyres when I'm back home too so don't want SG ultra soft monsters that are a bit of a 1 trick pony!

Are they fairly true to size, running 30mm rims and have clearance for 2.5 in the frame. Think I'll go go 2.6f 2.35r.

One of the problems with Schwalbe is that you can't (IME) get the beefy SG carcass in a long-lasting compound. If you want SG you're limited to the extra soft which is irritating for a rear tyre, especially for bike park laps where for most people longevity is more important than out-and-out grip.

But yeah, for lift access definitely use SG. I use SG on the rear for Peak District XC (Snakeskin 'TLE' front).

EDIT: Having looked it seems they do make a 'Bikepark' variant which is the most durable while having 'protection' somewhere between TLE and SG. That might be a good option if you can find it.

SG on the rear for sure (with an insert).

I think you can only get the SG in 2.35 and they are now coming up narrow, so I didn't really like it on the front.

I'd probably get the 2.6 Snakeskin soft with an insert for the front.

If you want SG you’re limited to the extra soft

You can get the orange soft in SG, but it's gone narrower in 2.35 and I don't think it comes in 2.6.

It's the Alps, if your using the lifts, heaviest tyres you can get

Have you considered putting an eddy current on the rear with Magic Mary upfront.

Full down hill casing ... slashed tire and last lift at 5pm .. no chances taken

Eldest_oab runs Super Gravity Mary up front and DH Hans Dampf rear.
He's there for the next 6 weeks, having done a month last summer on that combo.

Dhf / dhr II  😃

I have the SnakeSkin 2.6 Magic Marys with Vittoria inserts on my e-bike. Perfect setup, no problems in very rocky terrain.

However, no way would I be able to use the SnakeSkin variant without the inserts - they are floppy as anything, wouldnt hold up as far as I can see.

I did consider the Eddy Currents as I've seen a few pro's running them, but went for the MM/HD in the end. Thanks for the advice, getting hold of stuff is tricky at the moment. I'm about to start the mail order helmet will it fit or won't it lottery and hope I get a winner before I leave.

I wouldn't trust a HD to last too long on the rear in the Alps. Knobs are too small and likely to tear. MM a better bet on the rear and more versatile if it gets wet. I've run a MM on the rear in this country and don't find it too draggy on the climbs.

Possibly a stupid question, my alps experience is limited to one day in Chamonix about 10 years ago, on a pretty knackered hire bike.

Are there places where something like an SE2 would make sense on the back? Chunky rock at the top and hardpack further down, would you need big knobs?

Or does this place not exist in reality and there's just too many variable surfaces to gamble on little knobs?

I just bought a pair of MM 2.35 Super Gravity for the coming trip to Chatel - they come up more like a 2.25, and I wish I'd bought a 2.6 for the front now but it's too late to get hold of an alternative.

Personally I wouldn't go to the Alps on anything less than a SG carcass, last thing you want is a very long walk/push back to the lifts (I speak from experience).

I'm going to take my DHF 2.5WT with me in case the front Mary feels too skinny.

I think it depends on what you’re riding and how you’re riding them. Personally, I use my normal tyres every time I’m in the alps. I have family who live about an hour from Morgins, Chatel, Verbier And Chamonix. I do ride the lifts rather than climbing, but I’ve ridden all sorts of stuff. I keep an old Spesh Enduro in the garage out there and just use my regular 2.3 trail tyres. If they wear out, I buy another typical trail tyre. I’ve had pinch flats occasionally, but have never wrecked a tyre in over 10 years of at least one trip per year.

Edit: I totally accept that if you’re riding at warp speed, exclusively on the big wide trails with all those braking bumps, and you’re hitting big gaps and drops, then of course bigger tyres would be justified.

Totally agree with johnhe above. The trails are bigger and potentailly faster but the terrain is broadly similar to UK trail centres. Berms, jumps, ruts, roots, rocks, drops. You will probably build a bit of confidence and be a bit faster by the end of the week but you aren't going to suddenly be doing 20ft gap jumps and massive hucks to flat if you weren't doing that before. Yes, you can get away with a heavier tyre because the lifts will be getting you up the hill but you don't need a massively different tyre. There is also some great, less gnaar, pedally stuff around.

Dumb newbie question (not trying to hijack thread)....

I've got MM and HD 2.35 which say both Supergravity and Snakeskin soft.

Reading this thread I started to get the impression that there was either Supergravity or snakeskin.... can anyone sort me out please.

Reading this thread I started to get the impression that there was either Supergravity or snakeskin…. can anyone sort me out please.

Just gone and looked and you're correct, my SG says snakeskin TLE as well where as the front is snakeskin TLE only, I think its a terminology thing.

but went for the MM/HD in the end

I tried a HD in SG on the rear in the UK before Morzine and didnt like the smaller knobs and the lack of braking, the MM in SG went back on.

Eddy Currents

I did see Cathro running one of these on the rear and am going to try one in the rear shortly, anyone else got any experience of this tyre?

The trails are bigger and potentailly faster but the terrain is broadly similar to UK trail centres

I agree with this, the one thing I would say for going thicker casing tyres is the dampening properties also, with longer trails the thicker carcus tyres would help reduce some of the trail chatter and vibration also.

Reading this thread I started to get the impression that there was either Supergravity or snakeskin…. can anyone sort me out please.

In the 'Addix' era, the SG is the heavier duty DH carcass and 'TLE' ('Tubeless Easy') is the lighter trail one. I think they have changed it recently. Look on the Schwalbe website for the current naming conventions.

Confusingly, people call 'TLE' Snakeskin - I presume it's the old term? And even more confusingly, some SG tyres come with TLE and Snakeskin markings on them. It's a mess, basically.

I think it depends on what you’re riding and how you’re riding them. Personally, I use my normal tyres every time I’m in the alps.

Same as that...

I've just used whatever rubber we've had fitted before going and after. I had a flat or 2 in about 2010, but nothing since then.

I have done 10+ trips to the alps, admittedly not too much bike park stuff but very rocky stuff in the Ecrins, and have never punctured or split a tyre. I generally run HD on the front and Rock Razor on the back in Snakeskin. Unlike posts elsewhere, I have managed to get 5 or 6 two week holidays out of the RRs with no issues.

I tried a HD in SG on the rear in the UK before Morzine and didnt like the smaller knobs and the lack of braking, the MM in SG went back on.

Oh well, too late now.😬 I'll have a spare SE4 and NN just in case it doesn't work, the HD can't be worse than those.

Another hijack but I'm getting confused by the name changes.

I have been running a MM/HD combo in 29 x 2.35 Evo TLE Trailstar flavour and thought they were great. Just changed to some Black Chilli Continental 2.4's that come up miles narrower and don't seem anywhere near as grippy (no wonder CRC were knocking them out cheap!) so am looking to replace them with Schwalbe again. I want to mirror what I had in width, weight and grip so which varient do I need?

Or does this place not exist in reality and there’s just too many variable surfaces to gamble on little knobs?

It depends on your expectations.

Mrs_oab ride a Trek Superfly with XR4/XR2 combo and I rode a Sanderson steel HT rocking XR4 Team front and rear. I made it down multiple descents, including international DH tracks, at Les Gets / Morzine for 10 days.

I managed to break spokes, but we only had two punctures all week. One of them was me coming up short on a jump, the other mrs_oab had a crash on a vehicle track when she hit a drainage ditch - on the way to a red route.

Yes if you have a 170mm+ EnduroRadGnar bike, ride like a sack of spuds and try to keep up with your Strava KOM pal, then light and little tyres won't keep up.

Ride more sensibly and you are all good

I have been running a MM/HD combo in 29 x 2.35 Evo TLE Trailstar flavour and thought they were great. Just changed to some Black Chilli Continental 2.4’s that come up miles narrower and don’t seem anywhere near as grippy (no wonder CRC were knocking them out cheap!) so am looking to replace them with Schwalbe again. I want to mirror what I had in width, weight and grip so which varient do I need?

The compound formulas have changed so they're not directly comparable but I guess the nearest is now the orange stripe. They don't do any harder compound MM.
https://www.schwalbe.com/en/mtb-reader/magic-mary

 

Cheers mate, yeah the TLE Apex Soft look loke the ones.