 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Not going to lie, the old Nobby Nic's put me off Schwalbe MTB tyres for years! It wasn't like I bought the cheap version either, they were the expensive Evolution casing triple compound jobs. My feeling was that they just didn't seem to have any real grip, though they were predictable, they were predictably poor IMO. And not only that, but they seemed to lose their knobs at an alarming rate!
So anyway... FFWD 3 years, and I've been putting some time in on a Hans Dampf in Trailstar compound on the front of my new bike. So far so good. Looking for a more suitable tyre for XC rides and the new Nobby Nic is hard to ignore, especially if it's actually any good...
So are they?
I have the 2015 snakeskin one on my Anthem front and it does a good job, paired to a racing Ralph on back. Initially had the Liteskins ones, which were very fast and light, but a little fragile.
New ones much better than the old, I rode them on some fairly long demos of Transitions lately. Whether the sidewalls are any stronger I couldn't say, that was my main gripe with the old ones, still the only tires I've properly shredded a sidewall on, and did it twice. Ground Control Grid in a 2.3 is pretty good on my hardtail at the moment.
I started off with 2 of the new nics on my Sherpa. The rear tyre I put a hole in on cut gate first ride out. It does hold air but I wouldn't want to knock it again while out as I think it will go bang. As a front tyre I've found it very good and have now paired it with a rock razor super gravity on the back for a tougher side wall. If they did a super gravity one I would get one for the back of the bike.
Whether the sidewalls are any stronger I couldn't say, that was my main gripe with the old ones, still the only tires I've properly shredded a sidewall on, and did it twice.
Not too worried about that, thinking of a Double Defense 2.25" for the back of the bike for XC rides and maybe a 2.35" on the front.
Ground Control Grid in a 2.3 is pretty good on my hardtail at the moment.
For various reasons, I won't be running anything with the big S logo on it sadly...
Been running one since around October with a DD Ralph on the back. Not too much different to the old one to be honest. Comes with Snakeskin as standard now though.
Found it's a bit sketch on muddy corners but in the dry it grips really well.