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My new bike came with a maxxTerra DHF on the front, which has been great in the dry but probably needs to be mothballed when things get damp
i like the idea of the radial tyres, especially the damping effect which might come in handy on a hardtail. A Mary is the obvious choice for winter but I rarely ride in slop and do a bit of trail centre stuff too, plus rocky and rooty xc type trails eg Stainburn
the new Albert tread seems specifically designed for the radial carcass, vs the Mary which is the same old tread. I’ve heard a few reports the Mary seems an off shape on the radial carcass too
so…..has anyone tried both and wants to comment?!
rocky and rooty xc type trails eg Stainburn
Stainburn. XC???
(Not my definition of XC ... But then I'm a very average rider!)
Direct answer your question though, but personally, I like my MM (normal carcass) 2.6 on the front at Stainburn, dry or wet.
On the trail bike I’ve ran Alberts front and rear (both soft) but settled on Mary front Albert rear. The Mary in ultra soft is very good and haven’t noticed any issues with shape. I’ve always liked the old Mary though and it’s just grippier and has this feeling like riding plus tyres without the squirm. Had no real problems with the Albert up front but the trails have been so dry all summer but reckon the Albert tread would clog up in the mud.
I’m kind of looking forward to seeing how they feel now the trails are getting wetter.
Ran Albert’s front and rear (ultra soft and soft gravity) for DYFi 2 days, Ard Rock and Morzine for a week. The rear is starting to look a bit sorry. The front is fine.
I did pick up a Mary Ultrasoft but not tried it yet. I have noticed the Albert feels a bit floaty in deep dust, I suspect it’ll be similar in deep mud, where a Mary would probably be better.
I wasn't a big fan of the Albert radial (soft, gravity) on the rear. I had to run a higher pressure to keep it's shape and it felt bouncy. Also pretty poor longevity and took more carcass punctures than I expected.
Reading a fair few comments about the radials not liking staying on the rim. Was tempted, but going to stick with normals when I put some Mary's on I think
I've had both on the front.
Alberts tried to kill me several times in deep, loose dust over in Spain. Should have had MM on there, got one on now and grip is night and day better in loose/mud.
Albert fine on rear though
Not sure where tyre exiting the rim comes from, I’ve been known to rip front tyres off.
Not happened with an Albert. 100kg rider, DT xm481 and Raceface whatever they are rims. Maybe a pressure thing.
As I mentioned the rear is looking a bit sorry after 2 days at Dyfi, Ard Rock and a week of Morzine (full days). Some tearing and cuts with slight seeping of sealant but no air loss.
Looks in better shape than a friends Max Terra Maxxis EXO plus that only did the week in Morzine with a much lighter rider.
Not sure where tyre exiting the rim comes from
Me neither. Had a right fight removing a gravity rear a couple of days ago.
As above though they do wear very quickly on the rear.
Got a couple of fronts in supersoft that are doing pretty well for wear with a few months of Tweed Valley riding, but a rear soft that's looking a bit sorry for its self after just a couple of weeks of Alpine use.
Never actually used an Albert but I saw a few reviews that said "cloggier than a Assegai" and considering I found the assegai's cloggy as **** that sounded like a hard no to me.
Mary is decent. And I'd be totally happy to pedal it around trailcentres etc, it's just a wee bit wandery because of the knobs but only slightly more than say an argotal or anything else in the class, it's not a dealbreaker for me. And it's not as slow as it looks, in fact it rolls really pretty well.
The radial carcass definitely does work imo, you can go hard and still retain some soft feel, or you can do what I did and stay soft and have it feel super-mega-soft without all the downsides of really low pressures. I loved this, absolutely loved it. It makes grip where literally nothing else I've ever used does, just by being so splodgey and conforming, it gloms around things that no amount of good spikes or soft rubber can emulate and has a huge amount of "can't believe I got away with that". Does make it slow but that's OK. It's a genuinely "can do two different things well" trick which is awesome.
(If you've ridden a trailbike fatbike, it's a little like that- the occasional fatbike magic where it hangs onto a root or a really messy surface that a normal tyre just wouldn't even attempt. Except without the enormous drawbacks of a fatbike tyre! It's not a "Better or worse", it's an outright "something competitor tyres don't do")
Some of the "shape" comments might be me though, Mary doesn't have as much edge grip as it wants to have imo, and it's a letdown when it happens. It doesn't seem to be to do with the radial, it's just very round and the side knobs are both quite low and only lightly supported. It basically looked pinched on my rims, even though it shouldn't be (29mm internal I think), compared to literally anything else I've put on them. Just feeling its age a bit, I think. It is also, I am 99% sure, a harder rubber than competitor supersofts etc, I think it might be quite a clever rubber and it seems to wear well but even masters of clever rubber Conti have finally admitted that there's just no substitute for softness on mountain bike tyres and gone to 40/42a.
It's kind of worse than it could be, because it has good centre grip, and is generally highly confidence inspiring, so I was trusting in the overall grip then asking too much of the edges on some iffy transition or offcamber and basically shitting my pants and/or falling off. Like, I probably wouldn't push a standard old Mary as hard, but the radial makes enough of a difference to make the tyre shine, and then I ask more of it, then it doesn't quite cash the cheques it writes. A tyre's as good as its worst element but in this case it feels as good as its best element and that was a problem for me. I do not want to have a constant mental note "don't push this tyre as hard as it feels like you can", not when I spend so much of my time thinking "man this looks terrifying"
This is probably quite unfair! I'd have maybe liked it more if the middle grip was less good. But, fair or not that's how it was. I think it's the best carcass I've ever ridden, with a merely decent tyre on it.
So now I'm on a highroller 3 maxxgrip and to be frank it's just much better, most of the time, and when it's less good I don't really care. Slower, for sure, but so consistent, so trustworthy, it helps a merely decent rider like me ride better and always seems to have my back. It might just be my first ever "all year round" tyre, we'll see how it does in winter but for sure I can use it all summer and autumn, it'll just make me sweat and grow bigger legs a bit. It's slightly stickier and the tread is better, and in the end that beats any amount of carcass genius.
Argotal supersoft is probably also in the same ballpark (but I only have a dh one of those so it's not a fair comparison) Both basically reaping the benefits of being a decade newer I think. TBF the Argotal soft is competitive with the mary ultrasoft, overall, it's not as grippy in a straight line but it has the edge on the, ur, edge, and it has the consistency.
Incidentally Mboy suggested a Shredda rear as a sort of super-Mary front, which I've not tried but looks pretty reasonable. But that'd be a pretty aggressive, slow tyre. I really want to give this a go.
Shredda rear as a sort of super-Mary front.
Yup Shredda rear on the front and MM on the rear looks a good combo for woodsy stuff in the wetter months!