Schwalbe’s latest gravity tyre range has to be one of the most hyped in recent memory, with its new Radial casing the talk of the World Cup downhill paddock. All brands obviously say their latest products are the best ever, but to be fair, Schwalbe is at least offering something genuinely different to support its fanfare of publicity, rather than just shouting about a minor tread pattern revision or subtle tweak to a rubber blend. So does the Schwalbe Albert Radial tyre genuinely move the game on, and blow the other best tyres on the market out of the water? I couldn’t wait to find out.

The Schwalbe Albert Radial tyre has a more closely-spaced tread than the Magic Mary and Shredda, but the real magic happens beneath the surface.

Schwalbe Albert Radial Gravity Pro tyre need to know

• New casing reduces overlap of plies with the aim of improving suppleness
• Claimed 30% bigger contact patch
• Available in three tread patterns – Albert, Magic Mary, and Shredda
• Two casings – Gravity and Trail
• Two compounds – Ultra Soft and Soft
• 29 and 27.5in diameter and 2.5in and 2.6in widths

It doesn’t hurt the German brand’s PR machine that its best-known sponsored downhiller, Amaury Pierron, absolutely wiped the floor with the competition at two successive World Cups in the wet this summer, citing the new Radial Schwalbe tyres as a pivotal part of his ability to seemingly walk, err, sorry, ride, on water.

Radial, you say? What’s that all about, then? Well, the R word is at the heart of Schwalbe’s new technology, and describes a fresh carcass construction found on three of its range – Albert, Magic Mary and Shredda. Here, the plies (casing weave layers in the tyre’s foundations) are placed in a different direction than previous gravity models or, in fact, most tyres from other brands.

Schwalbe claims significant advantages with Radial; the biggest one being more grip and damping, and ‘30% more contact area with the same pressure’. I’ll delve into the detail of these very bold claims later, and try to place Albert performance in the context of all other brands, obviously considering what angle their carcass threads are at too, or whether more contact area is automatically better, as sidewall support is another crucial characteristic for any gravity tyre. Otherwise we’d all be running super soft tyres with low pressures.

What’s also interesting with the new Schwalbes, aside from the ply angle, is the new clearer naming strategy, where Gravity or Trail casings are easy to understand. Equally, I was impressed to discover that the new top-tier Gravity models, such as this Albert, are lighter than many rival DH tyres, and closer in weight to enduro casings including Maxxis’s Double Down.

Schwalbe’s softest Ultra Soft compound is indicated by the purple stripe.

Design and specification

Before any Addix rubber hit the dirt, I noticed the new Albert blows up a bit skinnier than you might expect for a 2.5in tyre. Both tyres mounted easily and I initially set pressures at 23psi front and 25psi rear with an Ultra Soft (purple band) Front and Soft (orange band) rear, both in Gravity casing. There is also a 2.6in version offered in both 27.5in and 29in.

Tyre profile and tread are optimised for the new construction method, with a slightly flatter crown and more tightly-packed tread blocks for ‘maximum control and good durability.’ 3-2-3 pattern rubber blocks extend closer to shoulder knobs, rather than an aggressive edge design with a broader gap on the shoulder, as you’d find on a tyre that ‘slips to grip’ before it catches edge blocks.

Although Schwalbe Radial tyres are considerably more flexible on the crown and under the tread than previously, they are designed to behave almost identically to conventional cross-ply tires at the sidewall – so in terms of lateral stiffness (where multiple layers of other supportive materials and a bead bumper are used). The brand claims this means that they can suck into the ground on uneven surfaces, but do not become more unstable under cornering loads, due to ‘our special carcass construction’.

While the casing isn’t truly radial, it is more radial in nature than most current designs.

The basis of this construction is having carcass threads arranged at a more obtuse angle than the 45° overlap found in conventional (bias-ply) bicycle tyres. This means the carcass material overlaps for a shorter distance and with less tension – giving extra suppleness. To describe this, think how the carcass has less friction as it distorts with less weave overlap, or I picture it as the weave being more ‘open’ with diamond, rather than square-shaped, overlaps. So the Radial tyre isn’t as taut and is easier to be deformed or ‘pushed through’ by bumps at the contact patch.

Built for DH racing and enduro, the 29 x 2.5in Schwalbe Albert Radial tyre in Gravity casing weighs just over 1,310g.

Unlike many thicker car tyres that use a similar idea, these new Schwalbes aren’t in fact completely radial or cross-ply. Rather than threads lying at a 90° angle to rolling direction (which typically requires an extra reinforcing belt), the lay-up is best described as closer to cross-ply than bias-ply. Going this route means it doesn’t need extra carcass reinforcement that would, presumably, reduce any suppleness benefits of the design.

Schwalbe claims that, through deformation, the Radial tyres are laying down a much bigger contact patch and are ‘always having more rubber in contact with the ground… that follows bumps many times better than a bias-ply tyre’ and that ‘the result is more grip, more comfort and more safety off-road’. Pretty damn big claims then.

Schwalbe is making some pretty bold claims about the new Radial casing.

The brand acknowledges rolling resistance increases slightly as a result of more ground connection, but obviously this is less important in gravity tyres, and ‘can be mostly compensated for by clever tread designs, as already demonstrated on the Albert’. On this topic, I didn’t feel that the rolling speed is particularly negatively impacted here, and these tyres definitely rolled better than the ‘normal’ Ultra Soft Magic Mary equivalent I tested them back-to-back with.

In terms of more general construction elements, the Alberts are e-bike rated and available in two colour-coded Addix rubber blends; purple Ultra Soft and orange Soft. Since only the angle of the plies, rather than thickness or layers have changed (Alberts use a 67 TPI weave that’s typically thick like other DH tyres) the tyres should offer the same level of toughness and puncture protection as previously. Albert is available in both Gravity or, slightly cheaper and lighter, Trail casing in 27.5in or 29in sizes and with a folding bead that’s TLR or tubeless ready. At £82 these tyres are top end price-wise, and around a fiver more than previous generation Schwalbe gravity tyres in top spec.

A calmer, quieter, less frenetic feedback makes the Schwalbe Albert Radial tyre a winning option for those seeking more control.

Performance

It’s hard to read Schwalbe’s bold Radial tyre claims and not expect them to ride completely differently to the competition with their ‘lame old’ dated bias-ply designs. Once my test Albert tyres hit the dirt, reality did not quite match the revolutionary expectations, or immediately turn me into Amaury Pierron, but there’s clearly something impressive at work here in terms of how much grip and ground connection the new design offers.

Much like the slurpiest tyres I’ve ever used (Specialized’s T9 Hillbilly and Pirelli Scorpion Race spring to mind) Schwalbe’s new lay-up makes the Albert supremely damped and planted, but takes the sensation even further. This tyre really manages to take the sting out of rough terrain and calm down the bike and rider, both by absorbing hits more readily, and also by bouncing back less at me.

From the first ride it was immediately noticeable that grip levels are very high, and the spongier and more deforming ride is so pronounced that I added a couple of psi more at both ends. The aim was to make the tyres feel more solid (and more like I was used to) in terms of feedback when loading the bike and pushing into trail features and berms.

I first used the new Alberts a few times to get a feel for them, and nail down the best set-up. From there I set about doing comparative runs with other benchmark products to double check exactly what was going on. The Albert tread isn’t a million miles away from a Maxxis Assegai, so I used a Maxx Grip version of that tyre in Double Down casing, as the weight is close (the Maxxis is still heavier). With 2 x 120tpi layers, the DD version is also slightly more conforming than the thicker, and well over 100g heavier, DH version.

Schwalbe says the new Albert Radial tyres are slower rolling than regular casing versions, but we didn’t find them excessively lethargic.

I also back-to-back tested the Albert against a current-generation Super Downhill Magic Mary (there was no previous Albert) to see how the construction ride quality differs between Schwalbe generations.

The distinction between the older Magic Mary was most marked, with the new Albert hugely different in terms of suppleness and connection, even running an extra 2 psi. The Albert basically made the Mary feel quite stiff, springy and almost clunky in comparison, and despite a less spaced-out and aggressive tread pattern, I had more grip and confidence to push on, even in wet and slimy conditions. Basically, between the pair, I much preferred the Albert for its calmer and more connected ride, as well as improved comfort at my hands.

With the Assegai, the difference wasn’t as stark in terms of damping and tracking, but again, the Albert definitely feels more connected and calmer rolling over bumps of all sizes. It doesn’t bounce and chatter as much as the Maxxis DD over small repeated ripples or loose stones, and feels more sucked onto the ground and less like it springs back at you or lifts the bike light momentarily after it has been compressed – evident when touching back down from a jump where it is also super-cushioned. The sensation (on the front tyre at least) is a bit like having less air in your fork, but if it only affected the start of the fork stroke rather than deeper in the travel.

The new Albert blows up visibly narrower than a 2.5in Maxxis, but I didn’t ever feel this translated to less comfort or damping, and the way the rubber blocks bite in and offer continuous, rather than binary grip, is actually pretty similar. I’d be happy running either tyre, but overall I’m convinced there a smidge more grip and connection with the Albert then the Assegai – it’s also more comfortable like the super-damped Pirelli I mentioned earlier (although that tyre feels more floaty and less precise). Seeing as the Assegai is widely regarded as one of the grippiest tyres around, this is high praise indeed.

The Albert tread pattern isn’t the best in loose, soft dirt, but it’s a good all-rounder.

One other thing with the Albert is while I felt like I wanted to run the tyre a bit harder to make it feels more like a ‘normal’ tyre, I’m not sure I actually needed to. The sidewalls (in the Gravity version at least) don’t feel particularly flexy or unsupportive at regular pressures, and a lot of riders might prefer the super-compliant, locked-on feel and the leech-like grip; especially on wetter, slower and steeper terrain. I haven’t tried the Trail version yet, so can’t comment on whether that tyre is as stable.

A pal of mine who works on the WC DH circuit tells me that the Albert isn’t the first choice of the fastest downhillers in the world as they lean the bike so much – many of them prefer a more pronounced gap onto the edge blocks to get the most aggressive corner-railing sensation. My gut feeling is that for the vast majority of riders, who, let’s face it, aren’t getting anywhere near the extremes of the very top racers, will prefer a tyre that feels like it is always gripping and tracking.

Schwalbe admits that the because the Radial design relies on deforming with less force, and also having a more linear curve to the way it compresses and rebounds, makes the tyre slower rolling. As I mentioned, I didn’t find this a problem, or the Albert particularly slow on that score though. This is obviously not an XC or faster trail tyre, but nor is it (comparatively speaking) an absolute pain to pedal around, even in Ultra Soft Addix. That’s in marked contrast to a Michelin or Pirelli DH tyre with super sticky and slow-rebounding rubber. My guess is the supple casing actually helps with rolling speed in some instances where small bumps are otherwise continually chipping away at momentum, given that Schwalbe’s tyre erases small impacts more effectively.

One potential Albert drawback is the near continuous tread doesn’t claw into loose dirt as well as a spikier tyre, but Schwalbe also offers the Magic Mary tread pattern and the super aggressive, e-bike targeting, Shredda in this new Radial construction too and those tyres should also shed mulch and clog up less in winter conditions, while still offering the extra suppleness.