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. 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. 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 … Continue reading I’ve tested hundreds of mountain bike tyres, and the Schwalbe Albert Radial Gravity Pro has the most planted and supremely-damped ride quality I’ve encountered