One of the best mountain bike tires any enduro or gravity mountain biker can have, rolling at the front of their bike, is Schwalbe’s Magic Mary. Last year, a range of new compounds and casings became part of Schwalbe’s tire range, and Magic Mary benefitted from these specification upgrades.
The design bias on Magic Magic is absolute grip. Rolling resistance is high and as such, the Magic Mary is rarely, if ever, used as a rear tire, except by gravity racers who are only interested in grip.
A bold tread pattern sees the extensive use of sipes. The Magic Mary’s large shoulder tread blocks contain two longitudinal sipes, which help seek transitional grip when cornering on the limit and allow progressive – and predictable – breakaway.
Much of a bike’s braking performance is supported by a tire’s center tread blocks in steep and slippery terrain. Schwalbe’s engineers and designers use an alternating pattern of dual- and triple tread blocks along the tire’s center tread. These tread blocks feature lateral sipes, which boosts braking grip.
Beyond the mechanical grip properties of Magic Mary’s tread design, Schwalbe also provides the choice of two rubber compounds.
A purple compound tag on the sidewall indicates the Addix ultra-soft rubber formulation, delivering the most possible grip, at a slight cost to rolling speed.
For those riders who might consider running a Magic Mary on the rear of their downhill bike, Schwalbe also offers an orange-grade Addix compound, which is slightly more durable.
There are three casing choices too. Super Trail is the lightest of these, with Super Gravity recommended for enduro mountain biking and the burliest casing, Super Downhill, best used on downhill bikes, when there is chairlift trail access.
Aside from its uncompromising tread pattern and diversity of casings, Schwalbe also offers a very generous spread of tire sizes with the Magic Mary.
For those riders who still wish to keep their 26-inch downhill bikes rolling with the latest rubber technology, the Magic Mary is available in 26x2.35-inch and 26x2.6-inch sizes.
If you are rolling 27.5-inch wheels, there are 2.4-inch, 2.6-inch and 2.8-inch wide options, with the latter targeted at 650b fatties or e-bikes.
In the 29er wheel size, Schwalbe offers a narrow 2.25-inch Magic Mary, ideal for muddy conditions. The default size for most trail and enduro riders will be Magic Mary in 29x2.4-inch, with the larger and heavier 29x2.6-inch appealing to shuttle-assisted downhill riders or enduro e-bikers.
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