I'm looking for new tyres for my Canyon Strive: On

[Sind]

Hey Greg,

Here's my brief - leaning towards Schwalbe Tacky Chan front and Romy rear, but unclear on which compound and whether I go for Trail or Gravity:

Bike: Canyon Strive:ON CFR — mullet, 29" front / 27.5" rear. Confirmed stock fitment: Assegai 29×2.5 MaxxGrip EXO+ front, Minion DHR II 27.5×2.4 MaxxTerra DoubleDown rear.
Riding: 80% Surrey + Swinley, occasional QECP, rarer Wales (hoping for more). Mixed singletrack — rooty, rocky, sandy. Year-round, ~twice a month, so regular wet and some mud, though Surrey drains reasonably. Jumps, but nothing massive.
Priorities, in order: grip first, then decent (not class-leading) rolling resistance, then enough protection — explicitly not DH/gravity overkill.
Wear: a non-issue. Your Maxxis did 715km and only Wales finished them; you're happy to replace sooner for better performance.
Casing logic: match what worked — tough rear, lighter front (your EXO+ front / DoubleDown rear ran puncture-free).
Tech: you want to try radial — provided it's also the right tyre, not in spite of being wrong.
Brand: moving off Maxxis; want one manufacturer front and rear.
Kitted up I'm 80kg

I was thinking:

Front — Tacky Chan, 29×2.5, Trail Pro, Radial, Ultra Soft
Rear — Romy, 27.5×2.4, Trail Pro, Radial, Soft or Romy, 27.5×2.5, Gravity Pro, Radial, Soft

 

[Greg Watts]

Hey Greg, Here's my brief - leaning towards Schwalbe Tacky Chan front and Romy rear, but unclear on which compound and whether I go for Trail or Gravity: Bike: Canyon Strive:ON CFR — mullet, 29" front / 27.5" rear. Confirmed stock fitment: Assegai 29×2.5 MaxxGrip EXO+ front, Minion DHR II 27.5×2.4 M...

Good brief - you've basically done my job for me, so let me just slot the Schwalbe equivalents into your logic.

Compound: Tacky Chan front in Soft, Romy rear in Soft. Schwalbe's Soft (orange stripe) is the sensible all-round front grip choice for UK mixed conditions - it's the closest analogue to your MaxxGrip front without tipping into the slow-as-treacle Ultra Soft. Ultra Soft is lovely but you'll feel the drag and chew it fast; you don't need it for Surrey/Swinley. Romy rear in Soft keeps grip honest in the wet without killing your rolling resistance priority. If you wanted to lean harder on rolling speed you could go Romy in Speed compound, but given grip is your #1, I'd keep it Soft.

Casing: Radial Trail front, Radial Gravity rear. This maps neatly onto your casing logic - lighter, suppler front for grip and feel; tougher rear where the hits and pinch risk live. Tacky Chan and Romy both exist in the radial line now (the new Neuron:ON ships Magic Mary Radial Gravity front and rear from the factory, so the radial casings are real and shipping). Trail radial front gives you that supple grip-forward feel you'll want up front; Gravity radial rear gives protection without going full DH overkill - which you explicitly didn't want.

Two things worth flagging: • Clearance. Your Strive:ON runs a 27.5 rear. Romy comes in a few widths - I'd check what your frame swallows before committing to the widest. The Neuron:ON (similar Canyon mullet) clears 2.5in rear, so you've likely got room, but confirm against your actual Strive:ON, since I can't verify its exact rear tyre clearance figure - worth a quick measure or a Canyon check.

• Radial caveat. It's genuinely a different feel - more compliant, can run slightly lower pressures. Some love it, some find it vague at speed. Since you want to try it "because it's right, not in spite of being wrong" - I think it stacks up here. Just don't expect it to feel identical to your DoubleDown rear.

@ENES's post on the Assegai/Dissector compromise is a good read on the grip-vs-rolling balance if you want a second angle. What's your rough rider weight? It'll firm up the pressure starting point.

 

[Sind]

Good brief - you've basically done my job for me, so let me just slot the Schwalbe equivalents into your logic.

Compound: Tacky Chan front in Soft, Romy rear in Soft. Schwalbe's Soft (orange stripe) is the sensible all-round front grip choice for UK mixed conditions - it's the closest analogue to your MaxxGrip front without tipping into the slow-as-treacle Ultra Soft. Ultra Soft is lovely but you'll feel the drag and chew it fast; you don't need it for Surrey/Swinley. Romy rear in Soft keeps grip honest in the wet without killing your rolling resistance priority. If you wanted to lean harder on rolling speed you could go Romy in Speed compound, but given grip is your #1, I'd keep it Soft.

Casing: Radial Trail front, Radial Gravity rear. This maps neatly onto your casing logic - lighter, suppler front for grip and feel; tougher rear where the hits and pinch risk live. Tacky Chan and Romy both exist in the radial line now (the new Neuron:ON ships Magic Mary Radial Gravity front and rear from the factory, so the radial casings are real and shipping). Trail radial front gives you that supple grip-forward feel you'll want up front; Gravity radial rear gives protection without going full DH overkill - which you explicitly didn't want.

Two things worth flagging: • Clearance. Your Strive:ON runs a 27.5 rear. Romy comes in a few widths - I'd check what your frame swallows before committing to the widest. The Neuron:ON (similar Canyon mullet) clears 2.5in rear, so you've likely got room, but confirm against your actual Strive:ON, since I can't verify its exact rear tyre clearance figure - worth a quick measure or a Canyon check.

• Radial caveat. It's genuinely a different feel - more compliant, can run slightly lower pressures. Some love it, some find it vague at speed. Since you want to try it "because it's right, not in spite of being wrong" - I think it stacks up here. Just don't expect it to feel identical to your DoubleDown rear.

@ENES's post on the Assegai/Dissector compromise is a good read on the grip-vs-rolling balance if you want a second angle. What's your rough rider weight? It'll firm up the pressure starting point.

@Greg Watts

Kitted up I'm 80kg

I was thinking:

Front — Tacky Chan, 29×2.5, Trail Pro, Radial, Ultra Soft
Rear — Romy, 27.5×2.4, Trail Pro, Radial, Soft or Romy, 27.5×2.5, Gravity Pro, Radial, Soft

 

[Greg Watts]

@Greg Watts Kitted up I'm 80kg I was thinking: Front — Tacky Chan, 29×2.5, Trail Pro, Radial, Ultra Soft Rear — Romy, 27.5×2.4, Trail Pro, Radial, Soft or Romy, 27.5×2.5, Gravity Pro, Radial, Soft

@Sind - 80kg, noted. That actually reinforces the setup rather than changing it. Here's where I land on your two options:

Front: Tacky Chan 29×2.5, Trail Pro, Radial - Soft, not Ultra Soft. You're asking for Ultra Soft, and I'd push back on that. Your priorities are grip first, then rolling resistance. Ultra Soft will give you the grip but you'll notice the drag on Surrey's faster, sandier sections - and at 80kg on an eMTB you're already carrying momentum well. Soft compound gives you the front-end purchase you want without the treacle. Ultra Soft is a weapon for truly slippy conditions or DH-specific runs; for mixed Surrey/Swinley year-round it's more than you need and you'll feel the penalty.

Rear: Romy 27.5×2.4, Trail Pro, Radial - Soft. Between your two rear options, I'd go 2.4 Trail Pro over 2.5 Gravity Pro. Your casing logic was right first time: tougher rear, lighter front - but Trail Pro radial is already meaningfully more robust than EXO+, and you explicitly said no DH overkill. Gravity Pro adds weight and stiffness you don't need for Surrey/Swinley/QECP. The 2.4 also sidesteps any frame clearance uncertainty.

Pressure starting point at 80kg: Remember radial casings run higher pressures than conventional - not lower. Worth factoring into your first ride setup rather than starting from your current Maxxis pressures and wondering why it feels odd.

So: Tacky Chan 29×2.5 Trail Pro Radial Soft front, Romy 27.5×2.4 Trail Pro Radial Soft rear. Exactly one compound step from your original instinct, and I think the right call.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

An Assegai with Exo+ front and rear, plus an insert in the rear tire, works for pretty much everything from flow trails to techy trails. It’s not a super heavy combo either, so it still rolls easily uphill.

Another combo is DHR2 front and a assegai exo with insert rear.

 

[Greg Watts]

An Assegai with Exo+ front and rear, plus an insert in the rear tire, works for pretty much everything from flow trails to techy trails. It’s not a super heavy combo either, so it still rolls easily uphill. Another combo is DHR2 front and a assegai exo with insert rear.

@InRustWeTrust - cheers for chipping in, but @Sind is actually moving away from Maxxis here, so Assegai combos are off the table for this build. He's set on Schwalbe - Tacky Chan front, Romy rear - and the question is compound and casing.

That said, the insert logic is worth a nod. Sind's been running CushCore-style protection via DoubleDown rear casing rather than an insert, which has kept him puncture-free. The Schwalbe Gravity Pro casing he's considering for the rear is the rough equivalent - tougher sidewall, no insert needed. It's a valid approach, just a different route to the same destination.

For what it's worth, given you ran CushCore Pro front and rear on your Strive:ON and rated it for enduro/park - that's a perfectly solid option if Sind ever decides casing alone isn't enough for Wales days. But for Surrey and Swinley, the Gravity Pro rear should cover it without adding insert weight to a bike that's already not exactly a featherweight.