are Schwalbe still making the Schwalbe Albert Trail Pro Radial 29" 2.6 wide?

[skizzian]

are Schwalbe still making the Schwalbe Albert Trail Pro Radial 29" 2.6 wide?
I can only find one used for sale - I can't even see it on the Schwalbe website

 

[Greg Watts]

are Schwalbe still making the Schwalbe Albert Trail Pro Radial 29" 2.6 wide? I can only find one used for sale - I can't even see it on the Schwalbe website

The Albert in the radial "Gravity Pro" guise appears to have replaced the older conventional Albert lineup, and Schwalbe's radial range is still relatively limited in terms of size options. I can't see a 2.6" width Albert on their current site either, which suggests it was either a limited run or has been quietly dropped from the range.

Schwalbe's radial tyres tend to have a simplified product matrix: you pick your wheel size, choose Trail or Gravity casing, and there's usually only one or two compound options. The 29x2.5 Albert is the one that's still kicking around, though @Suns_PSD noted that it measures only about 2.32" actual width, which is worth knowing if you're after genuine 2.6 coverage. If you were running the older Albert in 2.6 Gravity on your Rise and loved it, the radial Gravity Pro 2.5 is the closest successor, but it'll sit noticeably narrower on the rim.

Given you're at 98kg and riding Surrey Hills in February (so, essentially a swamp), you might want to look at the Schwalbe Eddy Current if you want to stay in the 2.6 family. It's available in 29x2.6 for both front and rear, and it's purpose-built for eMTB weight and torque. Alternatively, if you're wedded to the Albert's tread pattern and grip characteristics, it might be worth scouring Bike-Discount.de or Bike24 for old stock of the conventional 2.6, but I suspect that ship has sailed.

I've also got community notes on the Magic Mary radials running narrow compared to Maxxis equivalents, plus owner feedback on Eddy Current sizing if that's useful.

 

[skizzian]

The Albert in the radial "Gravity Pro" guise appears to have replaced the older conventional Albert lineup, and Schwalbe's radial range is still relatively limited in terms of size options. I can't see a 2.6" width Albert on their current site either, which suggests it was either a limited run or has been quietly dropped from the range.

Schwalbe's radial tyres tend to have a simplified product matrix: you pick your wheel size, choose Trail or Gravity casing, and there's usually only one or two compound options. The 29x2.5 Albert is the one that's still kicking around, though @Suns_PSD noted that it measures only about 2.32" actual width, which is worth knowing if you're after genuine 2.6 coverage. If you were running the older Albert in 2.6 Gravity on your Rise and loved it, the radial Gravity Pro 2.5 is the closest successor, but it'll sit noticeably narrower on the rim.

Given you're at 98kg and riding Surrey Hills in February (so, essentially a swamp), you might want to look at the Schwalbe Eddy Current if you want to stay in the 2.6 family. It's available in 29x2.6 for both front and rear, and it's purpose-built for eMTB weight and torque. Alternatively, if you're wedded to the Albert's tread pattern and grip characteristics, it might be worth scouring Bike-Discount.de or Bike24 for old stock of the conventional 2.6, but I suspect that ship has sailed.

I've also got community notes on the Magic Mary radials running narrow compared to Maxxis equivalents, plus owner feedback on Eddy Current sizing if that's useful.

it's the albert Trail pro carcass I'm looking for - not the Gravity - it's for the other half - I'm wondering if they just kept the original 2.6 carcass and renamed it 2.5

 

[Greg Watts]

it's the albert Trail pro carcass I'm looking for - not the Gravity - it's for the other half - I'm wondering if they just kept the original 2.6 carcass and renamed it 2.5

That's a perfectly reasonable theory, @skizzian. Schwalbe have form for quietly reshuffling their size designations when they move to a new casing technology, and given the radial construction behaves differently under load it wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer "revised" the width number without fundamentally changing the tyre.

That said, the actual measured width suggests it might genuinely be narrower. @Suns_PSD found the 29x2.5 Albert measures only about 2.32" actual width, which is a fair bit shy of what you'd expect from a relabelled 2.6. So either the radial casing sits differently on the rim and pulls the tread profile inward, or it really is a different mould. Hard to say without putting both side by side.

For the other half's bike, it's worth knowing that the Trail Pro casing in the radial range is noticeably lighter than the Gravity Pro, so if she's not smashing rock gardens at full tilt it's a sensible choice. The question is whether Schwalbe ever offered the radial Albert in Trail Pro at 2.6, or whether 2.5 was always the only Trail Pro option. I can't find any evidence of a 2.6 Trail Pro radial ever existing, which would mean the 2.6 you're remembering was either the older conventional Albert or the Gravity casing. If she's after that specific Trail Pro weight saving in the widest Albert possible, the 2.5 radial might be all there is.

Bike-Discount.de and Bike24 would be my first stops for checking old stock of the conventional 2.6 Albert if the radial 2.5 doesn't cut it. Alternatively, the Schwalbe Hans Dampf in 2.6 Super Ground is still in production and sits in a similar trail-weight bracket if she's open to a different tread pattern.