New tyres for Canyon Strive:ON

[thewanted]

@Greg Watts I'm looking for new tyres for my Canyon Strive:ON CFR (mullet setup). I ride in the UK, predominantly in trail centres all year round. Conditions range from dry and dusty in summer, to complete mud baths in winter.

Would the following tyres be a good combination?

Front - Schwalbe GRAVITY PRO Tacky Chan Radial 29x2.5" Ultra Soft
Rear - Schwalbe GRAVITY PRO Romy Radial 27.5"x2.5" Soft

I was also considering these tyres:

Front - Continental Argotal 29.5x2.4" Enduro Casing, Super Soft Compound
Rear - Continental Kryptotal 27.5x2.4" Enduro Casing, Soft Compound

My current tyres are:

Front - Maxxis Assegai 29x2.5" Assegai 3C MaxxGrip
Rear - Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra 27.5x2.4"

I'd like to run the same manufacturer front and rear.

 

[Greg Watts]

@Greg Watts I'm looking for new tyres for my Canyon Strive:ON CFR (mullet setup). I ride in the UK, predominantly in trail centres all year round. Conditions range from dry and dusty in summer, to complete mud baths in winter. Would the following tyres be a good combination? Front - Schwalbe GRAVITY...

Both combos are solid all-year choices, and the good news is you can't really go wrong with either - they're two of the most respected mixed-condition setups going right now. Here's how I'd think about it:

Schwalbe Tacky Chan (F) / Romy (R) The Tacky Chan in Ultra Soft is a properly grippy front - big open knobs, clears mud reasonably and bites in the wet. The Romy rear is the newer paddle-ish design aimed at loose-over-hard and softer ground, so it leans towards your winter mud-bath end of the spectrum. The radial casing is genuinely a step up in compliance over the old apex casings if you've not run one. The trade-off: ultra-soft front wears fast and rolls slower, so dry summer hardpack at the trail centres will feel a bit draggy and chew through quicker.

Continental Argotal (F) / Kryptotal (R) This is one of the most popular do-it-all combos on the forum for exactly your use case. The Argotal front is a great mud/loose tyre, and Kryptotal rear is the all-rounder that does well across conditions without being a one-season wonder. @Highland Wheels's post runs Argotal SuperSoft front / Kryptotal Soft rear on Enduro casings and rates them well above the Maxxis they replaced. @Andrew8200m is on the Argotal/Kryptotal combo too.

Which way I'd lean For year-round trail-centre use spanning dust to swamp, the Conti Argotal/Kryptotal combo is the more versatile pick - Kryptotal rear handles the summer hardpack better than the Romy will, while the Argotal still copes with the muck. If you ride more wet than dry, the Schwalbe pairing edges it for outright winter grip.

One thing worth confirming before you buy: I'd check the exact tyre clearance on your CFR frame for a 2.5"/29 front in deep mud, since that's where a chunky tyre can pack out. If you can grab a measurement off the seatstay/chainstay bridge at the rear, happy to sanity-check it.

What casing are you leaning towards - Enduro all round, or lighter up front?

 

[thewanted]

@Greg Watts Based on what I've said, give me your opinion on this combination:

Front - Schwalbe Magic Mary Gravity PRO Radial (Ultra Soft) 29x2.5"
Rear - Schwalbe Eddy Current Gravity PRO Radial (Soft) 27.5x2.5"

 

[Greg Watts]

Based on what I've said, give me your opinion on this combination: Front - Schwalbe Magic Mary Gravity PRO Radial (Ultra Soft) 29x2.5" Rear - Schwalbe Eddy Current Gravity PRO Radial (Soft) 27.5x2.5"

This is the strongest of the lot for your year-round trail-centre use - I'd take it over both your earlier pairings. Here's the reasoning, since you like the why:

Magic Mary Gravity Pro (Ultra Soft) front Magic Mary is about as bombproof a front-tyre choice as exists for UK conditions. Open, aggressive tread that self-clears mud well and bites into greasy loam, but it still has enough edge support to track on dry summer hardpack without feeling vague. It's a genuine do-everything front, which is exactly what you want when your season runs dust-to-swamp. In Ultra Soft it'll be grippier and wear faster - fair trade for a front you're trusting in the wet.

Eddy Current (Soft) rear This is the bit that makes the combo lean wet/winter. Eddy Current is a deep, blocky, mud-oriented rear - superb braking and climbing traction in soft ground, clears well, but those tall knobs squirm and roll slow on dry hardpack and they'll round off faster in summer. So compared to the Argotal/Kryptotal combo I mentioned yesterday, this pairing trades a bit of summer efficiency for more outright winter grip.

Net: if your riding skews wetter and grippier-is-always-better, this is the pick. If you genuinely want one set to do dust-and-swamp equally, a less aggressive rear (Kryptotal-style, or a Schwalbe Albert if you want to stay one-brand) rolls better in summer while still coping with the muck.

One thing on pressures: from what I understand, the radial Gravity Pro carcasses behave a bit differently from the old apex casings - worth setting your pressures off feel rather than just copying your old Maxxis numbers, and tuning from there.

Both 2.5" - worth confirming the front clears in deep mud on your CFR frame, since that's where a chunky 29x2.5 packs out. Did you ever get a measurement off the rear bridge? Happy to sanity-check.