Schwalbe Magic Mary EVO SS ADDIX Soft £58.99
Fitting a Magic Mary to the front of your bike is essentially cheating – the grip on offer is unreal! It’s the side knobs that make it so good. They’re a similar height to those on the e*13 TRSr but are angled so that the tyre maintains a rounded profile more similar to that of the Minion DHF. Large side struts make them incredibly well-supported, and they’re angled to bite into the ground harder the sharper you turn. They’re also stiff torsionally, which helps the tyre stay predictable. The Mary is in its element on off-piste terrain, where it bites into the dirt, but the rounded profile and stiff tread mean it can also hold its own on hardpack without terrifying understeer. The tread spacing varies, enabling good mud shedding without creating a grip ‘no-man’s land’. We didn’t have any punctures with the ‘SnakeSkin’ casing but consider the ‘Super Gravity’ option if you’re prone to ripping tyres. Durability of the new ‘ADDIX Soft’ compound seems good – previous iterations of the tyre would have had peeling side knobs by the end of our testing. Tubeless set-up is simple. www.schwalbe.com