Schwalbe Magic Mary & Rock Razor Tyres

It wasn’t that many years ago where mentioning the ubiquitous ‘E’ word meant you were about to put on some fluoro clothing, grab a glow stick or two, and head off to some obscure location for a barely memorable evening of ‘dancing’. Whilst the garish clothing colours remain the same, today’s hackneyed and clichéd ‘E’ word – enduro – conjures up images of a very different kind. It’s all about bikes and equipment that are made to pedal relatively easily up smooth access trails in order to scream at eye-watering speed down trails which, a few seasons back, would have qualified as World Cup downhills. The Europeans have been E-ing (the modern kind; wait, maybe it’s both?) longer than anyone else, so it’s not really surprising that German rubber vendors Schwalbe have released a set of tyres specifically designed for enduro racing; the Magic Mary out front, and Rock Razor for the rear.

Both tyres come in a 2.35-inch width and a range of different wheel sizes, tread compounds and casing types. We tested the most trail-worthy combination; both featured the lightweight Evolution casing while our Rock Razor had the hardest/fastest Pacestar compound and the Magic Mary used the middling Trailstar compound. Schwalbe’s Evolution casing mightn’t be the toughest on the market but it’s a long way from the most fragile.

If you’re after ultimate protection and grip and couldn’t care less about weight, you could always opt for the heavily reinforced Super Gravity casing with Trailstar rubber on the back and the extra tacky Vertstar compound up front. Those would hit the scales at 1,100g/965g for front and back. Our particular test tyres are far more svelte at 835g/695g respectively. Even on a fairly anaemic set of 19mm ID rims the Magic Mary measured 60mm across the casing and 62mm across the tread—it’s a very substantial tyre. The Razor is a little smaller at 57/60mm respectively, which makes those quite reasonable weights all the more impressive. Construction quality is excellent on both tyres and the tubeless ready casings inflate easily on most rims with only a track pump. Quality comes at a price though, and if you want a set you’ll have to pony up around $100 per tyre.

Mary’s Magic

The tall, square, and widely spaced tread blocks on the Magic Mary speak of one thing only; grip. There’s plenty of siping to help the tread conform to every little contour of the trail, the edge knobs are very tall but heavily supported, and there’s only subtle ramping along the centreline as a minor concession to rolling speed. Does it deliver on its beguiling promise of traction? Hell yes! We rode it in a wide variety of conditions and came away thoroughly impressed every time.

On hardpack we thought the tall tread might feel squirmy but that wasn’t the case, and Mary stayed stable and predictable far beyond expectations. It’s in loose or loamy conditions where she really turns on the magic; lean, push, then lean some more, then push some more, then some more again. We really don’t think we found the limit of grip that the Magic Mary is capable of on its home terrain, it really is that good. It was almost as good in thick, claggy mud, so it can serve as a go-to tyre for any trail conditions.

It brakes exceptionally well too, so you can choose to either come into a turn hot and brake super late, or scare yourself silly by carrying more speed than you thought possible into and then right through a corner—spoilt for choice really. No, it doesn’t roll particularly fast, but for the front of an enduro bike that’s not even remotely important. If there’s a better front tyre for a hardcore trail bike currently on the market, we’re yet to ride it.

Razor Gang

The Rock Razor is an entirely different animal; it’s designed to roll quickly in a straight line and then dig in like a hungry tick in the turns. The medium sized but well supported edge knobs outline rows of small, low and densely packed blocks. Once again there’s heavy siping on every single piece of tread. Not only is it a noticeably fast tyre in a straight line, but it also digs in when climbing far better than you might expect, at least as long as the trail surface is reasonably dry and hard. As you might expect it doesn’t play at all well with mud.

Lean it over onto the solid edges and the Rock Razor becomes much more ferocious, with a high level of grip that complements but doesn’t overshadow Magic Mary up front; if you’re going to drift, it’ll almost certainly be rear wheel first. The transition from centre to edge is a bit on/off, and you need to commit to corners by leaning heavily in order to get into the traction zone, otherwise you’ll find yourself skating across the trail until the edges bite. It takes an aggressive riding style to utilise its potential fully. If you can avoid soft and damp conditions, we think the Razor would make a totally acceptable rear tyre for a general use trail bike. We suspect it’ll wear quite rapidly, but the performance shouldn’t change too much as there’s not a whole lot of tread to start with!

Two new tyres, and two wins; Schwalbe has a right to be a little bit proud. The Rock Razor excels but only in specific conditions, and it needs a particular style to wield it. The ‘supernatural lady’ is a tyre we’d recommend unequivocally and she’s worth every cent. Maybe magic really does happen…

Bike Box (03) 9555 5800 / www.bikebox.com.au