Schwalbe Albert MTB tires boast “30% more contact area than conventional tires” [Review]

Schwalbe Albert tires win the 2024 MTB Innovation of the Year Award for me. The brand’s engineers took the great gear they had, and made it better. Significantly better.  

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Schwalbe Albert key specs

• Weight: 1346g
• Price: $98 as tested
• Buy from REI

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Apart from a few fresh tread patterns, mountain bike tires haven’t seen much innovation in the past few years. All are tubeless, most casings can take a beating without flatting, and tread generally seems to last a season, terrain-willing. 

With their new radial casings, Schwalbe looked at tires from a slightly different angle. By adjusting the angle of threads in their tire casing to a more “radial” orientation, the German brand has achieved a uniquely larger contact patch for better traction. Their marketing copy claims “Radial tires offer approximately 30% more contact area than conventional tires at the same air pressure. Even if the air pressure is increased by 50%, the contact area is still 15% larger.” That’s a marked opportunity for increased grip and it’s undeniably noticeable on the trail. 

I tested the Albert 29 x 2.5” with gravity casings, wrapped in their Addix Soft tread compound under the saddle and Addix Ultra-Soft below the handlebars. The Albert is a directional tread pattern designed for all seasons and most conditions. 

The Albert tires snapped into place with a small pump and held their sealant through several months of wet winter sliding here in Bellingham. Given the higher pressures you can run with these tires, I experienced fewer rim strikes than usual and zero flats. I could get away with Schwalbe’s lighter Trail Pro casing for local riding and I will likely try that configuration once this set wears out. 

I first rode the Alberts with my preferred pressure of 20psi front and 23 rear. They rolled along, as round things do, but felt somewhat heavy and sluggish compared to gravity tires of similar heft and intention. On descents, the tires seemed over-damped, performing similarly to a fork or shock with too much rebound damping (aka too slow). These performance nuances weren’t massive, but they are worth noting.  

I bumped into a friend who had been riding the Schwalbe Albert tires for a while and they suggested trying higher pressures in 5psi increments. I cranked up the internal-wind slowly until it was too high, then titrated down to a cozy 25psi front and 31 rear. That pressure leaves the Alberts feeling as lively and responsive as my previous tires while maintaining the larger traction patch thanks to the radial casings.

Schwalbe claims that the radial casings match the contours on the ground better than conventional MTB tire casings to provide better traction. Pedaling up and over slick stuff with these kicks up a clear example of their grip prowess. It’s not night-and-day, but they slip and sputter less than other tires. If you love a technical climb challenge, I’d recommend giving this radial tire a try. It’s the kind of performance advantage that will make some of us giggle with excitement. 

Earth grabbing on the way downhill with these tires is just stupid. Stupid good. It takes more effort to break them loose when you want to, which is a challenge I welcome. I feel more comfortable leaning my bike deep into turns and letting go of the brakes through slick root-mats, with the confidence that my tires will stick better than they have in the past. When I have pushed the Alberts into a two-wheel drift they regain traction staunchly, snapping to attention. In most conditions, all this traction means faster and riskier lines are a bit more plausible than before.  

Schwalbe currently has three tread patterns attached to their radial casings: Albert, Magic Mary, and Shredda. For deeper mud, riders can step up to the Magic Mary tread, or go full Shredda for the steepest gravity tracks. The Albert tread is a fantastic all-arounder, but I would love to try both of the longer-lugged treads for soggier conditions. The Albert pattern hooks up well, clears mud in a reasonable fashion, and the lug transitions are predictable from center to shoulder. It hooks up well under heavy braking, though the shorter lugs are at their limit on truly steep trails. This tread is at home in terrain similar to the Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR MaxGrip DoubleDown setup. I’m stoked to see this as the all-arounder, with two tiers above it for increased trail angles.  

Circling back to rebound and sound, these tires are quiet and composed on the messiest of trails. Comparing rebound characteristics with these more supple casings to that of traditional MTB casings feels akin to having your fork and shock damper set up properly versus a few clicks wonky. They take a tiny edge off the ride while still feeling lively and supportive where it counts. All that attention to rebound and smooth rolling leaves you with fewer distractions at speed. It’s subtle and meaningful.  

Pros and cons of Schwalbe Albert

Pros

• Innovative grip improvements
• Trail-smoothing rebound
• Low trail/tread noise
• Good puncture protection

Cons

• They are expensive at almost $100

Bottom line

 I can’t recommend these tires enough. Their top-shelf price is met with all the performance advantages you want, and a few extras. Schwalbe has a variety of sizes, casings, and tread compounds that should suit your local terrain requirements.