Schwalbe Nobby Nic [Rider Review]

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Just like a car, the most important contact point to the ground is the tires. There are a lot of options when it comes to mountain bike tires, and one of the biggest names is Schwalbe. Our friend, Chris, threw on a set of Nobby Nic tires. See what they think! 

Overview

I bought a pair of Schwalbe Nobby Nic 29 x 2.6 tires in the Super Trail casing with SpeedGrip compound to replace a pair of Continental Der Baron / Der Kaiser 2.4 Projekt Apex tires on my Kona Honzo steel hardtail. I was looking for slightly higher air volume and greater casing suppleness to smooth out the ride of the hardtail over rougher terrain. While the Continental tires offered excellent traction, I found them to be a bit too stiff and unforgiving when inflated to pressures sufficient to avoid rim strikes. They are also on the heavy side for a hardtail, but I was willing to accept the weight penalty for durability and reliability over the sharp rock gardens that are often encountered on trails here in the Southeast. For this same reason, I opted for the Schwalbe Super Trail casing instead of the lighter Super Ground or Super Race.

The construction and tread design of the Schwalbe Nobby Nic Super Trail tires is superb, and reflects the decades of innovation and refinement that Schwalbe is known for. I had no trouble mounting them tubeless with a floor pump on WTB KOM Light i30 rims, and after approximately 6 months of riding there is no visible damage or significant wear to the casings or knobs. The tires measure just under 2.5” when inflated to 20 psi on 30mm internal rims. In terms of quality and design for their intended use case, these tires exceed expectations.

Ride quality of these tires is equally good. Given the exceptional amount of predictable traction offered by these tires, they roll surprisingly fast. The round tire profile is ideal for downcountry/trail applications where all-around performance is preferred over outright downhill performance.

The only disappointment I experienced with these tires is in the suppleness of the casing. Although they offer some improvement over the Continental Der Baron / Der Kaiser combo, they still feel quite stiff and unforgiving. I weigh 155 pounds and typically ride tire pressures of 23 rear / 20 front on my hardtail. At these pressures I still experience bottom outs with these tires, and have managed to put 5 dents in my rear rim since mounting them. (I have raised the pressure I run in these tires over time, but the latest 2 dents occurred with 23 psi in the rear). I have been riding mountain bikes for 35 years, and denting rims is not something I usually do. These tires fooled me, as they seem to offer plenty of sidewall support until - BAM – out of nowhere you get a rim strike. As a point of comparison, with Maxxis tires the feedback I get from the tire allows me to immediately recognize when my pressure is too low or too high, and adjust accordingly. The Schwalbe tires are deceptively stiff, and do not offer a similar level of suppleness for a given level of bottom-out protection as Maxxis tires.

My impression is that these tires would be best on full suspension bikes, where finding the balance between suppleness and bottom-out protection is not as crucial as it is on a hardtail. They would also be a fantastic tire for heavier riders that like a lot of sidewall support.

Final Thoughts

Overall, these are industry-leading tires, and feature a highly-refined profile and tread design that offers an exceptional balance of predictable grip and speed. I can highly recommend them to anyone who runs higher pressures and likes a lot of sidewall support. I see these tires performing best on smoother, faster trails without frequent square-edge hits that eat rims for lunch.