Already a much loved tire on its own, the Schwalbe Nobby Nic has gotten a face lift. Now in its third incarnation, the Nic has been redesigned to be even more of an all ’rounder with a tread pattern suited to diverse conditions. Seeing as how just about everything is tubeless these days, the new an improved Nic also receives an updated sidewall that not only make the tire more resilient to cuts, but is said to improve the tubeless function as well.
Of course Schwalbe continues to tease us with their Dual Chamber system which was first introduced back in February. We’ve been promised that full details will be available at Eurobike, but for now we’ll have to work on the knowledge we’ve been provided – that it is a dual chamber system that uses higher pressure in the center, and lower pressure around the edges.
You’ll have to wait for more on the Dual Chamber system but full details on the new Nobby Nic are after the break…
The most notable change to the Nobby Nic would have to be the new tread pattern, which looks a bit like a mini Han’s Dampf. The tread has been redesigned with stronger center and outer blocks with v-grooves for improved traction and braking. Designed to be the perfect all conditions tire, Schwalbe’s Chief R&D Engineer, Markus Hachmeyer says,
“It’s not the fastest Cross Country Tire, note the toughest Enduro tire, and also not the most grippy mud tire, but if you are looking for a tire that works in every situation, a tire that is never the wrong one, when it doesn’t matter what the weather is like, and no matter what kind of terrain is awaiting you, there is no better choice than the new Nobby Nic.”
Promised to have the same weight and rolling resistance as the current Nic, the improvements are enough to cause Schwable to remove the Fat Albert tire from their line up as well.
Equipped with what Schwalbe calls the Tubeless Easy sidewall, the Nic uses a new monofiliament polyamide construction for the fabric of their SnakeSkin protection. Compared to the previous mutifilament design, the new sidewall is 18% more cut resistant to get you there and back. The added bonus of the new SnakeSkin is that is makes tubeless conversions easier thanks to a more air tight construction. Schwalbe says the new Tubeless Easy should mount up without the excess shaking and pumping of the past.
Already ridden to victory on the Enduro World Series by Nico Lau of the Cube Action Team, the tire was uses on the rear with a Magic Mary on the front.
Nobby Nics will be offered in an insane amount of versions with all tire sizes, PaceStar, TrailStar, and GateStar rubber compounds, TL Easy, Double Defense, and LiteSkin casings, and Evolution and Performance line tires, with widths from 2.10-2.35″. Delivery is set for this fall.
