The 2022 Total UCI World Cup Downhill Winner, Amaury Pierron, challenged Schwalbe to supply the quickest ever downhill mountain bike tire. The end result? The Cheesy Chan, an all-new tread sample that has been below improvement for nearly three years.
The duty set out by Pierron and his staff mates, Thibaut Daprela and Myriam Nicole, was really somewhat extra nuanced than that. They requested for a tire that was faster-rolling, with a extra exact trip really feel than the Magic Mary, with out giving up braking efficiency alongside the best way.
Schwalbe Cheesy Chan
Within the improvement of the Cheesy Chan, Schwalbe took benefit of the massive tread blocks of the Massive Betty. No fewer than twelve cuts of its tread sample had been examined back-to-back by the staff, within the hunt for a tire that exhibited that elevated precision the riders had been after.
The preliminary minimize taken ahead from the twelve choices was related, however not equivalent, to the tread sample launched at the moment. Ramps had been added to the center-tread lugs to cut back rolling resistance, and the shoulder lugs had been made 20% extra steady than these seen on the Magic Mary to lead to elevated lateral assist. Braking edges had been elevated marginally, and the space between middle lugs was elevated by 10% in an effort to permit every to “nibble into the bottom higher” – as Jack Studying places it.
An early prototype of the Cheesy Chan was raced by Thibaut Daprela on the 2021 World Championships in Val di Sole. Regardless of driving nicely in his qualification run, Thibaut crashed twice in his finals run. Although it may be onerous to say precisely what prompted any crash, Schwalbe took a protracted onerous look within the mirror and requested themselves if the tire was at fault.
The suggestions from Thibaut himself was that the tire had potential, however it hadn’t reached the end line in his eyes. Additional refinements had been wanted – particularly, the massive edge lugs had been too stiff, too unyielding, and extra cornering management was required.
From there, Schwalbe made the next key modifications:
- Shoulder lugs had been lowered in quantity, however with the braking edge rising by 1mm
- Additional siping was added to offer extra lateral flex to the shoulder knobs
Schwalbe Cheesy Chan: First Impressions
On the launch occasion in Leogang, we had been handed a Commencal Meta POWER TR. The 140mm eMTB delivers its rear wheel journey by the four-bar Contact System, and is damped by a RockShox Tremendous Deluxe Final Coil. Its 29″ wheels had been residence to a set of the two.4″ Schwalbe Cheesy Chan tires within the Tremendous Downhill casing with the Addix Extremely Comfortable compound making up the tread cap.
To get a really feel for the tire, we had been handled to a mix of quick, ultra-flattering bike park descents and extra pure, slender sections of singletrack suffering from roots. Path situations had been very dry; most surfaces had been hard-packed, with a small dose of loose-over-hard thrown in for good measure.
To be clear; this isn’t a evaluation. To touch upon how the Cheesy Chan compares to every other tires of this style could be disingenuous. I don’t usually trip such flattering bike park situations, nor do I usually trip coil-sprung eBikes. A set of Cheesy Chan tires are making their means residence with me, for the needs of back-to-back testing within the Tweed Valley.
With that in thoughts, listed below are my preliminary ideas.
With 17 PSI within the entrance tire and 20 PSI within the rear, I set off down the Steinberg Line by Fox, a mellow monitor with clean, quick berms and the occasional alternative to double some rollers. I had a good time, and was tremendous impressed with how simply manageable, and even playful, the Commencal Meta Energy TR was. However, you’re not right here to listen to about eBikes.
The Schwalbe Cheesy Chan wasn’t developed with eBikes in thoughts – although it’s E50 permitted – however my preliminary thought is that it’s definitely not a nasty possibility. It didn’t take too many corners to rise up to a great pace, and the tires felt constant all through a protracted descent of the bike park.
Splatters of tire sealant on the sidewalls recommend the entrance and rear tires had been burping somewhat air in turns, however I can’t say I really felt these moments whereas driving the monitor. It’s attainable the tires could have benefited from somewhat extra air. Precision of the tire felt good when pushing for grip to provoke cornering, although I wasn’t but in a spot the place I wished to belief the setup with riskier maneuvers on the loose-over-hard patches of monitor.
Extra belief within the bike and tires got here on the second day of driving the identical tracks, and I did on a handful of events find yourself at larger lean angles that induced a substantial quantity of pleasure and concern in equal measure. Nonetheless, the Schwalbe Cheesy Chan held the road with out drama, suggesting I used to be nonetheless a means off discovering the sting of its grip.
On the extra pure trails that featured extra unfastened, much less well-supported corners, I did really feel somewhat vagueness on the entrance tire in conditions the place I used to be maybe not weighting the entrance wheel fairly as a lot as I ought to have been. The entrance wheel by no means washed totally, however warning photographs had been fired, reminding me to load up the entrance tire extra to make sure it might demand grip from the terrain.
Jack Studying, a World Cup Downhill athlete supported by Schwalbe, did say that the Schwalbe Cheesy Chan performs at its greatest when it’s ridden onerous, and my expertise is definitely in keeping with that.
When it comes to put on, the rear tire had begun to lose its braking edges after lower than a day’s price of driving within the bike park – the above picture is of the rear tire ridden by a fellow journalist who’s considerably extra aggressive and, he wont thoughts me saying, heavier than I’m.
To be honest, you’re in for a really costly season on the bike park for those who’re desirous to run Addix Extremely Comfortable on the rear for the length. Within the curiosity of sturdiness, you’d most likely need to go together with the faster-rolling Addix Comfortable compound possibility – however that’s solely obtainable in 27.5″ x 2.4″ within the Tremendous Gravity casing. Certainly, the Cheesy Chan launches with simply six choices, particulars on which could be discovered within the desk beneath.
Again-to-back testing of the Magic Mary versus the Cheesy Chan is booked in for subsequent month. A extra thorough, insightful evaluation will likely be supplied thereafter.
Pricing & Availability
| Cheesy Chan Tire Dimension | Addix Compound | Casing | Claimed Weight | Value (EUR) | Value (GBP) | Value (USD) |
| 27.5″ x 2.4″ | Addix Extremely Comfortable | Tremendous Downhill | 1,250g | 74,90 € | £74.99 | $104 |
| 27.5″ x 2.4″ | Addix Comfortable | Tremendous Gravity | 1,165g | 74,90 € | £74.99 | $104 |
| 29″ x 2.4″ | Addix Extremely Comfortable | Tremendous Downhill | 1,320g | 74,90 € | £74.99 | $104 |
| 29″ x 2.4″ | Addix Extremely Comfortable | Tremendous Gravity | 1,240g | 74,90 € | £74.99 | $104 |
| 29″ x 2.4″ | Addix Extremely Comfortable | Tremendous Path | 1,080g | 68,90 € | £68.99 | $98 |
| 29″ x 2.4″ | Addix Comfortable | Tremendous Path | 1,080g | 68,90 € | £68.99 | $98 |
