Schwalbe Nobby Nic EVO Super Trail Addix Soft review

The Schwalbe Nobby Nic is now in its third generation and available in multiple combinations within Schwalbe’s ‘Super’ family.

The Nobby Nic is the German brand’s all-round trail tyre renowned for its rapid rolling speed.

Schwalbe Nobby Nic EVO Super Trail Addix Soft specifications and details

The latest Nobby tread looks similar, but is less sharp and blockier than before, with a narrow pair, wide pair and trio of lugs in the middle flanked by alternating square and rectangular edge blocks.

All blocks have central sipes to help them deform over terrain.

The inflated shape remains pretty rounded with a fairly high air volume for its width, although shoulder knobs now face slightly more outwards and are supported with side scaffolding, like a Magic Mary, for greater stability.

Both Super Ground or Super Trail casings are available – the former is a replacement for Snakeskin and the latter, tested here, incorporates Snakeskin wraparound protection, Apex sidewall reinforcement (first seen in electric bike tyres) plus an extra bumper around the bead and lower sidewall to resist bottom-out damage.

This Super Trail casing weighs 960g, matching it quite squarely with Maxxis’ EXO casing.

Of the two Addix blends available, the orange stripe here denotes Soft, while the faster-rolling SpeedGrip-compound tyres have a blue stripe.

Schwalbe Nobby Nic EVO Super Trail Addix Soft performance

The Nobby Nic has always boasted a rapid rolling speed and this latest iteration doesn’t disappoint.

Schwalbe’s rubber blends are some of the fastest on the market, with a lively quality that never makes you feel as if you’re being held back or dragging the bike around (even in this softer compound).

Rolling speed isn’t much slower than a true cross-country or semi-slick tyre. However, the Super Trail casing feels a little springier than the best-damped casings, so the Addix Soft rubber seems to rely more on friction than damping and conformity to feel as planted as it does.

Either way, it’s effective and grips really well on all surfaces, with enough bite in the tread to cut into loose dirt and mud where the previous Nobby really struggled.

Overall, the new tread simply gets on with it and confounded expectations by never really getting caught out and staying pretty planted, even on slippery rocks and off-camber roots.

It’s not the best tyre (especially on the front end) for riders who like to really chuck the bike about.

Being more rounded, it’s less planted on the crown and all about continuous steady grip, plus the shoulder blocks are a bit wide and flat to really claw in if you’re a very aggressive rider and lean it right over hard.

Schwalbe Nobby Nic EVO Super Trail Addix Soft bottom line

One of the lightest tyres of its type, this speedy do-it-all Schwalbe will cover big distances without feeling draggy and can also hack it if you venture into a bit of off-piste or steeper enduro trails.