Schwalbe is the bicycle tyre brand name of the Bohle company which has been in business since 1922, they have been producing tyres specifically for bikes and wheelchairs since 1973, the current chairmans (Ralph Bohle) great uncle was the co founder of a much renowend bicycle manufacturer in Birmingham so the company has a strong British tradition. I've never run Schwalbe tyres but when I saw them with quite a hefty reduction on a certain Yorkshire based bike producers website I decided it was time to bite the bullet. I plumped for the 26x 2.25 Triple Evo Compound, the tyres instantly got on my good side as out of the packaging and onto the scales they came up 30grams less than was stated on the web site 515grams each instead of 545grams, even better as in total they are about 300grams ligter than my current tyres. Fitting them was completely painless, to my delight they slipped on easily with no need for a tyre lever, I always take this to be the sign of a quality tyre, with them mounted and the rotation arrows pointing the right direction it does seem like the front is pointing the wrong way as the side lugs seem to point outwards from their leading edge but no doubt Schwalbe know better than I do about which way to mount a tyre. ( I may turn it round if it annoys me enough just to see if it changes the feel of the tyre at all). Out on the road the 2.25 tyre width doesn't seem overly draggy and handles just fine, they make a nice humming noise on smooth tarmac and as an added bonus that I wasn't expecting under heavy braking on the road these tyres seem to grip the surface ferociously, in turn it feels like my disc brakes have more power so on road this tyre has proved perfect, of course on road is not what this tyre is about. East Anglia has been blessed (from a bikers point of view) with a very little rain which has meant all the trails are bone dry and dusty, these tyres certainly have plenty of grip when climbing you can feel the rear tyre digging in even when out the saddle climbing and at speed downhill nice and smooth. Where I think these tyres really excel is the control it gives you, it hooks up great on berms but what I like most about it is the way it gives you a feeling of exactly what the bike is doing underneath you. The last couple of pairs of tyres I had were Panaracer Fire xc pros and I really liked them but they had a tendancy to offer masses of grip then when you got to the limit of the grip the tyre would snap out from underneath you causing panic foot dabs and a fear of really pushing it while clipped in.
The Schwalbe is a different beast altogether it has plenty of grip but the front seems to slide earlier so as you corner you can feel exactly where the tyre is letting go and can adjust your weight and steering to counteract it, it gives you the control and confidence to be able to almost glide round the corners at speed leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind you instead of leaving you in a dusty ball on the floor. I've had three or four long-ish rides now to familiarise myself with the tyre and I'm impressed with it and would certainly recommend it if you're looking for an allround tyre due to the lack of rain I can't really comment on the wet weather performance but no doubt old blighty will give me plenty of opportunity for that. In the mean time I'm gonna keep thrashing these tyres to see how well they hold up and unless they die prematurely in some catastrophe I shall put a long term test review up in a few months.
ReatinRides on.
