I purchase two sets of these (one for a mountain bike and the other for a touring bike). Have about 100 miles on one set and 150 on another. I ride mainly on sidewalks, street, and paved paths. Where I live there are ruts, limbs, sand, and debris everywhere and a thin tire will not suffice. I like the tire because it can handle various terrain, and are suppose to be puncture resistant (so far so good). They can handle high pressure, bumps, rolling resistence is negligable, and I feel stable when cycling. They are also compliant as the ride is smooth.
I have a set of 717 Mavic Rims and XT Shimano Hubs on both bikes (both hand built) and neither have a hint of wobble, yet when riding or spinning the tire, I notice the tire is not perfectly even as it rotates. In other words, I can see how the pattern on the tire does not remain the same as the rim spins, and it appears the wheel is not true. When riding there is no hopping or bumping felt but would like a tire that looks straigt or even when spinning. Would have given five stars if this weren't the case.
I will see about durability and puncture resistance as time passes, no comment on that.
Worth the price. These tires are very durable and puncture resistant. The reflective sidewall is an added plus. The only major con is that they are difficult to mount. They reliably last for twice as many miles as cheap tires.
Testing these tires for the first time after riding Schwalbe Marathon PLUS tires for two years. These tires are a little less expensive than the PLUS tires, so I though I would test a pair for a year for commuting in town. For my rides 50 miles from home in the mountains I will continue to use the Schwalbe Marathon Plus, which are the best tire I have used in my life of 50 years cycling, pro racing, commuting and touring. I don't like weak tires that explode when they get punctured, and wear out in a few 1000 miles, and grip the corners complaining and slipping. The Schwalbe PLUS tires have slow wear, good grip, and have never blown out. One slow leak in 2 years of riding.
My original set of these finally wore down their tread. The back tire had about 9000 miles, the front about 7000. I think I would still be on them, but I left them at 35 psi for way too long after a tour with a couple hundred miles of hard-pack gravel roads. Never had a flat. Ride was grippy even on fast corners and mountain descents. Easy to mount. Just no problems at all.
I had 1.5" wide tires on my bike, so I bought these. Old Specialized Armadillo. These are half the width of the others. They are super skinny. Buy wider if you have wide needs. I could hit the trails with my old tires, not with these skinny bitches.
I use these for fair-weather commuting on mostly roads and paved bike paths. My only basis for comparison is the Continental Travel Contacts I've been using for the same purpose for the past 6 years, so take this with a grain of salt if you're comparing to other high-pressure city tires. The Schwalbes are quite thick where the tire meets the road (enough to make the bike feel taller). The Schwalbes also take a higher pressure (100 psi, I run them at 80), and they have very low rolling resistance. The lack of treads on the outside edges means they're more stable when cornering on pavement, but less stable in gravel. The reflective sidewalls are a nice touch, they're really noticeable at night. I don't have enough miles on them to evaluate durability, but there's a lot of rubber between the bottom of the tread and the top of your inner tube, so I can't imagine them being prone to punctures. I wouldn't use them for loose gravel or off-road, but for on-road use, this is a great high-pressure, low rolling-resistance tire.
I wanted a road tire I could put on my mountain bike for road riding. My main criteria was one that wouldn't require superhuman hand strength to actually get the tire on rim. This one met this criteria and has performed well.
Made it 101 miles after installing on my ebike before the first flat. Picked up a staple(with flat ends..) it went straight through the thickest part of the tire and a thorn-proof tube.. rear tire of course. Bad luck? maybe.. can't say I'm impressed so far though :|
No flats yet and i ride on roads paved in glass. These were a welcome change for city riding over my off road tires on my adventure bike- now commuter bike. Look cool too and has sidewall reflectors.
The tires I received and mounted on true wheels caused obvious hops in riding at anywhere from 60 to 95 psi. suspect this was due to manufacturing imperfections. I am returning them.
I got these tires to outfit my mountain bike for a trip down the west coast of the US last spring. They lasted through about a thousand miles of training, plus the trip itself which was another thousand miles, followed by on-and-off training for the rest of the year, and finally I've been using them to prep for another trip this summer - total of over 5,000 miles across 15 months with no problems at all. One of them has finally worn down and I'm back to get another pair. Fantastic tires.
I am installing these to replace the Schwalbe Marathon Racers that came on my Catrike. I have 3200 miles on the Racers and the 20 tires are worn, while the 26 tire shows little wear. These are considerably heavier and thicker on the tread, so they should wear well. My only complaint with Schwalbe are the inner tubes that came installed on the 20 tires. Both failed within the first 1500 miles. They split internally at a seam. No punctures thru the tires were found. I would not recommend Schwalbe Tubes for this reason.
Use this tire on my mountain bike for paved roads and city streets, short rides, 40 miles or less. Overall very happy with the tire no negatives. Good on wet pavement. Feel secure on the tire.
