Commuting - Schwalbe Big Apple

hey guys, any of you use this tire? i am doing up a sort of commuter/cyclocross/29er/SS... Soma Juice and was thinking about this tire.

i pretty much wanted something close to slick, maybe very light duty XC.

my concern with the Big Apple was the weight.

did the weight seem to be a pain when accelerating? does the Big Apple really absorb a lot? are there other tires similar to this one that are maybe kevlar beaded and absorb bumps that i might have missed?

thanks!

have 60-559 Big Apples on my MTB,
they roll suprisingly easy, absorb a lot of shock
and stick to the road pretty well. yes, they are
heavy, don't seem to notice the weight. i think
because they roll over the ground so well.

have 60-559 Big Apples on my MTB,
they roll suprisingly easy, absorb a lot of shock
and stick to the road pretty well. yes, they are
heavy, don't seem to notice the weight. i think
because they roll over the ground so well.

I'm thinking about Big Apples for one of my next bikes. They're pretty fat all right, but I was wondering what the rolling resistance was like? Like, is it pretty easy to push them fast, or is it a struggle?

I don't have them, everybody I know loves them. If they came in 27's I'd get them.

I rode with them for a while when I was commuting on my MTB. I really liked them and felt that the added weight was worth it. I rode with pretty high pressure, so I don't think I was seeing much of the suspension effect.

The Marathon Supreme rides very similar if you were wanting something a little narrower, or a little lighter (depending on wheel size).

I did have them on my Karate Monkey, but swapped them out for some 37c Contis. They look great, but were too heavy for my single speed build. For one, I think I had too tall of a gear and the Big Apples are larger in overall diameter so that added to the tall gear issue. It also takes a lot too get them up to speed which isn't good for my stop and go, city commute. Couldn't fit fenders over them, but I think the New Planet Bike 29er fenders are out now which will work. YMMV.

Originally Posted by martianone
have 60-559 Big Apples on my MTB,
they roll suprisingly easy, absorb a lot of shock
and stick to the road pretty well. yes, they are
heavy, don't seem to notice the weight. i think
because they roll over the ground so well.

"fat_bike_nut"
"I'm thinking about Big Apples for one of my next bikes. They're pretty fat all right, but I was wondering what the rolling resistance was like? Like, is it pretty easy to push them fast, or is it a struggle?"

They are FAT, not much space left in the fork after mounting the 60-559 tire, rolling resistance
is suprisingly low. The real benefit is something i would call "effective rolling resistance" (perhaps
this is a just invented term), it is not so much the rolling resistance on smooth pavement, it is
how well these tires roll over bumpy, cracked, grooved, rutted, pocked, crappy road surface,
manhole covers, rail road tracks, steel drain grates, gravel, sand, crushed stone, etc; they are
great in these situations.
Compared to regular treaded MTB tires, they fly.

...

The rolling resistance is very low, but they're really heavy. I recommend for use in a city-type environment where everything is paved but obstacles such as curbs/potholes are everywhere and you can't avoid all of them.

What size are you looking for? Have you looked at the marathon supremes? The Big Apple for 28x2.0 weighs 885g while the Marathon Supreme at the same size is 690g with a folding bead.

I haven't tried them, I use Marathons for now, and they are great.

Love my 26x2.0 BAs. I've had a couple recent surprise pothole deep-drops and I am sure they had a role in keeping me going. I have kept them ~70 psi (top of the range). If I were braver I would go lower I suppose.

They are part of the weight of my 37# (see bike weight thread) bike, percentagewise I think they're not much more of the total than any other tires would be that are tough enough and reliable enough for where I take them, so I don't really feel any handicap at all from them.

I wound up choosing my next bike in large part for clearance for 2.0s I really like them a lot for my environment.