DLW

Has anyone else experienced this? Schwalbe Stelvio on a Dahon Speed Pro. About 300 miles.

Ten miles into the ride, I noticed some serious wobbling coming from the rear wheel/tire. First checked for broken spokes, then noticed a tread 'snake.' Tire had 100psi+, and fortunately was only 2 miles from home. Deflated to maybe half the pressure. By the time we were back, the casing had totally failed.

Stelvios offer great performance, but thinking about alternates.

FYI,

David

PDR

I noticed bulges in the stelvios fitted to my new Brompton (the bike is 6 weeks old) the rear has been getting worse over the last week. I have ordered a pair of Schwalbe Kojaks as replacements. I ran Kojaks on my Dahon MU SL for a year and have a lot of faith in them.

TrekJapan

Wow. I bought a set of stelvio's that I was going to put on my Jetstream XP. I put one on and hated the look of it and put the Marathon Racers back on.

Interesting though that I just bought a Speed TT Pro 2009 and it comes with Schwalbe Durano tires instead of the Stelvio's.

I don't have enough miles on my Durano's to give a thumbs up or down but that might be your solution.

John

EvilV

On my brand new Moulton TSR, I got two punctures in about six miles and by the time I walked the bike back to where I'd set off (six miles tops) the flat tyre was totally useless. The carcase was coming apart. It seems to me to be a VERY fragile tyre.

Having said that, other people claim they are excellent. I can only assume they have never had the misfortune of one of them going down and running at low pressure for a few yards. For me, a tyre needs to be robust and resilient, other wise what use is it on a road vehicle of any kind. The stelvio is like a piece of women's hosiery in my opinion, something sexy and beautiful, but essentially a thing of transient usefulness. Are they made of spider silk perhaps?

cyclistjohn

I have 406 mm. Stelvios on a Dahon Hammerhead & rode several hundred miles before getting a puncture on a canal towpath (a frequent source sadly, but in Summer, the local one is what I imagine the Amazon to look like).

On a Brompton, they're like having an extra gear, much faster than the "normal" tyres, but more prone to punctures certainly.

To save time if I'm riding to catch a train, I always carry a Stelvio + inner tube, then repair whatever was on the bike at a more convenient time.

My wife has Kojaks on her bike, & they do seem fine. I really like the bald look, as it's easy to spot any embedded sharp stuff. However, 349's (Brompton size) are twice the price of Stelvios, so I'll hold off for a while :-)

https://www.wrhpv.com/small_stuff/tyres/index.html

is where I buy my tyres (UK of course)

John

stevegor

I've used 451 Stelvios on my modded R20 for commuting, fast group rides and multiple day touring on less than perfect surfaces and they've lasted quite well....maybe I got a good batch?

brakemeister

dont know where you hailing from but in any case it might be worthwile to contact Schwalbe and send the defective tire in to them..... they are interested about failures and they have a questinaeire which is good to fill out.... maybe even they send you a new one ....

thor

yangmusa

AFAIK Durano is merely the new name for Stelvio. Apparently Schwalbe had to pay royalties for the right to use the Stelvio name, and they decided it wasn't worth it.

I've had 18" (355) Stelvios on my Birdy for many hundred miles now and not had any punctures or other problems. It's been a mix of commuting in San Francisco (potholes, glass, debris...) and long rides on better roads. Hope it lasts, so far they are great tires! When they eventually need replacing, I'm thinking of either Duranos (i.e. Stelvios..) or Kojaks.

vik 

I used Stelvios for many thousand kms with no issues in 406 size. I now have a 700c Stelvio on the front on my road bike. So far I haven't had a flat or any issues with a Stelvio.

bicycleflyer

+1 on good service from stelvios. I will buy them again. Dahon may have gotten their hands on a bad batch, or some counterfeits. It does happen in that part of the world.

TrekJapan

I held my Stelvio's up to my Duranos and they have different tread. The yellow stripe is similar but the tread is different.

John

Lewis Butler

I had some Stelvio's on my Brompton back in 2004, nice tyres, I agree with the comment about them being like an extra gear on the Brommie.

Also, sadly they are fragile. I found a hard edge on a cycle track & pinch flatted the tube.

I'm going to try them again on my project bike, this time with a Pantour suspension front hub. Hoping for better results as the ride was the best yet on a 349 tyre...

stevegor

You can get them with a yellow stripe??....Here in Oz I've only seen them in all black.

O.P., do you inflate the tyres to their correct psi?
Under-inflated tyres will pinch flat and/or wear out quite quickly.

jur

Yeah when they changed the name they also change the tread (the latter which is irrelevant anyway).

boldav44

I have had no issues with the Stelvios in about 500 miles of riding them on my Birdy. I'm inclined to believe that there must be come QC issues with the batch that failed. By the way I like them much more than the Marathons that came with the bike though I do primarily use them on good road for quick hour long rides.

DLW

Emailed Schwalbe and they replied quickly. As Thor wrote, they sent a customer reply form and asked for photos.

My feeling's the tire might have been from a bad batch; I bought some extras along with the bike. They are the same serial number, so we'll see if the replacement works OK. I've never ridden the Speed Pro much; mostly ride a P8 with Big Apples.

Stelvio's are fast tires, to be sure, and I'm careful to choose good roads. Sometimes it's necessary to use some that aren't great. Maybe a heavier tire is a better choice for
China's roads/streets.

PDR

My 32-349 Kojaks arrived yesterday so I took them along with my Brompton to the bike store and they are going to fit them as part of the bikes first 6 week free service. I showed the shop guy the damage to the rear stelvio and he thought it was really bad. There was a pronounced bulge and “S” shaped kink in the tyre. The front is not as bad but you could still see it. I did notice the kink when I the bike arrived, but it has steadily got worse.

I’m not sure if it was partially down to the damage or the change in wheel size, but the stelvios (on the Brompton) just did not seem as grippy and as sure-footed as the 20” kojaks I used on my Dahon MU SL. I ran for a year on those (though glass, thorns and other street debris) without even a single puncture.

Ignoring the lumpy stelvios, I find the Brompton to be very nimble and precise in its handling, so hopefully the Kojaks will work really well on the Brompton.

DLW

After receiving photos and the customer reply form, Schwalbe's reply came back within hours. They appreciated the feedback and said a replacement would be sent
same day...new Durano which replaced the Stelvio.

Impressive customer service...and thanks to Thor for the suggestion.

brakemeister

no trouble
I usually only carry products which are proven to be better ( not always cheaper, unfortunately) but the Schwalbe folks are meaning business and they take care of problems too .. not just talk but action.
Great !

Thor

werewolf

So far Kojaks are my favorite 20" tyre.