Originally Posted by
meanwhile
They're actually pretty fast: they look slow because they're wide, and people think that wide equals high friction. But as I've said before, the point about the invention of the wheel is that it eliminates contact patch friction - because the contact patch is at rest compared to the road. The Big Apples are pretty fast if you have them at a reasonable pressure - faster than Marathon Pluses or Armadillos, certainly.
Of course at your age going fast enough to catch up with the guy who walks in front of you with a red flag* might cause heart failure, so you should probably stick with your 'Dillos...
Anyway, pretty fair set of reviews:
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wh...1_1564crx.aspx
"Speed was really a secondary concern, but I am pleasantly surprised. I have 35 PSI in the Big Apples and they appear to roll as well as my 38 mm tires did with 60 PSI."
Etc.
*Although, I think that anti-horse scaring law has been repealed now, what with the decline of the buggy whip lobby..
Uh, welcome back. I guess I'm glad you're still alive... What about weight, rotating weight specifically. I've been unable to ride yet this year, I feel your pain on that account. When I can, I make my living (so to speak) with my bike and I have used 2.35 street tires but they were too slow, too heavy for me. I gave them away after a few weeks of misery. Although I pull a large trailer and I am old, I still spend a lot of time at or above the speed at which narrow tires become more efficient than fat tires, believe it or not.
When I'm working, I ride all day monday through friday, which probably allows me to better judge the effort required than can a recreational rider, mountain biker or commuter who rides a couple hours a day, 2 to 4 days a week. Quote anonymous internet source "...they
appear to roll as well as my 38 mm tires..."
You can learn from reading reviews written by people you don't know or from actual experience. In my experience 38mm tires are too wide for my needs, not something I would want to use as a standard for comparison. The people reveiwing the Big Apples on MTBR are mountain bikers and are comparing the tires to MTB tires, not road tires.
Read the reviews on the page you link to. They describe the tires as steamrollers, Cadillac, etc. Heavy is a frequently used descriptor. Not what I'm looking for in a bike tire. To each his own.
You say your 'friend' uses them. Do you??