I absofrigginlutely love my 26x2.15 Big Apples on my old 97 steel trek mountain bike with surly LHT forks. Quiet, comfortable, smooth as butter, and fast when up to speed on relatively flat ground or downhill. However, not so convinced they are perfect for the hills of austin. The BA's seem to absorb energy when pedaling uphill for long periods. Much, much more noticeable when fully loaded with panniers and flat out difficult when loaded and pulling my double Chariot trailer w/ 2 younglings. My cyclocross bike with continental travel contacts is far more efficient and speedy when carrying large loads and/or pulling a loaded trailer.

It helps to run about 55-60 psi in the rear tire when pulling the trailer, but then the bike rides terribly when unloaded. Defeats the major advantage of the BA's to begin with.

The BA's rock with lighter loads across so many different surface types and conditions.

Anyone else have any experience running Big Apples under a load ?