View Single Post
Old 08-28-23, 04:09 AM
  #27  
Garthr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Right where I'm supposed to be
Posts: 1,654

Bikes: Franklin Frames Custom, Rivendell Bombadil

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Liked 216 Times in 132 Posts
I never knew anything of Schwalbe tires in experience until a few years ago. First 50mm Big Bens for me all-arounder and then 35mm Marathon Racers for my road bike. Sure, if I look at the bike tire RR website the Racers rate as "middle of the road". Yeah so what, as such "ratings" are as subjective as the very words I write. What matters to me is the total riding experience, not just rolling resistance. I consider them "fast enough" compared to any other tires I've had, including Vittoria Hypers which I wore through many pairs of in the past and were lauded as having such "low" RR. I can't say I noticed them be so much better as far as that was concerned, but I did notice how short lived they were. The tread, or lack there of, wore through very quickly. I couldn't even make it through one season on those. The Marathon Racers have more tread and the compound wears well, so it's a trade-off for performance and durability. I consider these a perfect balance of performance, durability and puncture resistance.

All this said, the giant white elephant in the room as far as resistance is concerned is the rider themselves. You can spend thousands of dollars on equipment, but if the rider has the profile or position of sail, it doesn't help as much as it will if the rider minimizes their own bodily aerodynamic drag.
Garthr is offline  
Likes For Garthr: