Originally Posted by trentschler
I bought a pair of 50-406 BAs and while I was amazed at the comfort, I found the tires to be truly ponderous. I know they're supposed to have pretty low rolling resistance, but it sure didn't feel like it to me!
After the recent discussions of Big Apples, I decided this week to give my 50-406 set another try, with an open mind, and not to dismiss these tires based solely on the "feel" during acceleration and climbing.
Well, wow! These things are great, huh?
I'm running them on a bike designed for 451 mm wheels and even though the Apples are a few mm smaller in overall diameter, the handling and stability of the bike has been dramatically improved.
I'm using the tires at 40 psi (about 2.7 bar) and they smooth out the bumps as well as, or even better than my sprung Action-Tec fork and Thudbuster. The nice thing about the Big Apples is that I can use them with a rigid fork, frame, and seatpost so i'm not bouncing around when standing to climb or spinning at a high cadence.
Lots of you (and others, too) have noted that wide tires can have low rolling resistance, but the key seems to be finding
well-constructed wide tires. Apparently, the BAs are just that.
So, even though these tires still feel slower to me "off the mark," and when climbing, none of my overall times or average speeds for my local rides has been any slower on the Big Apples than on 451 Stelvios, for example. I'm not necessarily faster either, but I'm way more comfortable and relaxed, not only because of the shock absorbtion, but also because of the confidence that stems from the improved handling and stability.
I do believe that these tires could be used effectively as the basis for a long-distance or brevet bike, and I think I'll try to develop something like this for next season. Thanks!