New Schwalbes: Review

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/04/2020 at 17:02 • Filed to: None

So this is my Cannondale Bad Boy that had 700c wheels and tires on it when I bought it and I’ve been riding it for 8 years and the rear rim is failing. I had a set of 26-inch rims already on hand, and after much machinating, I bought this set of Schwalbe Marathon Supreme in 26x2.0 and I rode them this morning for the first time. Unbelievably nice ride, very snappy in steering on the street surface, but S L O W. Like, really S L O W. Exhausting, really. So these will be my cruising wheels and the 700c will be my business wheels, once I replace the rear rim.

Anyone got a suggestion for a front fender for this bicycle with the 700c wheels?

DISCUSSION (10)

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 17:28

Interesting. It surprises me that it would be that much slower. My gravel bike has 650b x 47 tires and it doesn’t feel any slower than my single speed with skinny tires.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 17:52

Slow? Are you sure about that? Did you have bike computer data to back up that claim? Sometimes tires feel slow, but really aren’t. It has been shown in several studies that larger tires provide less rolling resistance. You may be feeling a difference in weight.

ibRAD > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 19:10

I run marathon supremes on my touring/general use bike and I’m also very pleased with them. Was always a michelin guy but I’m schwalbe now (still michelin on cars)

I don’t find them particularly slow though, what pressure are you running?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheRealBicycleBuck
11/04/2020 at 19:18

Maybe just my perception? I'll make a more scientific comparison when I have both wheel sizes available. The new tires feel fantastic...

TheRealBicycleBuck > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 19:40

I’m glad you like them!

Perception can be quite misleading. Frame material is an excellent example. When cyclists talk about frames being “harsh,” they make allusions to vertical compliance. As Mr. Brandt pointed out, all frames, with the exception of frames designed to have built-in suspension, are made to be vertically stiff. They are usually comprised of two triangles, after all. His own test show several orders of magnitude more compliance in the tires than in the frame. In other words, it doesn’t matter if the frame is carbon, aluminum, or steel, when taken over the same bump, the tire will deflect way more than the frame ever will. When I had a chance to discuss it with him, I suggested it might be due to the noise the frames make. Aluminum is quite noisy where steel is very quiet. Cyclists call aluminum “harsh” and steel “smooth,” despite both transmitting bumps to their arse quite the same.

I run fairly fat tires on my road bike. They don’t run as high a pressure, so they are a lot more compliant and “smooth” on the rough roads we have here. When I was in better shape, I had no trouble keeping up on the group rides and my average speed was fine. I was a bit faster than my riding companions on the really rough bits because I could stay seated and keep spinning while they felt the need to stand. The down side is that they are considerably heavier, so they don’t accelerate as quickly. That makes them feel somewhat slow even though they cruise at speed just fine.

skimaro > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 20:57

My guess wouldn’t be speed so much as acceleration. The old tires look like panaracer tlc’s, which weigh 340g, whereas the new tires(marathon supreme 2.0x26?) weigh 596g, with most of that weight concentrated in flat protection at the very outside of the tire. As well, I would expect the 26" mtb style rim to weigh more than the 700c road rim. finally, a 26x2.0 tube is going to be around 225g, vs 125ish for a 700x32. Overall, you’ve probably added close to a pound of rotating weight per wheel, which you will 100% feel when getting up to speed, especially since around town will have a lot of stop/go and fluctuations in speed.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > skimaro
11/04/2020 at 21:34

Unsprung weight... I hadn't considered that. You know, I just climb into the saddle and crank. All of this is unknown to me. but I can think about that extra weight when I ride them again tomorrow morning. And although, I think I probably will want to stick with the 700c and make sure that I'm running a pressure on the lower end of what would be prescribed.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheRealBicycleBuck
11/04/2020 at 21:36

Yeah, I think these schwabbies are just about the coolest. And the ride is fantastic. So I will get a set of 700c wheels with the gravel Kings back on them and swap back and forth and compare. I can think of several rides that I've been on over the years where if I were running 700c all the time, having these schwabe's as backups for my cruiser wheels would have been great. Like the time my wife and I rode up and down Yosemite valley, for instance. And if they slow me down, then it's easier for my wife to keep up.

skimaro > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/04/2020 at 21:55

Rotating weight, but ya. I’d say look into some lighter 26" tires when you wear out the schwalbes, but with marathons that could be several years. Weight vs puncture protection is probably the biggest consideration in urban tires, but it sounds like youll be able to experiment with the two wheelsets to find your preference. for what its worth, I run 29x2.0 furious freds on my urban bike, which weigh 350ish grams and have the thinnest casing of any tire i’ ve ever seen

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > skimaro
11/04/2020 at 23:35

It's all making my head spin. I liked it when I was just getting on my bike and riding.