This is a love letter to Schwalbe. I love their Big Apple bike tires. If you have a mountain bike that is going to serve most of its life pounding the pavement these are for you. My Redline 29er mountain bike does 95% of its miles on the pavement, and it does it on Big Apples.
They’re big and fat so you keep the same look and level of comfort, it just lowers the rolling resistance because you’ll sound less like a jeep driving down the highway.
Changing tires has an immediate and apparent affect on how your bike handles. The same thing goes for toy cars and full-sized ones. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2-wheels or 4, those little patches of rubber are the only thing connecting you to the road.
More Big Apples
I got my son a set to put on his Haro Flightline. We’re going on some longer rides this summer – mostly on Minnesota’s expansive network of paved bike trails. He doesn’t have the luxury (or allowance) of keeping a separate road & mountain bike like dad.
It’s a relatively quick change (~30 minutes) to go back to stock tires if we’re going to head out to the single track trails.
He did 25 miles with ease on this setup:
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
03:34:48
hours
|
02:44:46
hours
|
25.25
mi.
|
9.20
mph
|
20.36
mph
|
636.15
ft.
|
1,563
kcal
|
He also was our lead out man for most of a 28 mile ride on the Heartland Trail. They really help him roll fast!
Brand Loyalty
Because of my great experience with Schwalbe, when it came time buy studded tires, I went for the (terribly expensive) Ice Spiker Pros. They cost more per tire than the snow tires on my Subaru. But I wasn’t concerned about quality because I knew from my past experience it was going to be great.
I also got a set of Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires for my Cross Check road bike.
My only gripe is that I wish they were cheaper, especially for the smaller sizes. I want to get a set of Big Apples for my cargo trailer – but they’d cost more than the trailer itself! But I can’t complain – whenever I buy their products it’s money well spent. 💸
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