Schwalbe Ultremo? Any good?

ollietrex

I have been having problems with puntures in my Tyres so I went to cycle super store yesterday and got 2 Schwalbe Ultremo for €50. Spoke to a member of staff and of course they said they were pretty good and also spoke to a random guy and he said they were good racing tyres.

Are these going to be any good for winter training as they have a smooth surface and no little grips like other tyres?

Suppose its a bit late to be asking now but hey hoo...

penexpers

They get pretty good reviews here

http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/tires-clincher/schwalbe/PRD_410495_2489crx.aspx

ollietrex

Yep the reviews look pretty good and they claim to have pretty good rolling resistance, so all good with me...

blorg

You don't need any sort of tread on road tyres, it only serves to reduce grip. Less tread=more rubber in contact with the road. Tread on road bike tyres is generally cosmetic. You can only hydroplane on 700x23s at 100PSI if cycling in excess of 167km/h (I know you are good, but you're not that good )

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tyres.html#tread

I have the Ultremos myself and think they are excellent tyres. I reckon I've done over 3,000km on them by now. One puncture but that's going to happen with any tyre. Great grip, roll well, sub 200g, good puncture resistance, durable.

You got a whopper of a bargain getting a pair for €50, I paid a bit over €55 and even that was much cheaper than anywhere on the internet.

rogerb

We've had lots of threads about tyres on boards.ie, and I'm always amazed at how much people's experience with a particular type of tyre varies. So here we go again:

My Focus bike came equipped with Ultremos and while the grip, handling, etc were great, from the durability and puncture resistance point of view they were appalling. Within a couple of weeks the tyres were covered in nicks and cuts. I got several punctures (including one 5 KM into my first road race). Finally a patch of rubber wore away completely on one tyre, revealing the Kevlar underneath. At that point I swapped them for Contis.

blorg

I'm really amazed by that Roger, as I say they have been absolutely bulletproof for me.

rogerb

Wierd, isn't it? I really would like to know why these things seem to be so variable.

Chips Lovell

It is weird, but maybe other factors also come into play, such as tyre pressure, different styles of riding, rider weight, what roads you ride on etc.

Also sheer bad luck I think can influence people's decisions. When I got my GP4000S last year I got three punctures in quick sucession and was on the verge of ditching them, but then got a year's riding with only two punctures after that.

Tutschel

rogerb wrote: »

We've had lots of threads about tyres on boards.ie, and I'm always amazed at how much people's experience with a particular type of tyre varies. So here we go again:

My Focus bike came equipped with Ultremos and while the grip, handling, etc were great, from the durability and puncture resistance point of view they were appalling. Within a couple of weeks the tyres were covered in nicks and cuts. I got several punctures (including one 5 KM into my first road race). Finally a patch of rubber wore away completely on one tyre, revealing the Kevlar underneath. At that point I swapped them for Contis.

I have had the complete opposite experience (a bit like el tonto actually): bought Conti training tyres, punctured on the first ride and within weeks they were riddled with slits and knicks. Also I found they were leathal in the wet (not quite as bad as the "ice-skate" Michelin Pros).

Have since moved to using only Schwalbe tyres: Stelvio (front & rear) and Ultremo pair and cannot praise their performance highly enough, especially wet weather performance compared to the afore mentioned brands.

Has anyone tried the Schwalbe rain tyres?