SCHWALBE TYRES MEGATHREAD: read this thread before posting new ones

[Australia]

Do your Nic's have a direction of rotation arrow? Mine don't, all I have are front/ rear arrows - is the "front" arrow also the direction of rotation arrow? Should the middle nobs have the little slope towards the front or back?

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[eyes]

G'day all,

am just fitting a schwalbe nobby nick/ racing ralph combo for the first time

which way are the tries meant to be fitted, there are arrows marked front and rear, but depending on whether they are at the top or bottom of their rotation, they point opposite ways!

Which way should I be fitting the tires?

Cheers,

Andrew

Hey mate the arrow indicates which way the tire rotates... If you have your disc brake rotors already bolted on, check the arrow on them, I find this is the easiest double check if you are still confused. The arrows and other text on the rotor should be readable on the outboard side of the rotor (i.e. you don't need to look through the spokes to read it).

To clarify, when the arrow is at the top (i.e. near the arch of the forks), it should be pointing forward, when at the bottom (i.e. near the ground), it should be pointed behind the bike...

And finally, compare the knobs and ramp angles to a set of Minions, they should be similar. I've got the Schwalbe's ready to install and they aren't that much different in knob angles if I remember correctly.

 

[Australia]

Is it just me, or does having them set up so the "forward" arrow points in the direction of rotation make the outer lugs look like they are facing backwards?

 

[chuckrockswell]

Is it just me, or does having them set up so the "forward" arrow points in the direction of rotation make the outer lugs look like they are facing backwards?

correct!

you will have people constantly telling you your tyres are on backwards. but this is the way to run them on the front. they are killer tyres, worth the price.

 

[bethextrem1]

As the guys have said when the arrow is at the top, near the arch, the arrow is facing forward. There is also a front wheel dirrection and a rear whele dirrection on some schwalbe models.

Nick on the front and Ralph on the back.

 

[Australia]

So, if I am following you all correctly, if I was to run the Nic on the rear (just hypothetically), I would run it the other way around... hence the two arrows "front" and "rear" i.e. the direction of rotation according to whether you are running it on the front or the rear

?

Cheers

EDIT: AH! I just saw Beth's post. looks like the answer to my uestion is yes

Thanks everyone

 

[BigSplashBear]

Mounting a UST Schwalbe Furious Fred tyre - thread answered and closed

So let me set this up.
Set of Crossmax SLR Disc wheels.
2 brand spanking new Furious Fred UST tyres.
Heaps of soapy water.
One air compressor that can pop up in seconds any other UST tyre other than a Furious Fred.

Results
Lots of swearing
Lots of cursing
2 hours wasted
One FF successfully mounted on the rear wheel
One FF and a front wheel almost turned into a UST frisbee

Does anyone out there have a trick for quickly and efficiently mounting tubeless Furious Freds onto a UST rim?

Bear - out.

 

[bear the bear]

For the love of all that is holy why are you using them?
Now that is out of the way....what is the problem?
Not beading up? Not sealing?

 

[eyes]

1. I know you probably intented on having them on today, but if not... Mount them on another rim, or the same rim using a tube and leave them for the night - this will reshape the tire so the bead will sit outboard further. Then when you mount them for tubeless they will catch and hold the air easier - snapping into the bead easier.

2. Sealant, I didn't see it in your list. I find it helps with the initial sealing.

 

[BigSplashBear]

For the love of all that is holy why are you using them?
Now that is out of the way....what is the problem?
Not beading up? Not sealing?

I'm not. I need a bit more rubber on my tyres and Racing Ralph is as slick as I'm prepared to go. Gixer7 is the user of these tyres. He is feeling the need for speed. Or was that the need to bleed.

Main issue is failure to bead up.
The first one that went up was so close to beading half a dozen times. Then just as we were giving up - swell, pop,pop, POP. Done. Once up the seal was great - no drama.

The second one......the bead kept flicking over the tubeless valve at the most inconvenient time and fully exposing it.
And I'm pretty sure we were using a 26" tyre and not a 29" tyre on a 26" rim.
No...definitely - two 26" tyres and 26" rims.

 

[BigSplashBear]

1. I know you probably intented on having them on today, but if not... Mount them on another rim, or the same rim using a tube and leave them for the night - this will reshape the tire so the bead will sit outboard further. Then when you mount them for tubeless they will catch and hold the air easier - snapping into the bead easier.

2. Sealant, I didn't see it in your list. I find it helps with the initial sealing.

Thanks eyes,

I didn't mention sealant as Schwalbe warranty is invalidated if sealant is used. But yes we tried with sealant as well.
I'm sure if we had filmed the result it'd have gone viral on YouTube by now. [SIGH]

Your first one is well worth a try. Thanks.

 

[bear the bear]

I'm not. I need a bit more rubber on my tyres and Racing Ralph is as slick as I'm prepared to go. Gixer7 is the user of these tyres. He is feeling the need for speed. Or was that the need to bleed.

Main issue is failure to bead up.
The first one that went up was so close to beading half a dozen times. Then just as we were giving up - swell, pop,pop, POP. Done. Once up the seal was great - no drama.

The second one......the bead kept flicking over the tubeless valve at the most inconvenient time and fully exposing it.
And I'm pretty sure we were using a 26" tyre and not a 29" tyre on a 26" rim.
No...definitely - two 26" tyres and 26" rims.

Even the guys over at weightweenies are using these tires...
-They don't grip well
-And if you sneeze at them wrong they puncture

Basically they fall into the same category as Maxxis 300 and 285 tires... stupidly light, fragile, raceday tire....if your going for the win.

If Gixer needs this type of tire I would suggest either Stan's Crow or Raven, I've used them and so has JD26 a very fast tire in the right conditions plus you can run them at stupidly low pressures 20-22psi (for a 70kg rider)

 

[gixer7]

Even the guys over at weightweenies are using these tires...
-They don't grip well
-And if you sneeze at them wrong they puncture

Basically they fall into the same category as Maxxis 300 and 285 tires... stupidly light, fragile, raceday tire....if your going for the win.

If Gixer needs this type of tire I would suggest either Stan's Crow or Raven, I've used them and so has JD26 a very fast tire in the right conditions plus you can run them at stupidly low pressures 20-22psi (for a 70kg rider)

need? Debateable. But I do like to try new stuff. mmmmm new stuff

I am aware of their limitations but think they will be ok for the Syd 24. I am running sensible tyres on the bike that will do the most work but just feel like squeezing a bit of extra speed from the hardtail early on in the race. Crow/Raven is on the list to try. I think the tubeless FF versions are not so silly as the tube ones but I'll know for sure this w/e.

Anyway as it turns out I'll have a Racing Ralph on the front anyway and FF on the rear - see how that goes for me.

Back to the isue at hand - I think just mounting it with a tube and leaving it for a few days is a sensible suggestion. Thanks Eyes.

 

[McBain]

Yeah, sealant doesn't really help them to seat - no more than a bit of water with/without soap does anyway, and water is a hell of a lot less messy.

The tube trick has always got it for me - sometimes the bead just needs to be pummeled into shape. So far I've only needed to inflate the tyre+tube to 50 odd psi, let it sit there for a couple of minutes, and then go back to tubeless.

And Schwalbe do allow you to use sealant - so long as it is their own "Doc Blue" stuff. I'm planning on going with Stans though - used it short-term with some Schwalbes without a problem in the past.

Other tricks include pulling the valve core out to let more air go through the valve - just to get the damn thing seated, and kind of holding the tyre down around the valve to keep the air going into the tyre. All good fun (until you manage to fling the wheel into the next suburb)! Still, beats dealing with tubes out on the trail.

 

[jims mate]

run an extra loop of rim strip. Some tyre / rim combos vary slightly in diamter and cause it to not be as tight. The other problem I have had with xmax's is the valve sometime doesn't seal 100% and this can be fixed with re-taping around the valve hole.

 

[FierceRider]

if you cannot pop the beads in, what you can do is use a tube to pop both beads in, then only take ONE side off and leave the other side in. take the tube off and shove the valve back in then try to inflate. worked for me even on the most stubborn tyres. good luck.

 

[T-Rex]

And if all else fails use a fire extinguisher. Get an old 9 litre water type extinguisher from a place that services fire extinguishers, empty the water out of it, refill it with air to 100psi, connect it to your valve with the valve core removed, and give it a blast of air to pop the tyre onto the bead.

If that doesn't work, give up, 'coz nothing else will!

 

[BigSplashBear]

Thanks guys

Thanks to all.
Let's close this one off now.

 

[Chuckie]

Schwalbe tyres? For Australian conditions...

Hi

Hopefully more of us have now had a chance to try some Schwalbe tyres on their steeds

it would be good to hear some recent reviews of shwalbe tyres used in Australia, and some help on which tyres from the range to choose

Those that have had success and failures with Schwalbe tyres please post...


which Schwalbe Tyres? F & R, size

Kindy advise what type of riding you do, where you mostly ride and the conditions you ride in

Review

 

[casnell]

See the XC tyres thread, lots in there. I'm using Nobby Nic front/Racing Ralph rear for winter in Melbourne.

For what it's worth too, the Road Ultremo R's are paper thin, very light but I wore through the tread in about 800 k's on the rear.