Schwalbe

I shied away from tubeless for a LONG time. Didn't really get what the big deal would be, especially on a road bike. I recently built up a steel framed tourer for long distances on and off road. I went tubeless on that and it was an epiphany.

That experience made me rethink tubeless for my other bike; a Giant Contend AR3. Given that I ride the AR3 about 70% on road and 30% gravel, I decided to give these a try. Considering when I first got this bike, I road on teeth chattering 25mm tires pumped up to about 115 psi, it made sense that these would feel great. I had since moved onto 32mm running 70 psi, but the difference tubeless riding 48 psi front and 52 psi rear is immense.

They are very comfortable and forgiving over rough surfaces and I was shocked at how well they grip when cornering hard.

If you are on the fence about going tubeless, do it. And these tires won't let you down.

These are excellent tires and tubes which I needed for an upcoming weekend ride. When I was shopping online (Sat) the BikeTiresDirect website indicated an expected delivery date of the following Friday, 6 days later which seemed very standard for a small package containing 2 folding tires and 2 tubes. Once the order was processed on Monday the expected arrival date changed to a full week later. The package was then picked up on Tuesday by a very slow carrier called TBA and delivered the flooing Monday. The BikeTiresDirect website is very misleading in this regard.

I ride with these tires on a Catrike 559 recumbent trike. This is my second set of Schwalbe Big Apple tires for this bike. I have never had a flat or any adverse issues. My trike does not have any suspension on it and therefore is a rough ride compared to a diamond frame bike. I run these tires between 40 and 45 pounds of pressure and they provide a decent about of absorption and cushioning from the road surface defects, and they do not create excess friction that slows me down.

I was glad to install these valves on my gravel bike running tubeless tires. They are much easier to use than old school presta valves and flow a lot more air, which helps with seating tubeless tire beads; they also haven't clogged with sealant like presta or Fillmore valve stems. However, one valve has been solid and leak-free, the other developed a major leak that I could not stop despite disassembling and cleaning the valve. I needed to swap it out for an older Fillmore valve before riding again. I'm going to chalk that up to a fluke or defect in that particular valve stem rather than an issue with the design.