In my experience they are generally just slightly small for their size, but that’s only for their mtb tires. Haven’t used their gravel tires enough to say
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The Schwalbe tires are all small for their size. A little known fact is that BRR publishes bead-to-bead widths (i.e. unmounted width) for all tires, at least those tested in the last few years. Here’s the b2b widths for all the 50mm tires tested so far:
- Terra Hardpack 130
- Cinturato H 133
- Race King 2.0 132
- G-One Overland 126.
For reference, the 2.1 Thunder Burt measured 135. A very good approximation for tire width is
tire width = (bead-to-bead width+inner rim width)/pi.
This model predicts a width of 47.7 mm on a 24mm inner width rim if the new 50mm Schwalbe tires are the same size as the 50mm Overland.
@stonerider I bet you can run a 2.1 Thunder Burt without too many problems (potentially, unless you are running 2x Di-2). I run them on a 45mm clearance frame with mech 2x. They measure 51mm.
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What width wheel are those on? I’ve just ordered one to try on my rear. I currently have pathfinder pro 47mm that measure 48mm on my 27mm internal width rim. I currently have about 4mm of clearance. My frame is titanium so I’m not concerned with damage during some sticky-ish conditions, but I obviously don’t want rubbing during routine dry riding/pavement. I’ll find out for sure in the next few weeks.
Please keep us updated.
I bought the PRO G-One RS 50mm. I currently have the previous G-One RS 45mm on my bike which measure 46mm on 25mm (iw) rims. I have a little over 7mm clearance at the closest point between the side knobs and chain stay (everywhere else has more clearance). So as long as the 50mm don’t blow out, I should be fine. I’m not concerned about mud as I don’t race in conditions that require more clearance.
Mine is a 24mm inner width rim. you have 48+2*4=56mm clearance. The Burts will probably measure 52-52.5 on your rims. You can probably run it but that’s pushing it! With a narrower rim it could be ok.
Currently running the G-One RS (non-pro) in a 45 and it’s the fastest gravel tire I’ve ever ran. Even on pavement. Feels like witchcraft. I’d like to try the 50, but it would be tight in my Stigmata.
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If it is the current-gen Stigmata, there should be plenty of clearance. No idea what previous gen clearance was like, though.
Last gen sorry, should have specified. They say 45 max. 47s would go pretty easy, 50s seem like pushing it.
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Gotcha…If the stated max is 45, I would think you could squeeze 50’s in, but it will likely depend on the internal width combined with your tire choice.
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Nathan Haas, former World Tour pro and current gravel racer, in a recent Bike Radar pod said that he doesn’t believe MTB tires are the fastest for gravel racing. His basic argument is that they are heavier and the climbs are where races are won or lost. FWIW, he is sponsored by Schwalbe.
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His gravel results don’t really inspire confidence in his thoughts on the matter. He’s not the first former road pro who put forth a logical personal opinion that doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny.
The road framework doesn’t apply much to gravel. Suspension losses are significant factor and seem hard for road racers to understand and account for.
It’s just as easy to say that races are won or lost on the longest relatively roughest sections because the marginal cost is so much higher. The estimated power cost for 200-400g in the tires is much less than the estimated power cost of a ~10mm narrower tire.
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The weight of the tire is the least important marginal gain (rolling resistance, aero, puncture resistance, grip, etc). Unfortunately it’s just the easiest to measure and relate to.
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Howdy. The pressures are pretty boring…all tires off road are at rider’s preferred pressure which is typically within a PSI or so of what is calculated optimal by Silca calculator or Wolf Tooth tire pressure app. Also only have so many columns to present data so trying to keep it simple haha. BRR CRR numbers on my posts are at “extra low” pressure and my actual test runs are as stated above. I have done enough runs at a variety of pressures to know the change in CRR gets pretty level even close to optimal.
Anyway, pressures were 26/28 for terra speed, 23/25 for terra hardpack, 19/21 for race king, and 17/19 for Peyote. See? Kinda boring. Also inevitably leads to more questions with also kinda boring answers.
Thanks for those noticing the work…more to come!
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Thanks for clarifying. The pressure used for testing isn’t boring, it’s the most important variable, sharing of which strengthens your results.
I have to think that most of the people interested enough to look at, and understand, the results of an R Chung experiment aren’t going to be bored by an excess of information or description.
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Thanks for commenting, and for the added details! Have to say those things are not boring at all. The smoothness of the CRR curve for large tires offroad is something I haven’t seen discussed much. I think that’s an important point which is very different from the typical talk about breakpoint pressure on the road, where a little too high is way worse than a little too low.
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The wattages are calculated off tested CRR as stated and a standardized rider profile for day to day relatability. For pure precision of the tests the test CRR columns are most important and have what ya want…CRR to 4 decimal places. wattage will change on course profile and speed but be linear with change in CRR. Oh and I am using a calibrated speed sensor with manual rollout for each tire at test pressure. Power meter calibrated every time. It is pretty solid. You should see some of the graphs with minor test mistakes, they look like garbage haha. Thanks for the questions.
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Yeah always measure rollout at test pressure. It is important.
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my comment on low wattages was mostly because at 150ish watts its real hard to hold the wattage steady…where if you were doing it at say 270, it would flocculate a whole lot closer together. I’ve never done the test, so I really don’t know. Thanks for chiming in