Folding or wired tyres ?

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beachcaster

Active Member
Location
sussex
I'm Looking to go from nobbly mountain bike tyres to something like Schwalbe big Apple
to give me a better ride on the road and a few trails.
I see this tyre comes in wired as well as folding versions......can someone explain the differences and the benefits

thanks

barry
 
A folding tyre is generally lighter than a rigid tyre and I think they seem to go on easier but other would say different on the latter point.
 

RecordAceFromNew

Swinging Member
Location
West London
Generally speaking, folding tyres have kevlar or other synthetic beads rather than metal wire beads, and all else being equal they are lighter, can pack smaller for spares etc., but are no different regarding puncture resistance.

However despite producing imho great tyres Schwalbe has a rather bewildering product range, often with variants of beads, compounds and puncture protections etc. within the same model. To make it even more confusing for interested buyers, their websites are not the clearest or most consistent (e.g. from different locations). Fwiw these are the American and uk ones. This might help giving you more details. As you can see knowing the precise model code may be necessary for picking the right one.

Big Apples are heavy tyres. But despite the weight the large air volume is great for offering effective pneumatic suspension for bikes with no suspension, since mechanical suspension would be even heavier. For the same reason, I don't think they are suitable for bikes with suspension.
 
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