Looking to go down the ‘ballon tyre’ road for a new build, would just like to know how you people find them?

Thanks in advance.

got big apples on my folding bike 🙂

Turner, how do you find them?

Originally had Big Apples on my ‘urban’ MTB (rigid SS) and for comfy tarmac rides they were great. Switched to City Jets for a tiny bit more speed though.

The Big Apples will go on my current ‘junker cruiser’ project.

slainte 🙂 rob

I have 2 inch big apples on my hard tail. The lighter one that on-one had on offer

so far very pleased. Felt fast and comfy. Not that surprising after knobblies i suppose.

But lots of cheap slicks are really heavy with stiff side walls and i didn’t fancy that

Stuck a set of BAs on a 29er. Never going to ride on the road with skinny tyres again. 🙂

The 29er has become my road bike.

It’s definitely worth trying to see if you like it.

Just switched from skinny schwalbe city jets to some 2.35 liteskin big apples for my commuter (rigid prince albert). I think they are great, all the cush of a mountain bike tyre, no worries about going up and down kerbs, potholes etc on the way home on Friday I rode across a rough field and down a steep set of steps, with no problems! They are still light and quick to get up to speed, plus they make a pleasing hum as you cruise along, get some!

I have some IRC Lovers Soul @ 2.25″ with a Vans sneakers type grip, I commuted on them for years, now on my Humu, great tyres which make a funky sound on wet roads.

had some massive 2.3 Crazy Bobs on my Alpine whilst using it to commute.

pumped up to 55psi they were awesome. ok, faily heavy, but i could still through it around the street.

currently got some Kenda something-or-others… a dirt tyres, but it beats commuting on 2.4 Rubber Queens….

Been using the Schwalbe Super Moto (got from http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCSMOTO/schwalbe-super-moto-evo-speed-grip-folding-tyre )

Always fancied a big smooth tyre, these are a reasonable price for good quality and reasonably lightweight for their size.

For my local cross country trail in the Pentlands (some road, some hardpack path, some dirt path) it seems to work well. Certainly for the road and hardpack it is fine. I am not a fast rider, and just want to cruse. Also taken them on roots, which obviously are sketchy when wet and at an angle anyway, and these tyres will slide more on that stuff. However, I am planing more bikepack type rides where I consider smoother tyres better for the majority of the riding.

Bought one Big Apple for the back of a tandem some time ago thinking the massive volume would give a bit of suspension / bounce, it worked really well.

Sine moved it onto the back of my No2 bike, initially as I use the bike on rollers and the slick tyre is quiet. The bike gets used on all terrain and actually the Big Apple is remarkably good.

I ride hardtail so that bit of bounce is good, not a single puncture in 12 months and the grip is brilliant on tarmac, good on trails, not tried it in mud but I guess we all know what the result would be.
The reflective ring on the side wall is very effective.

If you are intending to run these tyres do check your rear stay clearance, they are seriously big and would not fit in many frames.

Overall, I would buy another one.

I run Big Apple 2.35’s on my 29er Fargo and love them, also have the 2″ version on my old 26″ bike and they are pretty good but much prefer the larger versions.

I was on the Schwalbe stand at the bike show on Sunday and talked the chappy there into selling me the latest version of the Super Moto (the newer tread pattern not available for sale here yet) to try and i commuted with it on the front of the Fargo today and it’s a very nice tyre. Is much lighter than the wired Big Apple it replaced (still have a folding Big Apple on the rear). Also have the 26″ version to put on my old bike (bought one in each size to try) and have bought one of the older 26×2.35″ Super Motos from On One this morning so i can move the smaller ones to the wifes bike.

I’ve had one puncture to date in around 1200 miles and i can’t see myself using any other tyres in the forseeable future, the volume in them gives such a comfortable ride and eats up any road bumps and potholes. The Super Moto are better quality and are lighter but don’t have the kevlar guard puncture protection.

I tried a 29×2″ but didn’t like it as i’d say the 2.35 is roughly twice the overall volume of the 2″.

The 29×2″ folding Big Apple is sat in my garage in as new condition if anybody want to make me an offer…..

Got some big fattereds. Great tyre, but bloody heavy and not great for zipping about on really. More of a ‘cruiser’ tyre. Very comfy.

colournoise (or anyone else who has also used City Jets) – what is the difference in rolling resistance between the BAs and CJs? I went for CJs on my commute wheels, they do make the bike fly along but on rough ground they provide zero comfort!

I had Uff Da’s on my 1X1, great round town but on the Bristol – Bradford on Avon track, puncture after puncture, so I now have 2.5 Hookworms fitted, not quite so quick as the Uff’s but much better constructed………

zilog6128 – Member
colournoise (or anyone else who has also used City Jets) – what is the difference in rolling resistance between the BAs and CJs? I went for CJs on my commute wheels, they do make the bike fly along but on rough ground they provide zero comfort!

TBH I don’t think there’s that much physical difference really. Slightly bigger contact patch on the Big Apples but even the difference there is minimal if you run them hard.

For me the City Jets ‘feel’ faster but that might just be psychological. As you say they are certainly a harsher ride than the BAs but if I commute on the CJ shod bike I stick to the blacktop so that’s not a real issue (if I want to ride off-road some of the way back from work I take a ‘proper’ MTB and forget about going quick on the tarmac).

slainte 😀 rob

they’re great.commuted a bit on some 26×2.25 I think.
not that heavy,I got the foldable, lightskin ones from bike24 in a special offer they had.with xxxxtra light tubes the bike feels quite quick.

Been using 2.0 Big Apples for about 18 months now and they’re great. Quick n grippy on the road and surprisingly hard on the rough stuff; including loads of rooty/rocky bits around North/South Downs. Sure, you have to adjust (sometimes constantly) your line especially on the quicker DH or slippy stuff but what else would you expect?

Naturally don’t offer the all-round grip and durability that you need in a proper knobbly, but they’re shifty and perfick for combing road with BW/singletrack.