Schwalbe Smart Sam’s – Any good?

It’s time for a new set of tyres and am contemplating a set of Smart Sam’s but I have a couple of questions…

1 – Anybody used them and if so what are they like grip wise on loose surfaces?
2 – Do they come in a 2.2 or 2.3 as I can’t see any details of size on the Schwalbe website.

Cheers all!

OK, so I now know that they come in a 2.25 from the .com rather than the .co.uk website.

But….still would like to know how they handle on loose terrain.

I’m guessing by the lack of feedback that these are so crap that they’re not worth trying 😉

There ok on my cross bike.

They are very good in certain situations.
Pretty quick because the centre line is almost constant.

Build up with mud quite quickly though. Great on dry rocks and generally fairly tough.

I’ve had them on my Inbred for the last couple of years and think they are perfect for what I do, which is mainly multi-day off road tours. The centre tread keeps them nice and quick on road and firm tracks and they’re good enough for all the other off road situations I’ve used them in, though you can’t hammer round loose corners the same way as you might with more aggressive tyres. Mine have seen a good mix of conditions:

Not bad on sheet ice!

They’re tough enough for me as well as giving good cushioning in 2.25″ size.

I like them, excellent for touring as pointed out but give you enough scope to go off road. Managed 700km in Himalayas with them on. Get the snakeskin ones for puncture protection.

Jose,
that tour looks great. Where is it ? We have done a few multi-days and are always looking for inspiration !

Re tyres, don’t know really about the Smart Sam’s but have used the Racing Ralph and Nobby Nic and find both ace if a bit expensive.

That’s pictures from a few different tours The top two are from a Glen Tilt – Minigaig tour I did one winter and the rest from some coast to coast Scotland rides. The last is from an icy loop round Alladale I did a couple of weeks back. I never get many pictures with the bike in as I’m always the photographer! Nice pic Stu, I’ve always wanted to do something like that in the Himalayas if I could persuade the wife!

tbh i found them to be the worst tyres i’ve used. for touring i’ve just used fatter marathons (although not on singletrack stuff), and for off road touring i used NNs (which i also dislike).
i’d probably whack on a set of maxxis crossmarks, as i find them fast rolling, but also capable off road too. something which, ime, the smart sams just weren’t.

good tyres i have a set for sale wire bead. less than 100mls 2.1 yours £15.00 posted the pr

Hey Jose where are the middle two from if you don’t mind being specific?
Ta

josemctavish – Member

though you can’t hammer round loose corners the same way as you might with more aggressive tyres.

The loose cornering is pretty important to me as a lot of the trails over here are on very loose gravel, so something with very good cornering grip is important, but nice and fast rolling into the bargain if there is such a beast.

Maybe the Maxis Crossmarks would be a better bet…. Nice tyres are just so expensive now it’s very easy to spend an absolute fortune on wrong choices.
I can stick a tyre on the car over here for less than the bike tyres in the LBS!

If it’s for more conventional mountain biking then I’d say there are better choices such as Nobby Nics or Fire XC’s. There’ll be a million other suggestions for grippy fast rollers though!

I’m normally out 5 days a week on a mixture of trails from completely gravel road to really rocky down hill routes, so it’s always difficult to find the right all round tyre. I’ve used a Kenda Nevegal / Blue Groove mix up to now and been happy with them, but I noticed that the side knobles on this set have started to come away from the tyre casing in places, so with that in mind and the fact that I can’t get them locally anymore I decided to have a change. The LBS stocks Schwalbe and Maxxis, hence my interest in these.
They have some Nobby Nics with the snakeskin protection which should be good for the cactus thorns, so I might try those.

knott4me – Member

good tyres i have a set for sale wire bead. less than 100mls 2.1 yours £15.00 posted the pr

I think the postage to here would cost you the 15 squids!

I have a set and really like them. I use Nobby Nics too and they’re brilliant.

So today I bought………..

The Nobby Nics.
Bloody hell…they do seem to roll rather well. Next week we will see what the loose gravel cornering is like.

Just a quick update…The Nobby Nics have been destroyed already by the lava rock here. That was a bloody expensive test of some new tyres!

Just totted up, just under 500km distance covered.

I personally find the NN rolls really badly compared to others in the Schwalbe range. I use the 2.25 snakeskin Sam on the rear for most trail centre duties with an albert on the front. for racing I’m now on the Rocket Ron or Ralph. I find the Sam rolls well with it having the almost continuous centre band but not much cop for braking on the front, hence the Albert on the front.

If they only last as long as the NN’s then I don’t think I’ll be trying them again!