In the title really…

After swearing I would never use Schwalbe again (OK, non-snakeskin at the time) I’m beginning to have my head turned by talk of the snakeskin sidewalls on things like Nobby Nics.

Riding tubeless and want a 2.2 doitall tyre at about the 600g weight but not keen on the superskinnylight schwalbes with the rubbish sidewalls. Will the snakeskin lining really make a difference?

Anyone’s experiences?

H

they’re not bad at all.. it’s a light tyre so you can’t expect alot i guess.

*touches some wood* I’ve used my Racing Ralph’s(with tubes) for over a year now, to the point of being tread bare. And have never had a single puncture, sidewall or otherwise.

(obviously with the exception of my first ride after posting this)

They are excellent – what the normal ones should be like! Not totally bombproof but leagues ahead of the normal ones.

GB

I have some Fat Alberts with snakeskin and some cheap Nobby Nics without, not had puncture problems with either. There is actually a slight manufacturing defect with the snakeskins where what I assume is the snakeskin, ie a thin layer of clear plastic material has broken the surface. I know I should have returned the mail order tyres but I’m lazy and have hadno trouble with them.

Riding nobby Nics 2.25 snakeskins. I found the standard evo ones appalling, and suffered from sidewalk explosions from nothing serious at all. The snakeskins have been very good indeed. Thrown them through rock gardens and they’ve shrugged them off. I’ll be getting them again.

In my experience, albeit from a few years ago, Schwalbe tyres tend to have thin sidewalls so the extra beef on the sides is well worth it.

Snakeskin good enough for alpine, mega, use?

Just for balance, I’ve got a snakeskin Nobby Noc on the back of my bike. Done about 150 miles in total and the sidewall has torn around 1/4 of the tyre’s circumference. First one I’ve had problems with though.

I’d be taking a downhill tyre for that.

Edit: aimed at lister

Ox, did you send it back? What response did you get?

Only noticed it this weekend, and I’ve been out on it seemingly with the rip. I’ll see what shop has to say when I take it in.

Gee +1.

Not quite UST thick, but thick enough for all-round general durability when run tubeless, rather than the silly thin standard sidewalls you find on normal scwalbes and continental. Much better that Conti duraskin sidewalls.

As others have said they’re much better than the normal ones. I’m at about 6 months now on a snakeskin nobby nic whereas I destroyed a normal one in a couple of months.

OK thanks for this, think i’ve found my new tyre.

Yes, even with snakeskin walls they are a very light tubeless ready tyre so I am still half expecting a failure while tubeless at some point. Hmm.

Anyone used the double defence casing?

H

I used to have a theory, that when there’s a special version of a tyre, it means the standard one is lacking something it should have. For instance, Continental Supersonic always meant the standard version was inexplicably draggy. Just recently it’s seemed like that’s not so much the case, but I reckon these are the exception- snakeskin really does seem to mean “Uh oh, our standard tyres puncture if you give them a sharp look”

snakeskin really does seem to mean “Uh oh, our standard tyres puncture if you give them a sharp look”

Doesn’t it just mean that some people – like me – ride in areas full of abrasive rocks and are clumsy, talentless oafs so tend to kill thin-sidewalled tyres in a way that someone who rode mostly on, oh, I dunno, the South Downs probably wouldn’t?

So it’s more an acknowledgement that in some conditions the standard tyres don’t cut it rather than some sort of tacit confirmation of your basic cynicism?

Or is that too reasonable an explanation for BlackAndWhiteWorld?

I use Maxxis Exo for exactly that reason.

im tending to agree with northwind on this one. in this case.

BadlyWiredDog – Member

So it’s more an acknowledgement that in some conditions the standard tyres don’t cut it

Wouldn’t say so- I’m not a puncturer, and I don’t really ride anywhere that’s hard on tyres. Also I generally use Kendas, which most folks seem to agree have delicate sidewalls, but which give me no gyp. But my 2.25 Nic was an exciting experiment in sidewall cuts while my snakeskin one has been pretty faultless.

I was recently looking for the ideal rear tyre for a hard ridden 150mm bike. Tough sidewalls, great grip in all conditions, reasonable weight, tubeless etc (ie doesn’t exist!). I liked the Maxxis EXO stuff as the sidewalls were really tough without x2 ply weight but the usual minion or high roller is often just too much drag, advantage not enough tyre for me and the ardent is useless in all but totally dry conditions. So after a bit of research and not wanting to pay £50 per tyre I tried a Bontrager XR4 Team issue Tubeless ready. My impression after several rides is loads of grip but rolling resistance is a fraction of HR/Minion, sidewalls don’t feel much different to single wall normal Maxxis, pretty light, went tubeless first time in 10 mins and £34.99. Seems like a great tyre for 140ish hard ridden bikes and comes up about the same size as 2.35 maxxis. Will have to see in 6 months how durable it’s tread and sidewalls are.

Double Defense ones are like riding a solid tyre. They are rock hard. Horrid!

GB

BadlywiredDog

Doesn’t it just mean that some people – like me – ride in areas full of abrasive rocks and are clumsy, talentless oafs so tend to kill thin-sidewalled tyres in a way that someone who rode mostly on, oh, I dunno, the South Downs probably wouldn’t?

I’m not so sure it’s rocks you have to worry about per se but sharp rocks specifically….The south downs is littered with flints sharp enough that people made cutting tools from them for thousands of years.

I’ve been riding Rons for the last year with no problems but I think I ride quite light. Would probably go for Snakeskin Ralphs next time for peace of mind. Really like the Rons though, wish Schwalbe would make an SS version.

Duir, what weight are the xr4 though? Aren’t they supposed to be at least 120g heavier than SS TLR Nobbies?

did afan at the weekend using boggo pacestar evo rocket ron and racing ralph… nice and low psi and running tubeless on arch ex rims.

stacks of clumsy rock strikes and talentless downhilling, but not a peep, burb or hiss out of the tyres… guess i’m just lucky.

going to head up again in a few weeks and give the michelin wild race’r advanced setup a go… £30 for the pair from crc… got a set on my cannondale monstercrosser already and have another set to go on the yeti

I managed to put a huge hole in the side a Maxxis Ardent Exo with less than 100 miles on the tyre

Gutted but not sure if Maxxis would replace

Does any one have any experience with getting replacements?

I’m very rough on my tyres by the way….