Kabuto

I'm looking for a fast rolling 45-65mm wide 406 tire for use on normal roads (mostly). Good puncture protection is nice, lighter is better.

The obvious choices seem to be Schwalbe Big Apple 50/406 or 55/406 or Schwalbe Big Ben 55/406. Are there any other options?

rhenning

Generally fat tires are not considered fast rolling if for no other reason than their weight which makes the tire slower to speed up. Roger

Kabuto

Yeah, I understand that Roger. Poorly phrased on my part.

I should have written fast rolling for a balloon tire meaning faster rolling that other similar spec balloon tires.

brdeleo49

I just put 47/406 Continental Ride Tours on my Sundeal and they also have a kevlar belt....

tds101 

Check out Schwalbe Big Apple tires,...

splithub

Hutchinson Greenville 20x1.75 will be next on my 406 bike. On my 16" 305 folder in 16x1.75 they replaced BigApples 16x2.0 and are a massive improvement over them. Wider, even specced narrower, but just matching the paper form and lighter than the Apples, again just fulfilling the specs unlike Schwalbe. They feel like voluminous Kojaks with slightly thicker sidewalls, and roll fantastic. It is always worth to check the bmx range for balloony and light tires also but the puncture protection, rolling resistance and grip on wet pavement are questionable from my experience..

Steamer

F-lites. Same as GoCycle.

cplager

Tire weight has almost no effect on speed .

Schwinnsta

IMHO, heavy tires are slower, wide supple tires are fast.

Kabuto

The F-lites look interesting. If only they were available locally...

Does anyone have any thoughts on Schwalbe Big Apple vs Schwalble Big Ben? The following two tires are readily available locally.

Big Apple 50-406 - 495 gm - rolling 4.5/6 - 2.50 to 5.00 bar (35 -70 psi)Big Ben 55-406 - 575 gm - rolling 4.5/6 - 2.00 to 4.00 bar (30 -55 psi)

tomtomtom123

I had the Big Apple a long time ago. It was ok for the first 2 years, with occasional punctures.
I have the Big Ben Plus with Greenguard strip, for about 1.5 years, no punctures. It's a tight fit in the frame though, I had to trim notches into the fenders to get them to seat higher into the fork for a little bit more clearance to the tire. There is only about 3mm of gap at the closest point between the fender and the tire, but seems to be ok. The chain on small-small also is very close to the tire, but even closer to the fender, as I installed 60mm fenders. There is only ab out a 2mm gap between the chain and fender on small-small.

Also, if you want the greenguard, I think the specs for Big Ben Plus shows it being slightly lighter than Big Apple Plus. Don't know why. You can double check the specs.

rhenning

Cplager weight does effect speed as the heavy tires will take more effort to get spinning and more braking to slow them down. Simple physics. It might have no effect once you are at speed but will have a effect on you speed. Roger

cplager

You're now confounding effects.

Weight almost doesn't matter at all.

Supple/stiff matters a lot (that's what causes rolling resistance).

It's often true that heavy tires are stiff and there are slow, but a wide supple tire might be significantly heavier than a small stiff one and the wide heavy tire would likely be a faster tire.

seat_boy

I really like the Tioga Power Blocks on my Dahon. They transformed the ride from the Kendas I had on there.

Wide tires can be faster than skinny, once the roads aren't glass smooth.

MnHPVA Guy

I have 1.95" Tioga PowerBlocks on my 1975 Raleigh Twenty. One of my favorite small tires.

Jane and I have 1.60" Powerblocks on our Dahons
And my great grandson has 1.4" PBs on his non-folding Raleigh Rowdy.

Kabuto

Thanks for the input everyone. I went for Big Apple 50-406 tires this time. Will definitely consider giving 1.95" Tioga PowerBlocks a try next time around though.

tds101 

The Big Apple's are some seriously comfy, durable tires!

2wheelsfreedom

If you decide to go with Big Apple 50/406, let me know where you get it. It's a rather hard to find tire. Thanks.

wqlava1

Bike24 - 14 euros each for 50 or 55mm wide.

Rollfast

Tires don't make you faster, setup and your condition might. Gearing certainly.

BromptonINrio

you should go big apple ou big ben for folders.
with 50psi they are bolth fast and confortable.

mirfi

I put Kenda Kwest 193 High Pressure 20x1.50 on my folders and they have been durable and fast

tds101 

The OP already purchased his tires,...if anyone bothered to actually READ the posts, they'd know this,...

Kabuto

I got mine here (link), though I expect no help to you unless you live in Japan. I've got the opposite problem - 50-406 Big Apples are readily available but 55-406 Big Apples are not.

I don't want to go faster. I want to go the same speed with less effort

They're slightly higher pressure tires than their fatter siblings (Big Apple 55-406 and Big Ben 55-406) so I've got my 50-406s inflated to about 55 psi. Seems to be the sweet spot.

Actually reading the thread?! Gosh is that what these online forums are for???

tds101 

I know,...who would of thought???