Smart Sam goes well on any terrain and even on the road it rolls effortlessly. It is available in a wide variety of executions, also with reflective lines.
Submitted by
Peter Lawrie
a Weekend Warrior
from Cape Town, South Africa
Date Reviewed: December 14, 2011
Strengths: Good allrounder. Rolls fast, but does not run out of track on the corners.
Weaknesses: None for what I ride
Bottom Line:
Great for all round riding. Fast rolling, good grip. Even a mate riding a Nevegal (in front of a Stumpie) was impressed with my bike on these when we swapped bikes.
No idea how they work in mud or wet conditions, as yet.
Similar Products Used: Continental Gravity, Race Kings and Verticals
Bike Setup: Specilized Epic Comp
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
firekja
a Cross Country Rider
from stevens point
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2011
Strengths: This tire can take a little bit of everything that you can throw at it.
Weaknesses: This tire while is good on most surfaces, it is definately not a do all tire.
Bottom Line:
Most of my rides consist of a mix between hardpack and road. I do not completely trust these tires on a sharp corner on gravel. They are excellent for the road and trail though. This tire is a good compromise if you ride a little bit of everything and they seem to have minimal rolling resistance on the road. Overall I like these tires, just dont expect them to be your everything tire.
Weaknesses: Low speed & high rub in asphalt roads,height,price
Bottom Line:
i agree that they are great for cross-country,parks,trail paths,stone roads.Quite good speed into these surfaces.
Running over potholes is quite comfort and well-driven and suddenly movemments no longer be in your bike.score(4/5)
Schwalbe says:Great all-rounder tyre but they are quite noisy tyres and low-medium speed into asphalt roads.
Quite rubbing,you´ll need strength and make an effort for moving them.So big size tyres for city and roads(2.10")score:(2/5)
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2011
Strengths: Rolls fast on bitumen & hardpack.
Seems to be quite a durable compound.
Weaknesses: By being an allrounder, it's not the best tire choice for any one surface. Ok on most, but master of none.
Bottom Line:
If you are one of those people that drives to the venue & then hits the singletrack, this is probably not the best tire for you. There are better condition specific tires out there. For me though these are a great tire choice. They will do my 40 km round trip commute to work and back a couple of days a week. Then they will take me quickly (these things roll as well as many slicks!)the 15 km I need to cover to get off road. Sure, when I get off road they are a compromise, but a pretty good one at that.
Similar Products Used: Reminds me of the discontinued Maxxis Ranchero.
Bike Setup: Voodoo Sobo with : Sid Team, X0, Fulcrum Ones, Ritchey trimmings & SDG
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Piti
a Cross Country Rider
from Germany
Date Reviewed: December 3, 2010
Strengths: Balance between grip and rolling resistance, long wearing, good size and weight
Weaknesses: Somewhat unstable cornering
Bottom Line:
Generally I hesitate to recommend Schwalbe products as I had several flawed tires and tubes in the past. So far I love my Smart Sam (2.1 ORC folding version) on the rear. It's the best compromise for combined on- and off-road riding I've ever had. This tire shows hardly any wear after several hundreds of miles. As a front tire I would use something with more evenly distributed knobs.
Similar Products Used: IRC Mythos, Ritchey Z-Max, many others
Bike Setup: Focus steel HT
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mohammad
a Cross Country Rider
from TT
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2010
Strengths: It does What was Designed Great!
Weaknesses: Nothing important, Just some noise on the pavement or Asphalt
Bottom Line:
The Bike came in with Kenda All mountain Tires, cause i commute to work everyday, I got it changed with this just with 10$. This was a great deal for me, It is great. It is 2.10 but the 1.90 or 1.75 one would be better on road!
Submitted by
YeahWhatever
a Cross Country Rider
from VA
Date Reviewed: June 26, 2010
Strengths: Very Light, Rolls fast
Weaknesses: Tends to suck up a lot of rocks, and it is a bit pricey.
Bottom Line:
This tire rolls faster and with less effort than the Kenda Dred Tread. I use it mostly on gravel fire roads, and it feels great. My only complaint is that I'm constantly hearing the pinging of rocks being thrown against the frame. Otherwise, it is an excellent tire. I look forward to seeing how it holds up over time.
Submitted by
jmf69
a Weekend Warrior
from Lisbon, Portugal
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2010
Strengths: Fast roll and confortable
Weaknesses: None yet
Bottom Line:
After reading many, many tires reviews I decided to go for the Smart Sam and I confess that I hardly could be happier. The goal with this bike is long rides (usually several days at 80-100Km/day) where we can get every type of surface, from tar to difficult off-road trails usually carrying a considerable load for complete autonomy.
As far as I experienced, these tires are really wonderful. They are very comfortable, good grip and very fast roll. Even independently of the price they would be very good. When considering the price, they are awesome..
My congratulations to Schwalbe for the very nice work!
Similar Products Used: Michelin Country Trail, Michelin Country Mud, etc, etc
Bike Setup: TREK 8000 (1993), weels shimano, rear derailleur XT, front SLX
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
sbowles
a Weekend Warrior
from Newmarket, Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: May 4, 2009
Strengths: Excellent all round tire , fast rolling, seems to stick well to roots and rocks. I have ridden all mountain terrain with them.. Fort Rock New Hampshire and North Shore style technical trails as Raven Shoe ... The tire just seems to perform in general terms better than any tire I've used so far..
Weaknesses: As in all round tire it's weakest link would be its mud performance... but still as far as I'm concerned it's acceptable performance as long as you don't have long stretches of deep mud.. I have used other Schwalbe fast rolling racing tires in the past.. Fast Fred for example... these were absolutely horrible in the mud ..
Bottom Line:
I'm a big guy 220 ish ... in spring and fall I run Kenda Nagils 235 .. I was worried about going to UST wheels.. and especially only to 2.10's I purchased the evolution series triple nano. These wheels feel like I have another inch of travel and so far I have ridden them very hard over New England and Ontario rocky terrain... no flats and the tires stick incredibly well. The added bonus is that the rules superfast and or super sticky over anything I've thrown at it so far...
Favorite Trail: Fort Rock New Hampshire and Raven Shoe Keswick On
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At: ebay store
Similar Products Used: Fast Fred's , racing Ron's Kenda Small block
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Blur LT - Crank Brothers Iodine UST wheelset
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Mr.SJ
a Cross Country Rider
from Germany, BW
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2009
Strengths: Very fast, good allrounder, light and -most important- longest tire life for fast tires in my experience, similiar to Maxxis Ranchero.
Weaknesses: None to cry about. This is made for XC and long distance riding.
Bottom Line:
This review is for the new Smart Sam EVO with the new Triple Nano Compound. Since I am riding with this tire, the "tire topic" is uninteresting for me. The EVO-carcass and the new compound is an upgrade for the Sam´s. They are touring and race tires now and I will use them for race purposes.
Very low rolling resistance like the Racing Ralphs, but better grip. Uphills with 25% are no problem. Great design, big volume and comfort. Even in bad weather conditions this is my best rear tire so far and has not to be changed due to different weather or ground conditions. In dry and medium conditions the new Sam offers plenty of grip even as a front tire. Sam EVO front and rear increased my speed significantly. But when heaven opens up you might be safer with the Nobby Nic front. No punctures!
Value: 30,- Euro is not cheap, all high end tires are expensive like this, unfortunately. But I do not know any tire as fast AND long-lasting (!!) like this. So I have to give 5.
Overall: clear 5.
Similar Products Used: Some. I have been lucky with the Speed Kings, but these are better.
Bike Setup: HT, pressure for the Sam EVO: front 1,6-1,7bar, rear 2,0bar.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Cal
a Cross Country Rider
from Scotland
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2008
Strengths: light, seem to be tough
Weaknesses: unstable, expensive, hard to find the folding version
Bottom Line:
These tyres are OK, but they are nowhere near all they're hyped up to be, at least for me. I ride what I'd call agressive XC, am average weight and height (about 11 stone and 5'8"). After long searching through reviews on the net I eventually settled on the 2.1" folding versions to replace my venerable 2.3" continental vertical steels. I was looking to lighten the bike, reduce rolling resistance but still retain traction. Unfortunately, the entire bike immediately felt unstable. I find that the knobs don't bite as well as the old conti's and the grip on rock, mud and everything except solid hardpack is severely reduced - the whole bike felt sketchy on even moderately technical terrain. Maybe I bought the wrong size and should have gone for the 2.25"? Anyway, I eventually changed the front tyre back to the conti and there was an immediate improvement. I'm considering going back to the verticals on the rear now too. Condsidering the contis are about SR£12 each and the Schwalbes were over STR£60 for the pair, this was an expensive failed experiment. Even if you find these tyres to be good, they're still far to expensive - car tyres are only twice the price!
Similar Products Used: conti vertical, panaracer fire xc pro, wtb primal raptor...
Bike Setup: Blur LT (v1), Rockshox Revelations, etc
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
dbblackdiamond
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2008
Strengths: This tire rolls really well, but what is more surprising is how much it hooks up. I was very surprised considering that the tread is pretty solid. On the same trail, I tried the Smart Sam and the Racing Ralph and I have found the Smart Sam to hook up better and roll faster than the RR, which really surprised me.
On the rolling resistance side, the tire feels like it is a slick. It accelerates effortlessly. I was able to push 1 taller gear than I usually does on my favourite trail. When things get a bit gnarly, it still hooks up well on roots and rocks.
The version I am using is the 2.1 SnakeSkin and I am impressed by the SnakeSkin. It has hold up very well to a lot of sharp rocks. I haven't been really careful going down and so far no sidewall tear.
Weaknesses: It doesn't work well, when things get wet or loose. In the wet, it packs up really fast and then slip and slide all over the place. On really loose rocks, it can hook up, but one has to be careful of how one lays down the power. There is traction, but not a lot, so smooth is the word there.
As any Schwalbe tires, it is a bit on the expensive side.
Bottom Line:
I think this tire does what it was designed to do very well. It is a fast rolling tire with plenty of traction. I ride in the Rockies, where there are plenty of rocks, roots and loose rocks over hardpack and this tire works really well. The only place where it doesn't really work is when things turn wet, but with a tread like that, I wasn't expecting it to work well.
The SnakeSkin protection works really well as I have bombed through a few rock gardens with plenty of sharp rocks and it is as good as new.
If you're looking for a fast rolling tire with good traction, then I think this is a good option. Don't expect the traction to match that of Kenda Nevegal, but for such a fast rolling tire, it is really good.
Similar Products Used: Schwalbe Racing Ralph, Maxxis Advantage, Kenda Nevagal, Panaracer XCFirePro
Bike Setup: Heavily modified C'dale Prophet
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
seb80
a Cross Country Rider
from Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2008
Strengths: Fast but grippy, light, very puncture resistant, reasonably priced, durable
Weaknesses: none yet discovered
Bottom Line:
I didn't want to use the standard Bontrager heavy duty tyres when I purchased the bike, so I had my vendor replaceing them with the Smart Sams (SnakeSkin!). So far (700km, 1 year of XC riding) I haven't had a single puncture, not even when riding very difficult and rocky tracks in southern France.
They roll quite smooth, even on tarmac. Grip is fine doing the various XC-tracks in The Netherlands and around, but grip and steering could be better in loose sand and deep mud. In deep mud the mud quite sticks to the tyre, but you can't have it all in an allround tyre. For very wet and muddy rides I'm purchasing a pair of Nobby Nic tyres.
Oh and did I mention that they hardly show any wear!
Do note that there are no very rough rocky tracks in the Netherlands. Most tracks are on soft forest grounds (with lots of roots), gravel and sand. So apart from that ride in France I have no experience on heavy rocky trails.
Overall:
Very good allrounder, tough, well priced. But do look for the SnakeSkin version with tougher sidewalls.
Bike Setup: Trek 6500 disc 2007, deore groupset with XT rear derailleur.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Bobby
a Cross Country Rider
from Idaho
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2008
Strengths: Fast rolling, long wearing, supple casing+high volume for a 2.1=comfortable and good control over bumps. Light!! Good cornering, good grip on rocks. The deepish knobs keep the bulk of the goatheads off the casing (and thus the tube as well).
Weaknesses: I find the braking on hard pack is not good at all, though turning is fine. But what do you expect with the near-continuous center tread?
Bottom Line:
I'm using the snakeskin 2.1's. I like it, but desire more braking for the steeps/hairpins that I ride in. Can't have it all, these tires are great rolling all-rounders otherwise. They would have been perfect where I used to live in rolling hills and tire-sucking slow soft wet stuff with roots and rocks strewn everywhere.
Also Schwalbes are expensive but there is no other place on your bike were 40 more dollars will make as much difference as good tires. As soon as you feel these tires you can see they are well-manufactured. So 5 for value.
Hi there.
As it turned out my nic's are not liking my compact terrain adventures, so I am planning on switching to smart sam's.
I am just curious as to the actual width of th Read More »
I finally put together my first tubeless wheel set. I used brand new 2011 Schwalbe Smart Sam 2.1 UST tires on brand new Mavic 819UST rims. We used Geax Pit Stop sealant in them.
Read More »
good news from the eurobike:
please comment here:
[url]http://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/new-schwalbe-29er-tires-hans-dampf-ice-spiker-pro-rapid-rob-smart-sam-735454-post8407 Read More »
Hi,
I ride a Cannondale hard tail in Texas on single trails. Hard pack, some rocky / sandy and road.
Just upgraded to a DH fork + xc rims, cos I broke the fork lockout. Schwalb Read More »
