Description: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
Cal
a Cross Country Rider
from Scotland Date Reviewed: August 27, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Kirroughtree
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
online
Strengths:
light, seem to be tough
Weaknesses:
unstable, expensive, hard to find the folding version
Similar Products Used:
conti vertical, panaracer fire xc pro, wtb primal raptor...
Bike Setup:
Blur LT (v1), Rockshox Revelations, etc
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!
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Submitted by
dbblackdiamond
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada Date Reviewed: August 4, 2008
Favorite Trail:
MoosePackers
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Speedgoat.com
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.
Similar Products Used:
Schwalbe Racing Ralph, Maxxis Advantage, Kenda Nevagal, Panaracer XCFirePro
Bike Setup:
Heavily modified C'dale Prophet
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.
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Submitted by
seb80
a Cross Country Rider
from Eindhoven, The Netherlands Date Reviewed: July 12, 2008
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$37.00
Purchased At:
Vermeulen Fietsplezi
Strengths:
Fast but grippy, light, very puncture resistant, reasonably priced, durable
Weaknesses:
none yet discovered
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
Trek 6500 disc 2007, deore groupset with XT rear derailleur.
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.
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Submitted by
Bobby
a Cross Country Rider
from Idaho Date Reviewed: May 3, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$37.00
Purchased At:
Universal cycles
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?
Similar Products Used:
IRC Mibro, Conti Mountain King
Bike Setup:
Hardtail
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.
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Submitted by
Brent
a Racer
from Colorado Date Reviewed: March 2, 2008
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
very light and extremely durable. Rolls with the best of them!
Weaknesses:
NONE!!
Similar Products Used:
EVerything
Bike Setup:
Blur XC
Bottom Line:
I bought the 2.1 snakeskin version to run on the rear of my bike using Stan's. I weigh all my tires and it came out of the box at 535 grams. It is a true 2.1 size as well. It looked like it would work fairly well but to my surprise it works amazing in most soils. I have ridden anything from ultra technical stuff in Fruita to COlorado Trail stuff and I have yet to find a tire that hooks up in all these conditions. Oh yeah, did I mention I never had one flat tire?! I have never had a tire last as long as this one either. I am putting the new Racing Ralph on the front for this season and keeping the Smart Sam on the rear. Buy this tire for the rear in particular and you won't be disappointed!
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Submitted by
Fatman
a Cross Country Rider
from Feldafing Date Reviewed: February 13, 2007
Favorite Trail:
yes
Duration Product Used:
Tested or demo'ed only
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At:
lbs
Strengths:
yes
Weaknesses:
no
Similar Products Used:
lately:Schwalbe: Racing Ralph 2,24 tubeless; Fat Albert 2,35 tubeless; Nobby Nic 2,24; Michelin XCR Mud 2,0 tubeless; IRC Trailbear 2,5.
Bike Setup:
Hot Chili Zymotic Harttail; Marzocchi DJ3, Formula Oro K24/20cm diks brake, Shimano XTR 1998...
Bottom Line:
I bought them as taramac winter tyres with a supposed low rolling resistance, low vibrations on hard surface. Front 2,24; rear 2,1 ORC Compound, light version. Aired them today in bad weather, first time. Well, they are what I bought them for, on taramac. Perhaps not as easy as the RRalphs tubeless (which are the fastest rolling tyres I ever used. Since the snow was gone, I went on my usual round into terrain. I know this round verrry well, and I know how my different bikes/tyres behave in different conditions. What was most surprising: this is a serious heavy soil tyre!! Mud, loose gravel, mud over still frozen underground, hardpack, big wet stones, snow, all was there. And this tyre performed so well. It is really amazing. It stayed true to aim in curves, braked perfectly, gave much confidence. I know some spots where even my old Fat Alberts Front Only (front and rear) were scetchy enough. And these simply went through, making no fuss whatsoever. Forget Nobby Nic, this is the real thing for you. Perhaps the guys at Schwalbe cook a version 2,3 in triple compound tubeless. Very likely the penultimate MTB tyre,would that be. I looked at them in my garage today in the evening, and I still don't understand a thing. Why are they so good??!! Perhaps some serious freaks wouldn't buy them, because they look so tame.
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Submitted by
Cerpelai
a
from Jakarta, Indonesia Date Reviewed: January 31, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
great tyre for both off-road and on-road
Weaknesses:
doesn't clear mud fast enough, except when the weather change to sunny
Similar Products Used:
Schwalbe racing ralph, skinny jimmy, GT chameleon, IRC
tried it off road, traction is good enough and it's fast. even quite good on some softcore downhill.. as long as it's dry. as it started to rain, it's still good for most surface. I survived a long downhill on slippery rocks and track filled with mud, but it was very scary. Well, i guess going downhill on slippery rocks is scary with any kind of tyre.
The cool part is that this tyre doesn't annoy me when i ride on tarmac or even smooth aphalt. It can roll very smooth, with less drag than other "off-road" tyre i've tried.
I just love it.. multi-purpose tyre that really works! It might not be as grippy as the other off-road, mud, or downhill speciality tyres. And it's not as smooth as those road tyre. But it really is a great compromise between both.
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Submitted by
Hugues
a Cross Country Rider
from montreal Date Reviewed: June 12, 2006
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$45.00
Strengths:
these tires are rolling like crazy
Weaknesses:
in 90 degres turn or more they lose there grip and you better hold to your bike beaucause they might eject you!!
Similar Products Used:
Hutchison-Spider
Bottom Line:
Really good product for the price. I was looking for fast tiree and I really got a great set with the smart sam. they are fast and they have a lot of grip in the mud and everywhere I have been with them.
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Submitted by
Nigel Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Halesowen UK Date Reviewed: May 31, 2006
Favorite Trail:
coed y brenin Wales
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$45.00
Purchased At:
Wiggle.co.uk
Strengths:
Fast rolling next to no resistance What appears to be a very low ware characteristic Puncture resistance
Weaknesses:
Sidwall Grip in the very worst conditions
Similar Products Used:
Panaracer XCPro Specialized Adrenaline
Bike Setup:
2006 Specialized Stump Pro FSR
Bottom Line:
I got the Kevlar type so they are just that little bit heavier than the Adrenaline but the puncture resistance easily makes up for that. I was looking for a fast rolling summer tyre that would last a bit longer than the feeble Fire xcPro ‘s I have fitted to my other bike, well I was not disappointed in my choice of tyre as these tyres roll. I just could not believe how much faster they are compared to the Adrenaline’s and are not showing any sign of ware after one month’s use. I have also been shocked by just how much grip these tyres have even in the worst muddy conditions I find myself thinking I will run these all year round, its only when it gets very muddy that the very edge of the tread struggles for grip and this is the only point that the adrenaline’s have the edge on the Smart Sam’s in every other aspect of the tyre the Smart Sam wins hands down.
$
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