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Average Rating
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4/5
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# of Reviews
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12
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MSRP
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$ 49.98
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Weight
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More Products from Schwalbe
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Description:The tread design offers the basics for grip and high, off-road speed. The secret lies in the special shapes and arrangement of the many small center blocks. In the structure of the tire, changing the carcass angle produced and additional reduction in rolling resistance. Compounding: Different rubber mixtures are used in the tread. These are optimized for each tread area – center, shoulder and base.
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Submitted by
Bob Plumeau
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Santa Teresa | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$74.00 | | Purchased At: | TrailHead | | Strengths: | I pre-rode the Sea-Otter and was very impressed with how well it stuck. Didn't have to many loose rocks and the trails all had a light layer that could have been considered loose but this tire gave me confidence. There is plenty of beach like sand and it performed well there too. It came out of the turns fast and seemed faster than other tires on the long downhills.
Very light. <500 grams. With Stan's <600. | | Weaknesses: | Wow, the price. The wife still doesn't know and I'm trying to keep it a secret.
I am nervous after reading other's reviews. | | Similar Products Used: | Hutch Scorpion, IRC Mythos | | Bike Setup: | 05 Giant VT1, Minute 3. | | Bottom Line: | So far so good. The Sea Otter course is about 2o miles and has a good mix of terrain and I really had no traction issues at all. I'll put a few more miles on it and see what I think. I may save it for races only. Hate riding on pavement with this one. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rickels
a Cross Country Rider
from Grand Junction, CO
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Ribbon | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Strengths: | good traction, low rolling resistance, look good, wear well | | Weaknesses: | expensive and difficult to find | | Similar Products Used: | many | | Bike Setup: | Yeti | | Bottom Line: | the best tubless tire i have ever used | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aroussen LAflamme
a Racer
from QUebec, Quebec, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 23, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Quick on dry surfaces. High volume | | Weaknesses: | Weak carcass leads to break down during hard cornering and even get off the rim | | Similar Products Used: | Serax XC, Python | | Bike Setup: | Epic S-Works | | Bottom Line: | My opinion is that this is not a great tire. The carcass is too weak for racing. Also, they lack versatility. Theyre good only on dyr and hard surfaces. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a
from PA
Date Reviewed: November 20, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Fast, fast, fast. High volume. Light. Does not pack up with mud. Adequate traction for it's minimal tread. | | Weaknesses: | Expensive. | | Similar Products Used: | Tired'm all! | | Bottom Line: | You want an all around fast, high volume, all conditions, xc tire? This is it. There are trade offs though. If pushed too hard with sloppy technique it will break loose on climbs and during hard cornering. It's not sold as a mud tire so don't think it's going to work well in the mud (even though it does an acceptable job as it doesn't pack up). It's light and has thin walls so it's not the most durable tire, but my 180#s has yet to kill a set on my rigid SS here in rocky PA. I've used them for xc racing and trail riding and they have become my favorite xc tire, by far. Now Schwalbe needs to make them in a 29". | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Raubenheimer
a Cross Country Rider
from Cape Town
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Tokai | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | HiBike | | Strengths: | Fast rolling. Mounts very easily with eclipse kit and only a floor pump. Predictable cornering. | | Weaknesses: | Wears relatively quickly, but then what do you expect of a soft tire? | | Similar Products Used: | Hutch Pythons airlight ust; Conti explorer and vert pro's, Schwalbe Nobby Nics, Spesh fast traks, etc. | | Bike Setup: | Racer X 100 | | Bottom Line: | These are best suited to dry hardpack, though are quite acceptable in loose or even wet conditions as a rear tire. I use the 2.1 rear and the 2.3 front for dry to sandy conditions with light loose over hqardpack. If it gets a bit looser.rockier it's better to use the NN up front.
Not my prefered tire for just messing around - something with more traction is much better. But this is fast!
Wears pretty quickly.
Does what is says on the tin. 5 chili's if used as intended. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from PA
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Strengths: | fast rolling, reasonable grip | | Weaknesses: | weakest sidewall in the league | | Similar Products Used: | conti, specialized, nokian | | Bike Setup: | Epic marathon | | Bottom Line: | Do not get these tires if you are going to do any riding on anything other than dirt. I didn't even get a full hour out of them riding on rocks before the sidewall split. Upon closer examination, there were several other near cuts on the sidewall. The terrain out here eats tires, but every other company's USTs last for a few months, not a few miles. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Doug Larson
a Cross Country Rider
from Omaha Ne
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Lewis & Clark | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Bike Masters | | Strengths: | This is far and away the easiest tubless tire to mount that I have used so far. These tires also hold air in Crossmax wheels better than anything I have tried. An exremely fast tire with low rolling resistance that works well in hard pack conditions. Climb great when the trail is dry and smooth. Also these are the fastest tire I have come across when riding concrete.
| | Weaknesses: | Being a tubless tire they are a bit heavy when compared with the tubed version run with a Stans kit. While being a good hardpack racing tire, they offer poor traction when things get a bit wet and climbing over roots and wet logs is a challenge. These tires will let go when things get loose and rather small objects will knock the front tire off course easily. | | Similar Products Used: | Tubeless Pythons, Wildgrippers, Scropions and Weirwolfs. Also Nevegals with Stans kit. | | Bike Setup: | Gaint Anthem 1 stock.
| | Bottom Line: | I wanted a dedicated hardpack tire that was fast and tubeless. The Racing Ralphs work great for my needs on non greasy non rooty trail. Yesterday I raced a course that was very dry but had alot of root infested climbs that kept spinning the rear wheel out. I felt with a bit more knob available it would have meant the difference between riding and walking. On the more smooth open sections though these tires were rockets. They also seemed to handle the rocks better than I thought they might. Overall I like these tires and love the ease of mounting and the great air retention they seem to have. I read another review that stated they did not hold air well so maybe I lucked out with a good production batch. I also wish they came in a 1.9 size since they are a race tire. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
wallace
a Cross Country Rider
from canada
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | universal cycle | | Strengths: | Roll very fast | | Weaknesses: | Sidewall strength is low, tire should come in a 1.9 | | Similar Products Used: | Michelin wildgrippers comps
Maxxix ignitors | | Bike Setup: | trek fuel 100, full suspension, hope mini disc brakes | | Bottom Line: | The Racing Ralphs are a fast rolling tire I used them in the mtn bike race La Ruta. Wore out the sidewall on the rear on the first day from abrasion with mud passing through the forks. They performed very well on the technical and rocky desents and rolled very fast. They are faster than the wildgrippers I used in the Trans Rockies Challenge and a lot faster than the Ignitors. Schwalbe needs to make them in a 1.9, would be a super tire. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron
a Racer
from Carbondale
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Strengths: | fast as snot, great hardpack grip, cornering, predictible in the loose | | Weaknesses: | not the best grip in loose stuff but it is a race tire, wears fairly quickly but evenly | | Similar Products Used: | irc seracs (great tire, impossible to get off and on), all the contis, hutch pythons (don't ride them on anything but hardpack), specialed roll-x, michelin | | Bike Setup: | 2004 truth, all xtr | | Bottom Line: | just a quick plug for this tire- just finished the transalp and have to say this is one of the best decisions I made for the race. I figured the course would be mostly gravel and pavement and I was right (finally) and this was THE tire to have. Grips well, corners fine and gives the control you want in a really fast tire. Mud was a small issue and I had been warned about these tires- they hold mud so had a few risky moments but even with mud sticking to the tires, I was able to climb until my legs gave out.
I filled them with stans and never pumed them once in a week.
I would say that about 1 out of 3 tires used in this race were racing ralphs. A much better choice for racing than the pythons for varying conditions. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fatman
a Cross Country Rider
from Munich
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | yes | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Hibike | | Strengths: | real 2,25 volume. Rolls fast. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Michenlin Mud | | Bike Setup: | TREK 9900 OCLV 1998 | | Bottom Line: | Good, fast rolling tyre. Grip o.k. though not tremendous. Cushy volume. In 2,25 no race tyre, a bit to big. Highly recomended(I use it with Eclipse Tubeless System). The 2,25 is for tourers who prefer a fast rolling tyre with good comfort and not for weight weenies. No problems here with thightness or flats. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eddie
a Weekend Warrior
from Italy
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Monte Beigua - SV- Italy | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Good grip, light. | | Weaknesses: | So many flats... Absolutely no protection from punctures.
Microleakages directly from the rubber on the flanks. No possible to maintain in normal pressure more than 1-2 days. | | Similar Products Used: | First tubeless tire | | Bike Setup: | KONA KIKAPU upgraded (XT, MX Comp eta, WH-M765, DT210) | | Bottom Line: | Never again | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rob
a Racer
from Dallas
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | last one | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | performance | | Strengths: | Very low rolling resistance, very light, great traction on hard pack, FAST FAST FAST, great racing tire | | Weaknesses: | better grip means softer rubber, softer rubber means more wear, light means less rubber, less rubber more punctures
I would use it FRO | | Similar Products Used: | Fire XC, Vertical Pro, Jimmys | | Bike Setup: | Intense 5.5 05 float rlc crossmax xl and so on | | Bottom Line: | This is the fastest tire i owned, very good grip on hardpack, I would not recommend it for loose stuff, I am very impressed with the grip it has with those short knobs, it takes a while to trust them, because its hard to believe that they grip like they do,
great racing tire.
Schwalbe is a german company that works very close with their Race team and the result speaks for it self. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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