[Entrenador]

Thinking about a light, fairly fast but stable tire up front, and I'm eying Schwalbe's offerings. Visually on line (don't have them on hand near by), the Racing Ralph looks to have lower knobs and perhaps a more race oriented tread (read less bite up front) than the Rocket Ron. Am I seeing this correctly: Of these two, is the Rocket Ron the one with more aggressive tread?

Thanks.

 

[Cayenne_Pepa]

Rocket Ron=Love everything about it
Racing Ralph=Meh...

 

[jbbikerider]

For me love the rocket ron rear and the racing ralph up front. Works *****in in Socal.

 

[Axe]

RaRa - rear, snakeskin
RoRo - front, one size bigger.

For me love the rocket ron rear and the racing ralph up front. Works *****in in Socal.

Yeah, everything is bass ackwards in SoCal.

 

[LandSpeed]

Forget all that. Just get a Big Apple in 2.35" and call it a deal.

 

[ia_ss157]

I have ridden both extensively. The Racing Ralph definitely gets the edge as far as rolling resistance goes. The Rocket Ron is definitely a fast tire for how open and tall the tread blocks are. The only thing I didn't like about the RoRo is the knobs seemed a little flexy until worn down a little as a front tire. The RaRa's tread blocks are shorter and closer together. The RoRo also gets an edge in ride quality with the nicer casing.

Quite honestly I think having a set of RaRa's around and a set of RoRo's would be perfect. For dry fast conditions RaRa's all the way. When things get a little slick or gnarlier, RoRo. And by gnarly I mean a rougher XC course. The Schwalbe tires are still fairly puncture prone down the tread section whether you have the Snakeskin version or not. The Snakeskin version only has a heavier duty sidewall.

That being said I didn't puncture my RoRo's once last season. Since upgrading to the Tubeless Ready beads for this season, I bet these tires are even nicer than they were before. Mine always setup tubeless on Stan's rims well. On my old Edge/Enve wheels they took a little more work, but once sealed were good for the season. Also, tread wear-wise, my RoRo's lasted all year (April-October) and are now being ridden by another friend.

 

[briscoelab]

Ron's, end of story.

They are lighter than a Ralph, have more grip, and still roll excellent. Maybe a Ralph on the back and a Ron on the front.

 

[kosmo]

For me, the Ralph is a great rear race tire, but does not have enough bite up front, if the course has significant portions of moderately aggressive downhilling. I just had to hold back a tiny bit with it up front.

 

[frontierwolf]

RRon up front, RRalph on back. Works great in the Southeast.

 

[gvs_nz]

Ra Ra 2.4 is good option in front with it's bigger tread than 2.25 Ra Ra. Faster over rough terrain with it's big volume. New pacestar compound is cherry on top.

 

[njbiker66]

I like the racing ralph 2.4 up front depending on where I ride. It dose not shed sandy mud very well, but thats my only complaint.

 

[mtbmitch2]

racing ralph rear, nobby nic front. the racing racing on the front is fine for hardpack
spring conditions, but lacks grip in summer loose stuff, at least in the mountains
in the northwest. my experience is with 650b and 26 inch RR's. I have not used
my brand new 29er racing ralph yet.

 

[xjbaylor]

racing ralph rear, nobby nic front. the racing racing on the front is fine for hardpack
spring conditions, but lacks grip in summer loose stuff, at least in the mountains
in the northwest. my experience is with 650b and 26 inch RR's. I have not used
my brand new 29er racing ralph yet.

I found out the hard way today that when it is loose over hard the RaRa is not ideal. On hardpack it is ideal however.

 

[gcavy1]

I run RR's here in New Mexico on my race bike.
2.4 RR front
2.25 RR rear.

I haven't tried the Rocket Rons.

 

[GS833]

Do you guys run your RoRons backwards in the rear as it says on the tire or run both towards the "front" side?

 

[flat_chipmunk]

weights

i have been riding std ralphs 2.4/2.25 mounted tubeless on race x lites on a rigid ti 29er without problem.

i just weighed a pair of new evo tubeless ready 29 x 2.25 rons. FYi they are heavier than advertised at 564 & 601g on my electronic scale.

 

[BruceBrown]

Thinking about a light, fairly fast but stable tire up front, and I'm eying Schwalbe's offerings. Visually on line (don't have them on hand near by), the Racing Ralph looks to have lower knobs and perhaps a more race oriented tread (read less bite up front) than the Rocket Ron. Am I seeing this correctly: Of these two, is the Rocket Ron the one with more aggressive tread?

Thanks.

Get some of each. Mix and match, ride 'em until they are worn beyond use and then buy something else or more of the same.

BB

 

[steveinslc]

First ride today with a 2.25 Nobby Nic in the front. Handled very well.
But not too light (680 on my scale). And not 2.25 either. Closer to 2.0.

 

[jasonub]

Ralph rear Ron front for me