Big Apples

[zebee]

THe marathons are jolting my fillings out on the GT20.

I am pondering Big Apples, but having tried both Trikers and Scorchers which were hard work below 100psi I'm a bit wary of something that pumps up to half that.

Anyone had Big Apples on 20" wheels and can tell me what they are like to ride? I do like speed but what I noticed on the Scorchers and the Trikers was that if they were at the recommeded 80psi or so it was really hard work pedalling. Up them to 100 and it was a lot easier.

So I definitely equate high pressure with less work, is that true? Are Big Apples hard work to get the bike going?

Zebee

[10speedsemiracer]

I've never used the Big Apples in 20" but have used them on a 26x2,0 fitment.

Complete garbage. Slow, squirmy, fragile and surprisingly poorly made which I found odd as I use Schwalbe roadie rubber (One, Pro One and Marathon) fairly often and like them a lot.

Would any of the Maxxis BMX pavement tyres be an option?

[Duck!]

I am pondering Big Apples, but having tried both Trikers and Scorchers which were hard work below 100psi I'm a bit wary of something that pumps up to half that.

Volume & pressure are inversely relative..... To achieve a given "firmness", a bigger volume tyre will need less pressure than a smaller-volume tyre. However, there are other factors at play, not least tyre construction. The Marathon series are very tough, rigid tyres which will feel harsh at any pressure simply because there is so little flex in them - even when they're flat. This rigidity also makes them pretty lifeless at optimal pressure..... Perversely, the rigidity can fool you into thinking they're fast because you feel so much road feedback.

Big Apples are big & - compared to Marathons - somewhat squishy more forgiving, but they're still fat, heavy tyres, somewhat alarmingly low in grip for the contact area.

Your impression of Scorchers is possibly distorted by the relative lack of feedback compared to the Marathons, because they're a lot more supple & forgiving. The reality is they're a lot faster and comfortable. They were my preferred tyre when I ran my race trike; in 16" form I'd run between 75 & 90 psi depending on track surface; softer on the less smotth tracks so they'd be less bouncy (bounce = slow), although I'd use a Schwalbe Kojak on the rear where the harder, more durable but lower grip compound had minimal impact on handling but superior lifespan, because rear wheel changes in the faired trike were a real pain and to be minimsed as much as possible!

[zebee]

I am pondering Big Apples, but having tried both Trikers and Scorchers which were hard work below 100psi I'm a bit wary of something that pumps up to half that.

Your impression of Scorchers is possibly distorted by the relative lack of feedback compared to the Marathons, because they're a lot more supple & forgiving. The reality is they're a lot faster and comfortable. They were my preferred tyre when I ran my race trike; in 16" form I'd run between 75 & 90 psi depending on track surface; softer on the less smotth tracks so they'd be less bouncy (bounce = slow), although I'd use a Schwalbe Kojak on the rear where the harder, more durable but lower grip compound had minimal impact on handling but superior lifespan, because rear wheel changes in the faired trike were a real pain and to be minimsed as much as possible!

THe scorchers were OK at 100 but did feel like they needed more pedalling at lower pressures. But yeah.. without a speedo it would be hard to know if that was a real thing or just subjective feel. I gave up on them more because they were a puncture magnet! 4 punctures in 3 weeks just wasn't on. That was the normal ones, the 120s might be a bit more robust I guess.

Mind you they did slide rather nastily on wet cement (and I have a lot of cement paving roads round here as well as cement bike paths) and on things like brick paving. If a Kojak is worse I dunno I'd want it on the back! For a commute in all weather trike I think I'd need different grip to a racing trike unless you did a lot of wet weather racing. Motorcycle racers use wet weather tyres cos slicks are a problem in the wet and we even did that when sidecar racing because you can slide out on a chair too and while it isn't always as catastrophic as losing grip on a 2 wheeler it still isn't what you want.

RIght now I have the trikers on the front at 100psi and a marathon on the rear, due to weird circumstances involving strange puncture behaviour of one tyre. Scorchers are not at all cheap... at $80+ a hoop I'd want to be sure before I committed.

[Testing386]

Not sure if my experience translates but:

I've used Big Apples in 406 with a Bike Friday and a Cannondale Hooligan. I eventually passed them onto a mate who ran them with his unicycle team! The unis eventually wore them square!

I found them fine. I was day touring and doing urban rides. No issues climbing Mt Lofty whilst I was visiting Adelaide. I had them at 80 PSI.
Comfort was definitely up due to the huge volume.
No issue with grip in the dry on various surfaces. I never got caught out in the rain.
No punctures after ~1000 km. No appreciable wear either.

I went to Vredestein FLights (GoCycle branded) - much, much lighter with as much volume. Easy to mount, fast and so far puncture free. Definitely have to be more careful as they are very thin in comparison.

Trialling 120TPI Scorchers in 349 on our Bromptons at the moment.

[zebee]

Someone on bentrider suggested Continental Contact Speed and as I wasn't sure if Big Apples would fit, and I found some on ebay for a reasonable price....

I'm very happy indeed!

I did a couple of runs on the local bike path as a sort of before and after test and I was nearly 10% faster on the Contis running them at 70psi.

They are very comfortable, being more supple I think - I don't get the teeth rattling over bad surfaces. They also feel easy to pedal. The Marathons at 100psi felt easy to pedal in that they sortof skated over the road whereas the Contis are softer but that doesn't translate to harder to pedal. They are more pleasant than the Marathons and don't feel sluggish the way the Trykers or Marathons did at 80psi.

So I wanted speed, comfort, puncture-resistant, and so far I have 2 out of 3. Only been on for a few rides and not in the worst places for glass and other rubbish so time will tell about #3.

One weird effect though. I put them on, got onto the road and felt a bump bump bump same as you feel if the bead isn't properly seated. Checked each wheel, and all OK. Let the air out, pumped up again, checked, all OK. But on the road bump bump bump. Didn't feel it as much on the bike path but hard to tell as the path here is made of concrete slabs so you get a tak tak tak as you go over the joins and separating one from the other was tricky. I got back on the road and was heading downhill when a rather jingly truck with small wheels passed me and I realised he was jingling at the same tempo as my bike was bumping. Looks like somehow the Contis are finding waves in the road that the Marathons did not. Maybe the stiffer Marathons were not falling into the troughs but bumping across the top which was part of the rougher feeling ride. A few more rides on different roads showed me that some roads are very wavy and some not so much.

Anyway.... I can definitely recommend Conti Contact Speed tyres as a fast comfortable ride which so far has also been puncture free. The scorchers managed 4 in 3 weeks so see how the Contis go...

[10speedsemiracer]

Nicely done.

I've never used these, will add to the list of tyre options.