I will have to replace my Big Dummy tires for my 2009 trips. Up to now I used Schwalbe Fat Frank, which showed good riding comfort and low resistance, but I was not really impressed with their durability. I am currently looking for longer lasting tire alternatives. My requirements are
- big fat tires with good riding comfort
- hybrid tread pattern for road and light offroad usage, running easily
- acceptable durability even with some load on bicycle
- not too heavy if ever possible
These are some ideas for pretty wide 26″ Big Dummy allround tires:
- Maxxis Hookworm (2.5″): good looking and durable, but extremely heavy, good grip on tarmac, limited offroad usage
- Maxxis Holy Roller (2.2″, 2.4″): leightweighted, good offroad capabilites
- DMR Moto RT (2.2″): offroad capable
- DMR Supermoto (2.2″): folding tire, lightweighted, offroad capabilities
- DMR Transition (2.2″): road usage mostly
- IRC Lovers Soul (2.25″): road usage mostly
- Halo Twin Rail (2.2″): several tread colours available, hybrid tire pattern
- Kenda Kiniption (2.3″): road usage mostly, cheap
- Kenda K-Rad (2.3″/2.5″): affordable, similar to DMR Moto, not too heavy, good hybrid quality
- Snafu Rim Job/Knob Job (2.35″): looks like it became unavailable. Used to be durable with offroad capabilities.
- Geax Tattoo (2.3″), Geax Booze (2.3), both have rigid and fold versions. The sooner is also available with white color
- Schwalbe Big Apple 60-559 Performance Line 2012 with Raceguard, Liteskin version (only in black!): very lightweight, low rolling resistance, protective inlay, reflective sidewalls – maybe the best tire for Big Dummy onroad touring
Finally, for you fancy wheelbuilders out there I would like to point out availability of white powder coated spokes at Halo. They are selling them in many lengths, unlike those colourful atomlab spokes being sold only at some very specific lengths for atomlab hubs and rims. I have been searching for such spokes previously, so I would like to add it here. Additionally, for German people, Radsport Erdmann provides colourful spokes at custom lengths.
Addendum (2009/01/28): I finally decided to order a set of Snafu Knob Job tires, listed above. I got them fairly cheap and they look nice. In the long run I might switch over to using the new Schwalbe Marathon Extreme DD being not as heavy on the one hand, but longer lasting on the other, but these are very expensive and they are not yet available right now.
Addendum (2012/01/30): For 2012 I completely changed my Big Dummy setup to use a N360 CVP hub (however, there were no issues with the Alfine 8spd. hub. It stills works flawlessly) and also changed tires to Schwalbe Big Apple 2012 Liteskin 60-559 version with lightweight tubes. Those new Schwalbe tires make a huge difference compared to the Knob Job tires with heavy duty tubes. I am very curious about durability. At least, the heavy but reliable Knob Job tire outperformed the old Fat Franks by factor 2 with respect to durability and they are still ok.