After being laughed at for keeping my std "I come with new Merida bikes" tyres for 6 months, I decided it is time I made a move and got myself new ones. Especially since a mud event was on the horizon. Some research and lots of questions asked, I seemed to stop my wondering eye on some Schwalbe tyres. After 20min of grueling testing of a certain sales person's knowledge about the tyres they stocked, the choice seemed clear.....well almost I had to double check that his recommendation is indeed a good one - Jimmy on the front and a Smart Sam on the back. A few days later the purchase was made and I was on my way to muddy Knysna. As I do live in Johannesburg, I needed a combo that was going to be able to handle our conditions most importantly and yet still be able to get me through the last 10km of the Knysna race. A weekend of riding saw me test them over tar, leaves and what not found in the forest, small animals and children found on steep hills (just kidding), mud, some very slippery roots and loose rocks and concrete. I was still not satisfied completely with my tests so after my return to homey Johannesburg I took my bike to some familiar and some not so familiar routes. Some included already tested terrain of rocks and stones but the twist was the incredible sand dunes I managed to ride through this Sunday. Not that they can anyway compete with the Lion Man/ Mabalingwe 1km of dessert but still. Observations: 1. Tar - They handled as good as I can imagine, my Smart Sam has an almost continuous thread, which I have noticed is a common occurrence in slick tyres, so it gave me no problems. It did give a couple of guys problems on the other hand, as they struggled to keep up with me. 2. Forrest floors - My tyres and me loved this course. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning and did not hide it. I was flying past people and experienced no problems in doing so. 3. Mud - ah the one thing I was worried about. 7-8km of it before the end saw me go through deep mud and besides minor sliding on the back I have no complains. No caked up mud on these babies. The Jimmy just cut through it all. 4. Damp Roots - Well a challenge indeed. Combining recently developed technical skills with never ridden over so many roots before made this a bit tricky. I was given instructions and some tips before we took on the Red route and I was careful. The day saw me come close to a wipe out a few times but the tyres had nothing to do with it - I am told that no tyre can really handle this particular obstacle 100% 5. Loose Rocks/Concrete - A race up some rocky hill, made me feel at home and again the Schwalbe combo had my approval. 6. Technical rock sections - Whether it was the quite fast pace i was trying to keep, or love for rocks I cannot tell but no upsets here. 7. Climbs with deep loose sand and rocks - Now.....this is my major upset. I was not happy with the performance of my Smart Sam on this. Let say it did some stupid things. Sliding underneath me, dragging me down. I felt I was losing control of my bike half the time and my arms had to work extra hard. I had to unclip on a few occasions as otherwise I was going down. Conclusions As a set, and based on my limited riding skills I have to give a 7.5/10 rating where the Jimmy performed excellent and the Smart Sam did a mediocre job. I might be too harsh on it as without trying to brag I do not weigh too much and there might not be enough pressure on the back to keep it more steady. Who knows I might just be mistaken on this....
