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I appreciate sites like this where they make an effort to systematically review products rather than just giving a superficial impression or repeating PR. https

I appreciate sites like this where they make an effort to systematically review products rather than just giving a superficial impression or repeating PR. https://www.notebookcheck.net/ https://www.notebookcheck.net/ or https://dpreview.com/ https://dpreview.com/ are also good examples. They are also a testament to the dazzling amount of options that mature industries seem to produce. > The Schwalbe Racing Ray is optimized for front tire use and is a bit less aggressive than the Schwalbe Rocket Ron, […] Schwalbe suggests pairing the Racing Ray with the Racing Ralph (read review), which is optimized for use on the rear wheel. > The Racing Ray used to be only available with the Addix SpeedGrip compound, which [is] grippier than their Addix Speed compound. We just noticed Schwalbe also released a Super Race version with the Addix Speed compound somewhere in the last few years, and we're not sure about the front wheel claims for that version.

303uru 2y ago
As a cyclist, this is a situation in which I find this type of reviewing close to worthless to be honest. Throwing a tire on a metal roller is very far removed from riding unless you're on a velodrome or perfectly maintained road. This has led to a lot of push-back in the cycling community against this site and its findings. Their testing methodology, especially before they made recent changes, largely will prefer skinny, highly inflated tires. But in the real world, everyone is finding fatter, less inflated tires are faster, because in the real world compliance (smoothly rolling over every road variation, rock or pebble) is faster.
- cogman10 2y ago
  To add to this, unless you are actually competitively cycling (you probably aren't) this sort of thing makes pretty much no difference for someone that is using cycling for transport. It's a bit like obsessing over the lightest frame possible. Yeah, we can get a 1lb frame made of space materials but at the end of the day it's basically something that will reduce a cyclist's average speed by like 0.1mph. For anyone doing anything other than competitive cycling, comfort is far more important than anything else and fat wheel bikes with steel frames are damn comfortable to ride on. A relatively heavy bike with giant wheels might take your average speed down .5 or even 1 mph. You almost certainly won't notice it.
  - uxp100 2y ago
    I think it’s a little different than bike weight, which makes very little difference for anything other than lifting it onto a rack or taking it up apartment stairs. Rolling resistance makes slightly more difference than that.
    - tim333 2y ago
      Yeah. Between two brands of racing tyre the difference may be small but between racing tyres and some mountain bike tyres there's a very noticeable difference.
    - axpy 2y ago
      Maybe it's just me getting old but... as a scientist I love technical reviews however I care more and more about feeling that real world performance. If a tire feel fast, it's what I will go for. My favorite road bike is my 12yo CAAD10 because I just love how it feels and the geo is perfect for me. This kind of thinking has been mostly phased out of the reviews and the design lately while the engineering has been optimized to a point almost all new bikes (and also true with cars IMO) feels more or less the same. Nowadays, I value character over numbers.
    - axpy 2y ago
      And if you live in a mountainous area, bike weight do make a big difference, up to a point. :)
  - ciupicri 2y ago
    I've switched to Schwalbe Marathon Almotion from some knobby Kenda and they made a night and day difference. It was a pleasure to ride in the city.
    - stephenbez 2y ago
      What type of difference did you notice? I switched from a stock Bontrager tires to Continental Grand Prix which are supposed to be high end and didn’t really notice too much of a difference.

303uru 2y ago

As a cyclist, this is a situation in which I find this type of reviewing close to worthless to be honest. Throwing a tire on a metal roller is very far removed from riding unless you're on a velodrome or perfectly maintained road. This has led to a lot of push-back in the cycling community against this site and its findings. Their testing methodology, especially before they made recent changes, largely will prefer skinny, highly inflated tires. But in the real world, everyone is finding fatter, less inflated tires are faster, because in the real world compliance (smoothly rolling over every road variation, rock or pebble) is faster.

cogman10 2y ago
To add to this, unless you are actually competitively cycling (you probably aren't) this sort of thing makes pretty much no difference for someone that is using cycling for transport. It's a bit like obsessing over the lightest frame possible. Yeah, we can get a 1lb frame made of space materials but at the end of the day it's basically something that will reduce a cyclist's average speed by like 0.1mph. For anyone doing anything other than competitive cycling, comfort is far more important than anything else and fat wheel bikes with steel frames are damn comfortable to ride on. A relatively heavy bike with giant wheels might take your average speed down .5 or even 1 mph. You almost certainly won't notice it.
- uxp100 2y ago
  I think it’s a little different than bike weight, which makes very little difference for anything other than lifting it onto a rack or taking it up apartment stairs. Rolling resistance makes slightly more difference than that.
  - tim333 2y ago
    Yeah. Between two brands of racing tyre the difference may be small but between racing tyres and some mountain bike tyres there's a very noticeable difference.
  - axpy 2y ago
    Maybe it's just me getting old but... as a scientist I love technical reviews however I care more and more about feeling that real world performance. If a tire feel fast, it's what I will go for. My favorite road bike is my 12yo CAAD10 because I just love how it feels and the geo is perfect for me. This kind of thinking has been mostly phased out of the reviews and the design lately while the engineering has been optimized to a point almost all new bikes (and also true with cars IMO) feels more or less the same. Nowadays, I value character over numbers.
  - axpy 2y ago
    And if you live in a mountainous area, bike weight do make a big difference, up to a point. :)
- ciupicri 2y ago
  I've switched to Schwalbe Marathon Almotion from some knobby Kenda and they made a night and day difference. It was a pleasure to ride in the city.
  - stephenbez 2y ago
    What type of difference did you notice? I switched from a stock Bontrager tires to Continental Grand Prix which are supposed to be high end and didn’t really notice too much of a difference.