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Appearances are deceptive. Even the Bible teaches us that. Who would have thought back then that the slender David would take down the giant Goliath? The situation is similar with mountain bike tyres: The answer to the question of who wins the "cheap versus expensive" duel usually comes like a shot from a gun. The expensive one, of course! More grip, better rolling behaviour and less weight. These are the characteristics that we almost exclusively attribute to the top versions of a tyre. But are the tyres that cost almost twice as much on average really that much better than their cheaper counterparts? To answer this question, we have tested the three current bestsellers among the all-round MTB tyres - the Continental Cross King*, Maxxis Ardent and Schwalbe Nobby Nic - requested for testing. In each case in the most expensive and a cheaper version. You can read the results - which we did not expect - in BIKE 10/20 - in stores from 1st September.
Which MTB tyre lasts the longest?
Durability is a decisive criterion when choosing tyres. In order to determine which of the tested models has the least wear, we tested all tyres on our own roller test bench. All tyres ran with identical air pressure on identical test rims with a load of 53 kilos. Before the tyres were mounted on the test stand, the exact weight was determined so that the tread wear could be checked on the scales afterwards. Ten lugs were then selected and marked for each tyre type (side and centre), which were used to determine the wear with a caliper gauge. Each tyre ran on the test bench for a total of 120 minutes. In between, the wear was checked after 30 and 60 minutes.
