Utah Trikes Reviews - Accessory - Schwalbe Stelvio Racing Tires

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Schwalbe Stelvio Racing Tires
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When choosing the right tires for your trike there are many to choose from. Different rubber compounds, air pressure, and tread patterns can make it a hard choice. Having used the Schwalbe Kojaks for a while I've been very happy with them, but was wondering if Schwalbe's Stelvio tires might be even a little faster. So I decided to give them a try and report my findings.

The Schwalbe Stelvio tire is the only tire that Schwalbe lists in both the Racing and Recumbent sections of their catalog/website. It is listed as a competition tire with a "Dual Compound Technology". According to Celeste Steindl, of Schwalbe, "The Stelvio is the fastest tire in the 406 size, as it is a high performance race tire—choose a Stelvio if [you're] looking for speed." While the Stelvio may be Schwalbe's fastest recumbent tire, Celeste did tell me that their other performance tires may provide more comfort and durability.

The Stelvios have a harder rubber in the center tread for durability and low rolling resistance. There is a softer rubber on the sides for cornering. For puncture protection the Stelvio features Schwalbe's RaceGuard protection belt. For our 20-inch trike tires the Stelvio is available in one size (28-406) and is only 1-1/8 inches wide. The Stelvio is available in both a folding/Kevlar-bead and non-folding/wire-bead version. You'll pay a little more for the folding version, but they are 40 grams lighter and much easier to install. At only 180g, the Stelvios are the lightest 406 tires from Schwalbe. If you are upgrading from the stock CST or Marathon tires you'll need to get new tubes as well. The Stelvios use the 6/6A tubes which are skinnier than the stock 1.5/1.9 tubes.

The first thing you'll notice with the Stelvios is that they are very narrow and about the same width as the rims. They have a much lower profile than the stock tires offered by WizWheelz. These tires are rated at a higher pressure than any of the other Schwalbe recumbent tires. At their max pressure of 120 PSI these tires are rock hard. While the low-end pressure rating is at 85 PSI, I can't feel much of a difference by hand.

The Stelvios do not have sidewall reflective strips and have the same race-style lettering as the Kojaks with the same "PERFORMACE" logo on them. As for tread, the Stelvios could be called semi-slicks. Right in the center of the tire there is a 3/8-inch smooth tread. On either side of the center tread there is a 1/2-inch microtread surface that aides in cornering traction.

The main things I wanted to evaluate with the Stelvios was going to be speed, comfort, durability, and puncture resistance. After I swapped all three tires over to the Stelvios I headed out for my first ride. I ride in a wide range of roads out here in Utah so I was was sure I'd learn a lot about the Stelvios.

Speed

The first thing I learned is that having a supper-skinny, high-pressure tire on your rear wheel is not the best idea when dealing with country roads, gravel, and loose dirt. Several times I had trouble getting traction from the rear wheel in gravel where previously I hadn't with the Kojak. I think that the tire being so skinny was the main factor here. Behavior on the road was quite different though. While I've only noticed a marginal performance increase over the Kojaks on the straightaways, there is a noticeable difference in speed while coasting and hard cornering. Actually, I've found the high-speed turning with the Stelvios to be remarkable. It is almost like riding on rails with the trike's camber being just enough to take advantage of the Stelvio's cornering tread. Hard and fast cornering in sand covered paved trails is fun, and even then there is only a little slippage with the skinny tires cutting through the loose stuff.

Eventually, I changed the Stelvio tire in the rear back to a Kojak to get some more traction. This combination of tires has proven to be a great performance solution. With the Kojak in the rear I get a little more traction and with the Stelvios in front I get a slight speed boost with some crazy cornering ability.

Comfort

On my Race, with the rigid aluminum frame, I can feel more road vibrations with the Stelvio tires at the full 120 PSI. Lowering the pressure to the minimum 85 PSI rating does not seem to make a big difference. Although the Kojaks have a max 85 PSI rating they feel a lot softer on the road than the Stelvio tires. Swapping the rear Stelvio for a Kojak made a big difference in the comfort.

Durability

So far, I am very impressed with the durability of the Stelvio tires. At the time of writing this review I have put about 300 miles on the tires and they still look almost brand new. The center molding ridge is not even gone yet. Being on a trike, the harder center region of the tire will be on the road much more than the softer cornering tread. So far, I have not seen any nicks are cuts in the tires.

Punture Protection
I have not rolled through any nails or thumbtacks with the Stelvios yet, but have not had any flats. With the Stelvios at max pressure I feel like they are hard enough to bounce off most things. I've ridden through some crazy stuff in the shoulders including broken glass and tend to not be as fearfull of getting a flat. I typically inspect my tires before every ride, and one time I pulled out an 1/8" thorn from the sidewall/tread region. I guess the RaceGuard works because the thorn did not fully penetrate the tire.

Conclusion
So, to wrap things up, I really do like the Stelvios and can feel a speed improvement even over the Kojaks. If you are upgrading from the stock CST tires you'll definitely see a performance boost. The Stelvios provide terrific cornering ability and tend to dig in really well on even loose terrain. So far, the Stelvios seem really durable, but to be fair a longer evaluation period will be necessary. The tougher rubber that makes the tire have a low rolling resistance should also make them last a long time. At 120 PSI, the Stelvios are high-pressure tires, so you'll want to consider if your rims can handle it based on your style of riding and terrain. You'll also want to consider the comfort vs. speed tradeoff. A good compromise is running a Kojak in the rear and the Stelvios up front. That's what I'll be running!

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