Tires for Bike Touring Compared, It's All Good
Schwalbe Mondial, not all tires are created equal
Schwalbe Mondial, gravel, what gravel? There are many different tire designs to provide excellent performance for a particular terrain or riding surface. Some tires designed and promoted as all purpose tires fail at delivering a tire that's good at anything at all. It was for this reason that a few years ago when Schwalbe discontinued their XR touring tire bike folks were left scratching their heads wondering what to do or where to go to find a replacement for such a legendary bike touring tire that had traveled the world several times over.
It was at about that same time my pair of Schwalbe tires had been all but used up. There were small chunks of tire missing, a couple of small tears held together with tire boots (thank goodness I had those) but there was still a decent amount of tread remaining. Those tires were so tried and true I decided to pull them off of my touring bike and installed them on a vintage restoration project which required a tough side wall for the bottle generator. Since then I have tried the Vittoria Randonneur Trail II RFX and the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guard. Although the Vittorias are good for trails and excellent for gravel or dirt roads they didn't roll as well as the old Schwalbe's for touring and are described as being suited for "poor surfaces". The Panaracer's are lightweight, fast rolling and a word often used to accurately described the ride quality "supple". Oh they're simply lovely but the suppleness, though a quality in handling is due to the soft, thin side walls and thus not ideal for bearing the weight of a loaded touring bike. However, due to their being exceptionally lightweight in the folding bead version it's an excellent spare to carry for very long distance epic style bike tours that might require being prepared for anything.
I enjoy the Vittoria's and the Pasela's each on their own merits and if I could take the best qualities of each of those tires and combine them into one all purpose tire what would that look like? The Schwalbe Mondial.
It is difficult to near impossible to find one tire that performs well over most any riding surface. On a day when the winds were all but having there way with me I noticed how my old Schwalbe Marathons were demonstrating considerable rolling resistance over some large chunk asphalt and after forty miles of riding into winds gusting to thirty miles per hour I tend to notice such things.
Fortunately I'm not alone in that conclusion. It's a fact that having the puncture proof quality and durability of a tire like the Schwalbe Marathon still requires some compromise and at certain moments I miss the faster, lighter weight, supple and smooth rolling performance of the Paselas.
All the tires discussed here are of the 700c x 35 or 32 variety and so to be fair while further comparing the ride quality or characteristics of the tires I reasoned out this way. For a road specific touring tire which can easily handle some loose stuff a 700c x 32 is all that's required while touring with a load. So when comparing the Schwalbe Marathon to the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards I preferred the quicker lighter weight Pasela's for quickly getting around town while commuting and performed very nicely over gravel and hard pack dirt roads. Although I only experienced one flat while riding at night it was no fault of the tire as a rather large hooked piece of metal penetrated the side wall in such a way that I had to remove the piece with a pair of pliers. Would I have received the same flat with the Marathons which are constructed of a rather indestructible sidewall casing? Possibly but while on another night ride with the Schwalbe's I smashed over an empty beer bottle and then crushed over some more broken shards of glass and debris and I knew I wasn't going to get a flat with those tires. And that's the difference between a heavier, slower rolling touring specific tire and a speedier tire for fast commutes or randoneurring, which the Paselas would be excellent for.
For riding pretty much anywhere the road might lead or end without it being an issue the most narrow tire I feel comfortable and confident with is a 700c x 35. So when comparing the Vittoria Randonneur Trail RFX II with the Schwalbe Mondial it's a good comparison as both sets of these tires I own are of the thirty five width. Both have excellent puncture protection systems under the tread with the Mondial getting the nod providing a thicker more resilient feel but the side wall construction of the Vittoria's are really tough. That having been said I am a bit surprised by this but it genuinely provides a nicer feel in ride quality for the Mondials. Bike touring folks often compare the Mondials to the Paselas which in my mind isn't in quite the same category. Consequently the idea that that's the choice of getting better ride quality (Pasela) or puncture protection and longevity (Mondial) is a bit too extreme of a comparison. I guess it's just the name Panaracer dubbed as "Tour Guard" but is actually more of a fun, lighter weight tire (especially folding bead) that kicks the Mondial's butt as a pure tarmac tire. Another reason I'm not comparing the two, it's far more accurate to compare the Mondial to the Randonneur Trail tire. Consequently I am able to describe the Mondial as actually having a more "supple" feel than other bike touring folks have given it credit for. While the Mondials suggested psi of 55 to 85 has folks reducing tire pressures for off road or trail riding pursuits the Vittoria Trail II's not being much of a high pressure tire at all handle nicely at 70 psi over the rough stuff just fine. The Trail II's grippy soft tread could be the reason why it handles so nicely on dirt and gravel and not so great on pavement creating a bit more rolling resistance than the Mondials. That combined with the hefty 740g vs the 580g of the Mondials and it's no wonder one reviewer complained about having to get off and push his bike on a long bike tour that was mostly paved.
After riding the Vittoria RFX Trail II and the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards, respectively I concluded that my preferred tire for bike touring would consist of combining the best qualities of each of those tires and that's why I chose to pick up another pair of Schwalbe tires but this time I went with the Mondial and glad I did.
Use any of the links provided in content or click on photos for information or to purchase.
Links related to this topic:
Vittoria Trail Touring Tires
Lighter, Faster Tires for Bike Touring
Best Budget Tires for Bike Commuting
Gravel Grinding Tire Tour
It was at about that same time my pair of Schwalbe tires had been all but used up. There were small chunks of tire missing, a couple of small tears held together with tire boots (thank goodness I had those) but there was still a decent amount of tread remaining. Those tires were so tried and true I decided to pull them off of my touring bike and installed them on a vintage restoration project which required a tough side wall for the bottle generator. Since then I have tried the Vittoria Randonneur Trail II RFX and the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guard. Although the Vittorias are good for trails and excellent for gravel or dirt roads they didn't roll as well as the old Schwalbe's for touring and are described as being suited for "poor surfaces". The Panaracer's are lightweight, fast rolling and a word often used to accurately described the ride quality "supple". Oh they're simply lovely but the suppleness, though a quality in handling is due to the soft, thin side walls and thus not ideal for bearing the weight of a loaded touring bike. However, due to their being exceptionally lightweight in the folding bead version it's an excellent spare to carry for very long distance epic style bike tours that might require being prepared for anything.
I enjoy the Vittoria's and the Pasela's each on their own merits and if I could take the best qualities of each of those tires and combine them into one all purpose tire what would that look like? The Schwalbe Mondial.
It is difficult to near impossible to find one tire that performs well over most any riding surface. On a day when the winds were all but having there way with me I noticed how my old Schwalbe Marathons were demonstrating considerable rolling resistance over some large chunk asphalt and after forty miles of riding into winds gusting to thirty miles per hour I tend to notice such things.
Fortunately I'm not alone in that conclusion. It's a fact that having the puncture proof quality and durability of a tire like the Schwalbe Marathon still requires some compromise and at certain moments I miss the faster, lighter weight, supple and smooth rolling performance of the Paselas.
All the tires discussed here are of the 700c x 35 or 32 variety and so to be fair while further comparing the ride quality or characteristics of the tires I reasoned out this way. For a road specific touring tire which can easily handle some loose stuff a 700c x 32 is all that's required while touring with a load. So when comparing the Schwalbe Marathon to the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards I preferred the quicker lighter weight Pasela's for quickly getting around town while commuting and performed very nicely over gravel and hard pack dirt roads. Although I only experienced one flat while riding at night it was no fault of the tire as a rather large hooked piece of metal penetrated the side wall in such a way that I had to remove the piece with a pair of pliers. Would I have received the same flat with the Marathons which are constructed of a rather indestructible sidewall casing? Possibly but while on another night ride with the Schwalbe's I smashed over an empty beer bottle and then crushed over some more broken shards of glass and debris and I knew I wasn't going to get a flat with those tires. And that's the difference between a heavier, slower rolling touring specific tire and a speedier tire for fast commutes or randoneurring, which the Paselas would be excellent for.
For riding pretty much anywhere the road might lead or end without it being an issue the most narrow tire I feel comfortable and confident with is a 700c x 35. So when comparing the Vittoria Randonneur Trail RFX II with the Schwalbe Mondial it's a good comparison as both sets of these tires I own are of the thirty five width. Both have excellent puncture protection systems under the tread with the Mondial getting the nod providing a thicker more resilient feel but the side wall construction of the Vittoria's are really tough. That having been said I am a bit surprised by this but it genuinely provides a nicer feel in ride quality for the Mondials. Bike touring folks often compare the Mondials to the Paselas which in my mind isn't in quite the same category. Consequently the idea that that's the choice of getting better ride quality (Pasela) or puncture protection and longevity (Mondial) is a bit too extreme of a comparison. I guess it's just the name Panaracer dubbed as "Tour Guard" but is actually more of a fun, lighter weight tire (especially folding bead) that kicks the Mondial's butt as a pure tarmac tire. Another reason I'm not comparing the two, it's far more accurate to compare the Mondial to the Randonneur Trail tire. Consequently I am able to describe the Mondial as actually having a more "supple" feel than other bike touring folks have given it credit for. While the Mondials suggested psi of 55 to 85 has folks reducing tire pressures for off road or trail riding pursuits the Vittoria Trail II's not being much of a high pressure tire at all handle nicely at 70 psi over the rough stuff just fine. The Trail II's grippy soft tread could be the reason why it handles so nicely on dirt and gravel and not so great on pavement creating a bit more rolling resistance than the Mondials. That combined with the hefty 740g vs the 580g of the Mondials and it's no wonder one reviewer complained about having to get off and push his bike on a long bike tour that was mostly paved.
After riding the Vittoria RFX Trail II and the Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards, respectively I concluded that my preferred tire for bike touring would consist of combining the best qualities of each of those tires and that's why I chose to pick up another pair of Schwalbe tires but this time I went with the Mondial and glad I did.
Use any of the links provided in content or click on photos for information or to purchase.
Links related to this topic:
Vittoria Trail Touring Tires
Lighter, Faster Tires for Bike Touring
Best Budget Tires for Bike Commuting
Gravel Grinding Tire Tour
Schwalbe Mondial tires for bike touring rock on gravel roads.
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