You wait all year for a new Schwalbe tyre and two come at once.
Hot on the heels of the Ultremo ZX tubeless tyre comes the One, Schwalbe’s latest salvo in the WorldTour technology wars.
Debuted at the Tour de France by Radioshack-Leopard, Ag2r-La Mondiale, and FDJ, Schwalbe present the One as their ultimate race tyre.
The rhetoric machine has been cranked up to 11. The One is, apparently, “the fastest and most reliable competition tyre” Schwalbe has produced, and developed with the most sophisticated construction methods in a factory-within-a-factory, manned by their most experienced staff. So there.
Away from the hoopla, we have in our hands a 23c folding tyre, whose claimed weight of 205 grams is an overestimate: the RCUK Scales of Truth record 200 grams, for once coming down on the side of the manufacturer.
While the claimed weight is no lighter than that of our favoured Ultremo ZX, Schwalbe claim that the One’s new triple compound and diamond tread reduces the chance of cuts, and performs better in rolling resistance tests.
The claimed weight of 205 grams is an overestimate: the RCUK Scales of Truth record 200 grams, for once coming down on the side of the manufacturer
The marketing blurb accompanying the Ultremo ZX tubeless predicts a “sea change”, and Schwalbe clearly believe the hype: the One is offered in tubeless from the off, with work to improve the security of the bead apparently being the, ahem, clincher. The most pertinent of Schwalbe’s many claims for tubeless in this application is reduced friction.
The One is available in 23c, 25c, or 28c profiles for clincher or tubeless options, and in 22c, 24c, 26c, and 28c in tubular form – a comprehensive range of sizes seemingly for different conditions.
Colour options are restricted to a range of which Henry Ford would doubtless have approved: any you like, as long as it’s black. One suspects that Jens Voight, the poster boy for Schwalbe’s One campaign, approves too.
A UK price has yet to be confirmed, but RCUK understands it will be similar to the €49.99 asking price in Eurozone countries.
Will the One’s performance match Schwalbe’s elaborate claims? We’ll find out in the weeks ahead, when we’ve bolted our test sample to the Mavic Ksyrium Elite S hoops of RCUK’s trusty test bike, the Kinesis Racelight TK3.
Check back soon for a full review.
Website: Schwalbe One
UK distributor: Schwalbe
