There’s clearly not a shortage of expertise and experience at the German headquarters of Schwalbe, where the company has been developing tyres since 1901. This experience means a lot, because developing new products relies on knowledge gained from previous incarnations, and this is evident in their latest tyre, the Ultremo.

A couple of years ago Schwalbe launched the Stelvio Evolution, a pair of front and rear direction specific tyres which were a hit with the RCUK team, in fact we gave them the recommended award (read that review here).

The newly launched Ultremo is different though, and following the Michelin Pro2 Race twin-boxed idea, is a super lightweight race tyre. The tyres credentials look good: weight is just 195g, which puts it on a par with other race tyres, a triple compound for more grip where you need it and harder rubber for faster rolling, and puncture proofing from a Vectran belt. This Vectran material was actually developed for use by the Mars lander tyres, to withstand the harsh Martian landscape.

We’re not sure how the Ultremo’s would handle on Mars, but so far they’re doing a good job on English roads. We’ll bring you a full test soon…

More info at www.schwalbe.co.uk