To complement my recently purchased Breezer Radar (affectionately named Thistle), I spent a long time dragging my eyes across countless internet tire reviews and likely AI suggestions. I probably made my friends sick with how much I wanted to talk about tires.
Breezer ships the Radar X Pro with 29 x 2.25 WTB Nineline racing XC MTB tires, and while they are great on anything gravel and beyond, I could not help but feel like they were the wrong tool for my usual mixed-surface pavement and hardpack rides.
In my search, I landed on Schwalbe G-One RS Pro tires and bought a set in 700x50 with transparent sidewalls. Shoutout to TheBikeSmiths.com in Milwaukee for the two-tire discount.
These tires feature a wide slick center strip with light texture for speed, plus more aggressive side knobs for cornering grip. There are also longer transitional knobs that ramp toward the center, which helps smooth the handoff from the slick section to the edge knobs when leaning the bike.
Schwalbe recommends mounting the front and rear tires in opposite directions to maximize grip. I chose to mount both arrows pointing forward to reduce rolling resistance in search of speed (as pictured below). I might have followed the manufacturer recommendation if I were riding gravel and singletrack only.
So far I have about 50 miles on these tires. On pavement, they are fast. I have not spent extensive time on gravel yet, but they seem more than adequate for the typical hardpack in southern Wisconsin, and they do not shy away from smooth singletrack.
Where these tires struggle is rougher singletrack. The bumpy ride makes me wish for a bit more rubber isolation from the ground, and they had a harder time keeping traction when spinning up loamy steep sections.
Overall, the first 50 miles have been a blast with these tires. I have heard reports that because this is a race-oriented tire, Schwalbe traded durability and longevity for lower weight. Hopefully they last, but even if they do not, the ride quality feels worth swapping tires more often.
