Schwalbe Ultremo

The company Ralf Bohle, also known as Schwalbe, supplied us with a set of their latest creation - the Ultremo – for testing-purposes. From now on, we will excessively long-term test the tires and check if all the superb previews are justified.

Equipped with a so called HD-V-Guard, a belt made of vectran-fibres, our examples come in at a mere 190 grams, while beeing 23mm wide. The fibres from Warwick Mills are twice as strong as titanium and five times as strong as steel. Woven in a patented process, the textil is three times as firm against cuts as Aramid, which is used in high quality tires and bullet-proof vests. Therewith, the Ultremo is supossed to be one of the more puncture resistent tires available. During the next few weeks and months, our test-blogs will be updated with reviews about our samples. Check out how they perform and hold up.

It’s nice, that Schwalbe is confident about producing the new benchmark in the tire-section. Meanwhile, the announcement has become serious, the first tires are available to the public and wait to be used by us bike enthusiasts. There’s no doubt, Schwalbe is striving for something more advanced: The scales proves the claimed weight of around 190 grams per tire, without an additional “SL” or “light” in the name. That’s a 10% weight-saving over similar competitors. If the Ultremo can hold its promises will be shown during our long-term testing. The very first rides confirm what the announcements claimed: very comfortable and subtle ride characteristics, *unlimited* grip in fast and tight corners, little tread wear and good puncture resistence.

The tires were always keeping track, until a sudden loss of control in the wet, causing me to hit the deck. I have to admit though, I kinda provoked the little incident! In comparism to Schwalbe’s Stelvio, the Ultremo wins by quite a margin. Only when I have mounted Vittoria Open Corsa XC, I dare to take corners even tighter and faster. The Ultremo consists of three different compounds. The middle patrt of the tread is relatively hard for high durabilty, while the compound is getting softer towards the sidewalls for more grip in corners. So far, I’m impressed by the puncture resistance of them. Even though I tried hard to flatten the tires, they kept the air securely. The Vectran-Guard seems to do his job properly.

For the time beeing, I’d describe Schwalbe’s latest hoops as very puncture resistant, yet light and relatively fast. Still, for those who are looking for a bomb-proof winter and rain tire, I’d suggest special-models like the “Stelvio Rain” from the very same brand.