Last year, while building up a Surly Trucker DeLuxe, I ordered a pair of 2.15" Big Bens and a pair of Compass 1.75". I put the Compass on the Surly, thinking I'd try switching the Big Bens in later, but absolutely fell in love with them--fast, agile, comfy, good on-road and off--and never swapped them. However, I couldn't stand to see the Big Bens go to waste, so I put them on my elderly GT Karakoram, circa 1987, a veteran rigid frame mountain bike that in recent years has been my winter icebiking ride, wearing studded Nokians; the big Schwalbe balloons give it something to do in the summer. The Big Bens are, indeed, delightful, good on the road and roll over the damnedest things on and off. They're heavier, and not quite as quick as the Compasses, but once they're rolling, angular momentum is your friend. Bottom line: you can't go wrong for mixed-terrain riding with either tire; each tire has lots of air volume (the Schwalbe has more), a moderate tread, and supple sidewalls (the Compass is somewhat more supple); if your balance is tilted a little more to off-road, you might want to go with the Big Bens, although the Compass will do fine there; if you value quickness on the road, you might want the Compass, although the Big Bens will be perfectly at home. If you're worried about puncture protection, the Schwalbes have it, the Compasses don't, but I've never had a flat on either (no goatheads in Massachusetts, but we do have beer bottles). In short, I've managed to avoid choosing, but in the process have determined that there are no wrong choices here, just nuances. One thought: it may be attributable to the contrasting nature of the frames I've mounted these two different tires on, but I have used the Compass tires for longer rides (by a factor of 2x, at least) than I have the Schwalbes; whether the added weight of the Schwalbes limits their utility for long rides is something I consider to be an open question; I simply don't know. I may have to swap the tires between the two bikes to settle the question for myself. Anybody do a century on Big Bens? How was it?
Finally: here's a ride report with the Big Ben 2.15" <http://www.bikeforums.net/northeast/518426-metro-boston-good-ride-today-149.html#post16907202>, and another ride report with the Compass 1.75" <http://www.bikeforums.net/northeast/518426-metro-boston-good-ride-today-122.html#post16161556> . Add me to the list of people who would go for a 2" Compass if it were offered. rod On Friday, July 11, 2014 6:53:04 PM UTC-4, Michael Ullmer wrote: > > Does anyone have any experience using Schwalbe Big Bens? I am building up > an old Schwinn Paramount PDG 90 Riv style and want to have a wide tire that > is a cross between knobby and slick, something I can go offroad with but > also ride to that offroad location on the street without being too slow. > Has anyone used them in that past? Are there any other great tires I should > consider in roughly this width I should consider? How do Big Ben's compare > to the ride quality of a Compass tire? The widest mtb tire that Compass > offers is 1.75, compared to the 2.15 of the Big Ben. Further, does anyone > happen to have a pair of these they want to unload? > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
