Schwalbe unveils 34 mm Pro One TLE tan-wall tyre
Schwalbe unveils 34 mm Pro One TLE tan-wall tyre
Scene: Two CyclingTips colleagues are chatting in a rental car, on a German motorway late at night, en route to Eurobike.
Ronan: How’s the new bike Phil?
Phil: I haven’t even ridden it yet, mate, rushed build, blah blah blah. I wanted tan sidewalls, but 30 mm was the biggest I could find.
Cue a long and lamenting conversation on the lack of 30 mm+, tan-walled, performance road tyre options.
Fast forward a day to the Eurobike floor, and almost like Ask Jeeves listening to our conversation, Schwalbe popped up with a new 34 mm-wide version of its Pro One TLE tyre with a tan sidewall. The tyre is identical to its narrower siblings with Schwalbe’s Super Race casing, Addix Race compound, and the V-Guard puncture protection, but the increased width should add at least 37.3 funs to every ride.
The new 34 mm Pro One is only available in Schwalbe’s Tubeless Easy setup. As if to headbutt the hornet’s nest, Schwalbe claims the tyre “is specially designed for tubeless use without a tube and thus offers by far the best performance.”
Schwalbe’s move to introduce a 34 mm version of its high-end performance road tyre is another indicator of the trend towards larger-volume tyres for road bikes. Tyre clearance on road-going bikes has increased considerably in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down.
While the Trek Domane is currently well out in front in the performance/endurance road scene with up to 38 mm of tyre clearance (followed by the Giant Defy and BMC Roadmachine not far behind with 35 mm and 34 mm) expect to see many more endurance bikes at least match these levels of rubber clearance soon.
Priced at €69.90 (roughly US$80 / AU$110), the tyres are available now, but don’t expect stocks to last long.
You can find out more at Schwalbe.com.
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