• How are tires made?

  A bicycle tire consists of three basic elements: the carcass, the **bead core, **and the rubber tread. Furthermore, almost all Schwalbe tires have a puncture protection belt. The bead core of the tire determines its diameter and ensures a secure seat on the rim. Generally the bead core of a tire consists of a wire bundle. In folding tires, the wire is replaced with a hoop of aramid fibers. The carcass is the “framework” of the tire. The textile material is rubber coated on bothSome readers

• Why are there reflective lines on the side of tires?

  Reflective lines are clearly visible when illuminated by a car headlight. The material is retroreflective, i.e. it reflects in the direction of the radiation source. The two tire sized circles of light make a cyclist easily seen and recognized. In many countries, a reflective strip is allowed as an adequate replacement for wheel reflectors. Other reflectors are only permitted when they form a similar circle of light like the reflecting rings on the tire. Because of this considerable safety advFew readers

• What does EPI mean in relation to the carcass?

  The density of the carcass fabric is expressed in EPI or TPI (Ends Per Inch, Threads Per Inch). The range of carcasses used, for example, for bicycle tires are 20, 24, 37, 50, 67 and 127 EPI. In principle, the more close-meshed a carcass is woven, the higher the quality of the tire. A dense carcass is important for low rolling resistance and good riding properties. At the same time, puncture protection increases, because carcasses with a high strand density are difficult to puncture.Few readers

• What does tire tread actually do?

  Tread, rubber compounds, and grip. On pavement, the tread does less than most riders assume, this is because the contact patch of the tire is already maximized. On a normal, dry road, tread pattern has only a limited effect on how a tire rides — grip comes almost entirely from the rubber compound itself, not from the tread design. A bicycle also doesn't hydroplane the way a car does; the contact patch is far smaller and the contact pressure far higher, so the surface tension of water is not stFew readers

• Rotation arrows and direction-dependent treads

  Most Schwalbe tire sidewalls carry a "ROTATION" arrow showing the direction the tire is designed to roll — mount it so the wheel turns the way the arrow points. Older tires sometimes use the word "DRIVE" instead, which means the same thing. Some tires, like the G-One RS and mark separate "FRONT" and "REAR" arrows, since the ideal tread orFew readers

• Rolling resistance explained: what it is and what affects it

  Rolling resistance is the energy a tire loses simply from rolling — mainly from the tire material continuously deforming as it flexes through its contact patch with every rotation. Every bit of that lost energy is power you have to pedal to replace. What affects rolling resistance specifically: Pressure, on pavement: higher pressure = less tire deformation = lower rolling resistance Pressure, off-road: the opposite — lower pressure actually reduces rolling resistance on gravel oFew readers

• Why wide tires roll faster (and why some racers choose narrower tires)

  Why wide tires roll well It comes down to the shape of the contact patch. At the same pressure, a wide tire and a narrow tire flatten out to the same total contact area under the same load — but the shape of that flattened area is different. A narrow tire's contact patch is slim and long (front-to-back); a wide tire's is short and broad (side-to-side). That length matters more than it seems. A longer flattened area (longer "S" distance in the below diagram) means the narrow tire loses moreFew readers