Anyone out there using the Duremes who could save me some cash by putting me off
Probably not!
I equipped my Sherpa Mk2 with Duremes at the original Thorn build, and -- after a period of adjustment, since I had not previously run tires that wide - found them a great choice. They certainly didn't hold me back, and they did well on 126mi/20km rides that included lots of pavement and some pretty lengthy single-track (For example:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3896.msg19337#msg19337 ).
I ran them with F/R pressures of 45/55psi //3.1/3.8bar on Sherpa's more resilient frame, and now use them at 30/35psi//2.0/2.4bar on the Nomad's stiffer frame when riding unladen. At low pressures, they do surely take the edge off a *lot* of high-frequency vibration.
I think they are good all-'round tires. Though I have always preferred true road slicks even for my off-road touring (they sling less water in the wet and it is easier to scrape mud and damp playa off them), I find the light tread on the Duremes to be no hindrance and it does help create a mechanical connection on loose soil and dirt. I especially like them when riding on mixed shoulders, where there is dirt or gravel at the sides and the pavement is broken at the edge. When such roads are narrow and I have to leave the traffic lane for the shoulder, it is easier to climb back at shallow angles; the slicks required a more direct approach else the tire would fail to make the transition cleanly.
The Dureme's tread is arranged in such a way as to create a center ridge for road use. They are quiet and compliant. I agree with jags, the Schwalbe Supremes are great tires. They share essentially everything with the Duremes except the tread cap.
I have found there are some demerits for the tires in my use.
First, the sidewalls -- though very compliant -- are more fragile than the rest of the tire, subject to damage in certain kinds of terrain. The worst I have found for producing scuffs and scrapes is when riding on logging roads covered with little gravel and lots of heavy ballast rock, where the sidewall is exposed to "pinching" between the edges of large, sharp rocks. Riding in those places requires some watching -- in a different way and for different reasons than when on my bike with 700x32C road slicks.
Second -- and causing me far more consternation -- is a marked tread wobble. I have found Duremes mount-up very nicely using only fingers and can even be demounted with little effort using no tools (the trick is to place the bead in the rim well and then sort of "bunch" the tire away from the rim; when it gathers enough slack, it almost jumps over the Andra rim sidewall by itself). The bead seats very evenly to a fractional millimeter. Unfortunately, the tread caps are placed unevenly on the six examples I have (4 rigid wire-bead, 2 folding with a flexible kevlar bead). Honestly, these tires have the worst tread wobble I've experienced in 35 years of riding "with intent". It is horrible! They're off by several millimeters overall, but not enough in any given place to capture well enough in a photograph to meet Schwalbe's requirements for a warranty evaluation. As bad as it is at high pressure, the tread-cap wobble is even worse at lower pressures.
I have trawled the Internet looking to see if this is a widespread problem, and have found it has been noted by others and has not necessarily resulted in handling problems and while it may not be widespread, it doesn't appear my experience is isolated. It is at times like this I really wish I could apply some good survey-sampling, but the evidence is self-reported and anecdotal. Some Dutch- and German-language forums make it seem as if "they (treaded Schwalbes) all do that" and "it bugs me, but doesn't matter in use". I have to agree -- I have not found the tread wobble to have a detrimental effect on handling,
and it still bugs me. For now, the latter problem has been solved by fitting a rear mudguard to the front. In addition to keeping me far drier in the rain, it shields my view of the wandering, wobbling tread cap. Yay!...I think.
For a relatively hard-treaded (high-durometer, long-wearing) tire, I've found the Duremes corner pretty nicely, thanks in part to a very evenly rounded profile. However, if high-speed, deep-lean cornering is your bag, you'd be
far better served by the Supremes jags uses, as I can hear the Dureme tread nibble and distort at high lean angles, as one would expect. Similarly, if one intended to do a lot of real dirt/mud riding or found themselves on wet grass, then a more heavily knobbed/treaded tire would be appropriate. Julian's Hurricanes are great all-in one tires as well, with an essentially smooth center and heavy "corner" lugs that bite in nicely in soft conditions. They weren't for me, as I like to lean into corners on pavement and did not like the handling that resulted from having lugs on the edges of the tread cap. If one prefers to corner more upright or like to lean in dirt, I think they'd be ideal.
So, yeah, I've found Duremes to be great all-round tires that suffer from poor quality control in a way that doesn't seem to affect handling or ride quality. They have proven durable (with a few caveats) and have exceptional ride quality. They are not light tires (being so wide, they are heavier than a narrow tire), but weigh only about 2/3 what a Continental Cruise Contact weighs -- and those wobbled as bad or worse than the Duremes in my use. The light tread helps in dirt and on rough road edges, yet rolls silently and easily. They are, as Andy Blance described them, a "Jack of all trades, master of none". Sometimes, that's exactly what one wants.
Do be aware, most bicycle tires have a "square", 1:1 profile, meaning they tend to be as wide as they are high. Going from a (nominal) 1.75in to a 2.0in tire (my Duremes generally measure 47-49mm at the pressures I run them on Rigida Andra rims) will change the handling and "feel" of your bicycle to some degree. A quarter-inch difference is noticeable, and a half-inch definitely so -- I surely noticed a difference switching between the 2.0 Duremes and a 1.5 skinwall road slick! The bike will ride that same amount higher and this difference will affect trail, a prime determinant of handling. I wrote a little treatise on this here:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4245.0 The Mk2 Sherpa nicely tolerates a large range of tire widths, so I anticipate no problems for you. I mention the effective geometry change only because it can have as great an effect on bike feel as the tire construction itself.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Dan. (...who never tires of talking about tires)
