Schwalbe Johnny Watts (and other Schwalbe SUV tyres) User Club

So far I have had them out for a couple hundred miles, including gravel, a little mud and some rough asphalt, and I am very happy with them. They work great tubeless, they hold the air very well and work better with lower air pressure (25-30psi for my 135lb self) than the g-one speeds—which would would get squirmy. And NO FLATS!
Now I need to reconsider my thought of buying a pair of G-ones for the Spring...
 
Now I need to reconsider my thought of buying a pair of G-ones for the Spring...
All that said the G-ones are super light and fast and supple, I did really like them and I would be happy with them for gravel rides. They are Just not ideal for urban environments (where most of my eSUV riding happens) due to their lack of puncture resistance.
 
All that said the G-ones are super light and fast and supple, I did really like them and I would be happy with them for gravel rides. They are Just not ideal for urban environments (where most of my eSUV riding happens) due to their lack of puncture resistance.
Taking into account I prefer riding gravel on Vado SL (a lightweight e-bike), and our roads/bike paths are quite clean, I might give the G-ones a second thought. The only thorn that can cause a flat in Poland comes from black locust, and even that tree is not that common...
 
why did u go bigger in the front? I use a ring lock so 2.35 is just about pushing it, but I'd like to try 2.6 or even 3.0
Swapped the Super Moto X's that came pre-installed for the JW's, 2.6 fr/ 2.35 r. So far so good, but only have about 30 miles mostly paved trail. It snowed last night, so it will be a little while before I'm out again! That's due to my comfort, not the tyres!!
 
Just adding to the collective.
Running JW 27.5x2.8" I converted wheels to tubeless on initial mounting with a bit over 100 miles on them now.
Compared to more traditional knobby tires, I can still hear the 'knobby hum' on streets but it's much reduced over the Maxxis Rekon+ previously on. I'd expect those of you running in more narrow widths it may be even quieter.

For literally years, I was chasing a competent 'dual sport' tire for some of my motorcycles - this is probably the closest ebike equivalent I was able to find.

Took it on a few trails so far, one with some muddy areas, then hard-pack, gravel, some roots etc. - overall I'm happy with it as a 'do-it-all' tire at the moment and would do again.

X2-MatchingWheelsHubsTires.jpeg
 
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Just joined the club, mounted a pair of 27-½ x 2.8's on my Rockstar and thought I'd share my experience for thread posterity. I inflated them to 32 PSI and went for spin. I'm a big rider at 250 lbs in case that's important to anybody. When I got my bike it was used and had a 27-1/2x2.80 Michelin Force AM rear and a 27-1/2x3.0 Maxxis High Roller front. I had been totally satisfied with my previous tires except for a squirreliness on faster pavement turns from the front, which was the main reason for the change. Because of this, I almost only replaced the front, but decided I might as well do the pair while I was at it and I'm glad I did. These Johnny Watts are an entire level better than what I had, especially on rolling resistance, but also noise and grip. They did add a significant amount of stability for me on faster pavement turns and I gained what I hoped for right there. Other reviewers have mentioned some road noise, but for me the hum is pretty soft, definitely less than the motor and I can only hear it if I listen for it -- I give it an A for a dual-purpose tire. The other big gain I noted is rolling resistance is noticeably less, basically like gaining a gear or even a gear and a half, at least on pavement. I'm surprised that a tire swap made such a noticeable improvement to my overall ride experience. Anyway, really happy I made the swap, should have done it sooner.sooner.
 
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Yes, as was noted earlier in this thread, I have these set up tubeless and they work very well—better than my TLE (tubeless easy) schwalbe g-one speeds which didn’t hold air very well and got squirmy under 30 psi. Done a couple hundred miles on them so far and they have been reliable, work well with lower pressure (for me at 135 lb down to about 25psi without squirm - I haven’t tested them lower than that yet) and are extremely versatile for my rides from broken pavement to gravel and light trail riding. Initially I missed the supple ride feeling of my g-ones but the reliability of these makes them My new favorite tire.
 
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Swapping tyres on the first wheel made me weep (I actually hate installing tyres). With the second wheel, I was so much infuriated I was swearing, used raw hand power and installed the inner tube/tyre in 5 minutes, even no soapy water needed! :D True, I had a good lesson from YT and gained experience.
Stefan, can you comment on the technique you learned for installing these tires that allowed you to install second in 5 minutes? What YT videos did you find helpful?
 
Stefan, can you comment on the technique you learned for installing these tires that allowed you to install second in 5 minutes? What YT videos did you find helpful?
Not Stefan, but I didn't have too rough of a time. One of the keys is using the center channel of the wheel - it's indented/got a depression in the center of it, which helps on both removal and tire installation. When breaking the existing bead, keep pushing the bead to the center and you get 'extra' room - likewise when installing, focus on getting both sides of the tire's bead onto the rim first - pushing the beads to the center so they can drop down will give a bit more working room. I think I did use a lever on one of the two but only for the last couple of inches.

Once both beads are 'inside' the wheel/rim edges, push an outer bead by hand out of the center channel and towards the wheel/rim edge, then do the best you can on the second. Add a bit of soap, and compressor, charger pump etc. will help with final seating (no valve core).
No video but - https://www.myrandomthoughts.net/ebike-mods-tubeless/
 
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Mike, I can add one helpful piece of advice -- get some Pedro's tire levers :D Again I used tubes, but was able to swap out both tires in about 5 minutes each. It took me almost as long to wrestle the rear wheel back onto the bike LOL!
 
Every time you do this, you will likely get better at it.
My first tire swaps in 20+ years took forever, and now it's almost trivial at about 5 minutes a tire.

But I still don't care for it and wanted the convenience of making complete wheelset changes to suit conditions (studs vs. non) on my new full-suspension 29" ride.
So with some patient shopping I was able to get build out a set of "lightly used" wheels, rotors, cassette, studded tires for under $500 CDN. I just need to MacGyver a magnet for the rear rotor (easy).

We get a lot of changing conditions where I live - last week I was riding my local trails on rubber on my new bike and the old one with studded tires languished in the garage.
I rode on Saturday with the old bike and thankfully I did as about 15% of the route was severely iced up c/w "ruts of death".

We've had a lot of snow the last 3 days and it's rather cold - so no rides until the weekend. and that will be on studded tires again.
This time next week - could be back on rubber.

Back to the point of the last few posts - swapping tires is not that hard and is all about tools and technique + practice. Good hand strength is a good plus, but good technique and tools cannot be overlooked.
And yes, at some point in the next few weeks, I will be employing good hand strength, good techniques, and good tools to put my JW's back on my Hard Tail.

See here for some tips on technique and tools - may or may not work for you, but they sure work for me:
 
They're not 'officially' but worked fine, been cold here so riding's been limited but I probably have > 100 miles on them tubeless at this point.
Hi I agree with you, I ride the JW 29“/2,6 on hooked rims (30mm) tubeless !without! seal, filled only with air😀. There are yet no problems to report. Bike is an e-bike fully with 100kg weight in total. Ride is on light trails and max. speed ,on paved roads, is more than 50km/h.
 
Add me to the club - this tread just seems to be exactly what i'm looking for , a mix of street and crusher dust/rail trails with the occasional excursion into packed dirt flow trails.

Building up a new Planet X Ti frame i got for a smoking deal , picked up a set of Nukeproof Horizon V2 rims , which came with inserts and a liter of sealant... i'm running tubes now , however i will be trying the inserts with tubeless setup.... i'll report back on findings :)
 
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