Schwalbe merkwinkel

Things to know about Schwalbe

In 1922, a company called “Ralf Bohle GmbH” was founded near Cologne. An honest name, but unfortunately not a very resounding name, and also not very inspiring. And the company founder wanted to inspire, he wanted to carry his fascination for the bicycle and the feeling of freedom and independence that goes with it into the world, and so the Schwalbe (engl.: swallow) became not only the namesake, but also a symbol for the company. According to the company brochure, it stands for happiness, longing and freedom - and fits the company philosophy perfectly.

More than 14 million tires for bicycles and wheelchairs are manufactured every year in the company's own factories in Indonesia, today the company has more than 3,000 employees. There are not only bicycle tires and tubes for sports bikes such as mountain bikes and road bikes, you can fit all wheel sizes and widths with Schwalbe tires from 12-inch children's bikes to 29ers. Whether you need new hoops for city bikes, trekking bikes or e-bikes, the range is huge and the quality is always at the highest level. As a true tire giant, Schwalbe has had its part in the development of cycling, after all, the tires significantly influence the way a bike feels and performs. It’s for good reason that a set of new bike tires is considered the simplest form of bike tuning! With numerous innovations such as the tubeless tires for road bikes or the high-performance compound ADDIX for MTBs, Schwalbe likes to rewrite cycling history. A particularly successful coup was the Marathon Plus Tire with its “unplattbar” technology. The specialization on their core competence, concentrating on bicycle tires and tubes is the key to success, and the goal has been set for years:

A bicycle tire that cannot be improved....

Schwalbe’s E-bike tires

Don’t forget, only e-bike specific tires should be mounted on an e-bike. E-bikes are significantly faster, which means they need outstanding grip. In addition, e-bikes are significantly heavier, so more weight rests on the tires, normal bicycle tires and tubes could not carry the load and would not last long. 

Schwalbe therefore supplies tires for all kinds of e-bikes. They offer good stability and help brake safely and are particularly puncture-resistant.

 For s-pedelecs, tires need a special certification, only those carrying "ECE R75" may be mounted on faster e-bikes, you can find those amongst Schwalbe’s e-bike tires as well.

Whether you ride an e-MTB, a city e-bike, a trekking-e-bike, or a fast s-pedelec, Schwalbe makes the perfect tires for your ride, even winter tires are available. 

Schwalbe tires for mountain bikes

It’s not only due to their interesting names that Hans Dampf, Magic Mary, Nobby Nic or Rock Razor are iconic, they work pretty well, too. What all of Schwalbe’s MTB tires have in common is the well thought through tire compound ADDIX. Depending on where the bike is supposed to go, a specially mixed rubber compound is applied, all of them have a perfectly balanced ratio between rolling resistance and grip. All tire compounds are marked with different colors for better differentiation, you’ll find a red, blue, orange or purple stripe.

ADDIX Speed

Speed has been specially developed for XC racers. With the least rolling resistance, it provides top speed on cross-country bikes and still finds sufficient grip even on slippery passages. This compound is used among others on Rocket Ron, Racing Ralph or Furios Fred, the tires are marked with a red stripe.

ADDIX Speedgrip

For those who need a little more grip, we recommend Speedgrip. This compound wears the color blue and is especially suitable for XC, all mountain and trail bikers and other versatile disciplines. Speedgrip is processed in the tires Hans Dampf, Rock Razor, Nobby Nic and Rocket Ron.

ADDIX Soft

Schwalbe tires with an orange marking are equipped with the ADDIX soft compound. This tire compound is used primarily for enduro and downhill. The tires with the grippy compound bring the necessary support on any kind of surface and closes the gap between fast trails and slippery passages on DH tracks. Tires such as Magic Mary, Hans Dampf, as well as Fat Albert are available made of this compound.

ADDIX Ultra Soft

This compound is tough stuff for enduro and downhill. The very soft compound sticks to the ground, it has the best possible grip for the most difficult situations on the trail or on demanding downhill tracks. A purple ring marks super-soft Magic Mary and Dirty Dan tires.

Schwalbe Tubeless

For several years, tubeless tires have gained in popularity, especially on road bikes, they are widely used nowadays. Schwalbe was one of the first manufacturers who took up tubeless and pushed it further, today there are different tubeless tires for road, gravel and MTB in the company’s portfolio. Especially in bicycle racing, the lower rolling resistance of the "tires with no tubes" brings a decisive speed advantage, that the tires also have a good grip and reliable puncture resistance, makes them very popular with ambitious amateurs and bike professionals. 

Schwalbe "unflattenable" - the Marathon Plus

All Schwalbe tires are durable, a few carry the predicate "unplattbar" (engl.: “unflattenable”)on top. An elastic, 5mm thick SmartGuard insert is incorporated into the casing of an unplattbar tire. It protects the tube from punctures by shards or thorns. Even objects such as thumbtacks remain stuck in the tire, but can not reach the tube, so you are effectively protected against flats. Other tires incorporate protective tissues that are slightly lighter and therefore allow for a lighter tire construction. These woven protective layers can prevent cuts, but are just not quite as indestructible as a "Schwalbe Unplattbar". Unplattbar is mainly used on Schwalbe's Marathon Plus tires, and this bicycle tire is a true legend! 

Since its introduction in 1986, the Marathon Plus has been revised again and again. The first edition was tested by an extreme biker on a tour around world, again and again the puncture resistance was optimized, until finally, with Unplattbar, one of the most durable tires in the world was invented, which has since proven that it is worth its salt millions of times.

Schwalbe winter tires for bicycles

Everyone has them on their cars, but few cyclists know that they exist, or use them: Winter tires! Winter tires make your rides during the cold season so much safer! Especially if you use your bike all year round and ride it to work every day, you should treat yourself to special tires for the winter! Winter tires have significantly more grip, they give your bike a good grip even on snow and ice and - really important - ensure safe braking. In addition to winter tires that consist of a specially sticky rubber compound, you can buy tires with small spikes that chew away mercilessly on slippery surfaces.

Used rubber for the environment

It's the same with sneakers and bicycle tires– the most environmentally friendly inner tube is the one you already have. Yes, but if there's a hole in it? To make sure that millions of bicycle inner tubes don't end up in the trash every year, Schwalbe’s inner tubes made of butyl rubber can be fully recycled. You can simply drop off your old inner tubes at your local bike store, from there, they will be returned to the company. They are devulcanized in a specially developed process, then new inner tubes are made from the recycled material.

Plastics don't necessarily have a good reputation when it comes to sustainability. This is where Schwalbe gets involved and makes some of its bicycle tires from natural rubber. Like many other raw materials, however, natural rubber is subject to global price speculations, and the harvest does not always take place under fair conditions. That's why Schwalbe is part of "Fair Rubber," an initiative that promotes sustainable production of natural rubber and fair working conditions. Schwalbe is the world's first tire manufacturer to cooperate with Fair Rubber and that way supports small farmers on Java. 

In addition, Schwalbe is a supporting member of numerous bicycle associations that work in Germany and elsewhere for better conditions for cyclists and thus for clean mobility.

Buy Schwalbe tires and e-bike tires online

Whether you use your bike for transportation or cycling is your recreational or competitive sport, Schwalbe has a great selection of bicycle tires and inner tubes to offer. You can find a large choice of tires of all sizes in our Schwalbe brand store. We offer not only a huge selection of high quality tires, there are also many different inner tubes. You can also order all the necessary accessories from our Schwalbe store. From tubeless tires and the matching valves and tubeless milk to MTB tires or kid’s bike tubes or rim tape in different widths, we’ll help you mount the perfect hoops.