Big Apple Raceguard clincher 18-20inch

Schwalbe

Innovation<br><br> Squaring the circle. Building a bicycle tire that cannot be improved upon. This tire would have to combine superlative properties that are essentially contradictory: maximum grip, optimum mileage performance, most reliable puncture protection, best possible rolling behavior, minimum weight. The ideal can never be achieved. But that is no reason not to try. On the contrary: constructing tires is a wonderful challenge. Creativity and intelligence are the foundations. Precision and experience are indispensable. And nothing is possible without passion and endurance in the face of adversity. Coping with innumerable series of tests, continuing the search or starting again from scratch, but never giving up: modifying ingedients, varying design principles, finding new combinations of materials, refining treads …the creative interplay of all options is the essential ingredient of a new tire.<br> It is a thoroughly evolutionary process. That is why we have given the range of high-end products we have developed a new name: EVO. Evolution. A new tire is in development: construction designs have to be calculated, variant simulations have to be run, formulations have to be analyzed in the laboratory, test results have to be recorded – all these processes are part of every Schwalbe innovation. It takes the brains and hands of many individuals to make it happen. After all, these processes are not just carried out once, but several times. Not just by the research and development team in Germany, but also, identically, by our technical colleagues at our production facility in Indonesia. This highly productive teamwork that transcends national and cultural borders is an essential element for Schwalbe. A method that is now termed “global work sharing” is something that we, in an equal partnership, have been practicing for over 30 years. Squaring the circle. Building a bicycle tire that cannot be improved upon. This tire would have to combine superlative properties that are essentially contradictory: maximum grip, optimum mileage performance, most reliable puncture protection, best possible rolling behavior, minimum weight. The ideal can never be achieved. But that is no reason not to try. On the contrary: constructing tires is a wonderful challenge. Creativity and intelligence are the foundations. Precision and experience are indispensable. And nothing is possible without passion and endurance in the face of adversity. Coping with innumerable series of tests, continuing the search or starting again from scratch, but never giving up: modifying ingedients, varying design principles, finding new combinations of materials, refining treads …the creative interplay of all options is the essential ingredient of a new tire.<br> It is a thoroughly evolutionary process. That is why we have given the range of high-end products we have developed a new name: EVO. Evolution. A new tire is in development: construction designs have to be calculated, variant simulations have to be run, formulations have to be analyzed in the laboratory, test results have to be recorded – all these processes are part of every Schwalbe innovation. It takes the brains and hands of many individuals to make it happen. After all, these processes are not just carried out once, but several times. Not just by the research and development team in Germany, but also, identically, by our technical colleagues at our production facility in Indonesia. This highly productive teamwork that transcends national and cultural borders is an essential element for Schwalbe. A method that is now termed “global work sharing” is something that we, in an equal partnership, have been practicing for over 30 years. <br><br>Production<br><br> In the beginning there was an entrepreneurial vision. It is the nineteen seventies and no one thinks of bicycle tires as a quality product. For bike manufacturers they are fast-wearing parts to be purchased as cheaply as possible. Cyclists mostly associate tires with one particular kind of unpleasant experience: a puncture. Ralf Bohle, Schwalbe’s founder, has a different vision. He believes that bicycle tires of a consistently high quality can establish themselves in the market and that bicycle tires have great potential. He also foresees quite clearly that it will be almost impossible to continue to mass-produce such products at a competitive price in Europe.<br> The Bohle family business based in Reichshof, 60 kilometers east of Cologne, has been involved in the bicycle sector for decades, and has traditionally had good contacts in Asia. In 1973 Ralf Bohle began his collaboration with Hung-A, a Korean family business, that was already producing tires in Korea, and would later start up production in Indonesia as well. From day one this early European- Asian joint venture between two SMEs was based on respect and trust. After all, they shared one major, common objective: jointly to develop, produce and market a new type of high-quality bicycle tire.<br> A leap in time: almost half a century later. The next generation runs the joint venture of these family-owned businesses. All Schwalbe tires are made at the Schwalbe plant in Jakarta, Indonesia. Every year more than 14 million tires leave the factory, and the trend is upward. That means job security for more than 3,000 people.<br> Continuity of employment for skilled workers is a key factor for success. The company is constantly investing in the factory with a view to enhancing opportunities in the global marketplace. Schwalbe relies on total exclusivity in production. No tires or tubes are outsourced from other production plants. And not even a single batch is manufactured for outside brands. Every stage of production is carried out under one roof. We have short. Dependence on subcontractors is extremely low. The manufacture of every product is fully controlled by Schwalbe – from start to finish. It is truly and literally “guaranteed Schwalbe quality”.