Now that’s a mouthful, and my retention of German from high school consists of the word “pavian”. So what is the title about? It’s a mountain bike tire. Schwalbe, the company, explains that Hans Dampf is German for what we call Jack of all Trades, so this tire is supposed to be their good all arounder. I was in need of new tires and with the new bike decided to try out the tubless thing. I actually got my old Panaracer Fire FR’s to work tubeless, but the “new” one I put on was in storage so long that the rubber was cracked. The Fire FR is the tire that I’ve been running for w while so a lot of this review will be in comparison. The Hans Dampf version I got was the high zoot, tubeless ready, lighter sidewall version, harder wearing and faster rolling compound. 26×2.35 size.
First off, mounting it was tight, but not as gut bustingly tight as the FRs. They inflated and seated right up tubeless with my compressor. No sign of any sealant leaking, it went together super clean.
I’ve had a few rides on it now ranging from St. Louis DH, the road climb up St. Louis and Tantalus, the trail climb up Kuliouou, and the range of XC at Sunset Hills. So how do they ride? One of first rides was the road climb up St. Louis and the lower rolling resistance was immediately noticeable. Of course I was using the Fire FR’s before, which roll like tank treads, so perhaps not the most helpful comparison. They are light too, in comparison. But again not a good comparison as the Fire FR’s weigh like, well, tank treads. When you look at the specs in comparison to other tires, the Hans Dampfs are on the heavy side. The first dirt I extensively used them on was the following St. Louis DH. Living up to the Jack of All Trades label, they performed well and predictable on the dirt. The fairly open block pattern grips in the dirt, but the knobs are not as significant as the Fire FRs and do not have the grip in corners like them. They did ok in the loose rocky stuff, but I hadn’t gotten used to one of the advantages of tubeless and run low pressures. Once I’d realized it and brought the pressure down below what I was used to, it did pretty well through the rougher rocky stuff. The tire does have a volume comparable to the FR’s which really helps in its overall off road performance. What I did find surprising is these tires did admirably well in the mud. They actually seemed to grip in muddy rooty sections pretty well and cleared mud decently. Especially in comparison to the FR’s. Mudpack is the bane of the FR’s.
So in summary, I would say these tires live up well to their name. They are good all around tires, but as such also end up being a give and take. The tread seems to work well in all situations. They are heavy for cross country use, if you were going for fast rolling XC racing tires you would probably look for something lighter and smaller. The large volume does help it cope on the downhill and when things get rough. But when things get fast the knobs don’t have the chunk and bite of a more DH oriented tire like the FR’s.
I like the tires, I don’t like the price! It seems insane that bike tires can cost as much as car tires. Anyway, 3 out 4 all around monkeys.
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