MTB Tire Test: Schwalbe Rocket Ron LiteSkin PaceStar

NOTE: We have a test available of a newer version of this tire: Schwalbe Rocket Ron LiteSkin Addix Speed 2017

The Schwalbe Rocket Ron is a mountain bike tire with slightly wider spaced knobs than most other mountain bike tires I've reviewed up to now. The Rocket Ron is often used on the front with a Racing Ralph on the rear. This combination supposedly gives a great balance between grip on the front and lower rolling resistance on the rear. I always wondered how much would be lost by just mounting Rocket Rons front and rear.

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The Rocket Ron is available in 3 different versions: LiteSkin, SnakeSkin, and Performance. The LiteSkin is the fastest, lightest and thinnest version. The SnakeSkin is slightly heavier, but has reinforced sidewalls and will be much easier to seal when used in a tubeless setup. The Performance version of the Rocket Ron uses a cheaper construction and a dual compound instead of the PaceStar triple compound used on the evolution tires.

I'm reviewing the 29 x 2.25 LiteSkin version of the Rocket Ron. I've already reviewed a 2014 Racing Ralph Tubeless-Ready (review) and a 2015 Racing Ralph SnakeSkin (review). We can't compare the 2015 LiteSkin Rocket Ron to the 2015 LiteSkin Racing Ralph directly, but the SnakeSkin and Tubeless-Ready should give us a good indication. The 2015 LiteSkins are the same as the 2014 Tubeless-Ready tires, only the name has changed, and maybe some small improvements to the compound have been made.

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Schwalbe
Model	Rocket Ron LiteSkin PaceStar
Year	2015
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At	Ad Amazon.com
Manufacturer part number	11600385.01
TPI	127
Compound	PaceStar
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	57-622
Size Inch	29"
Width Inch	2.25
Specified Weight	520 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	54
Made In	Members Only
Available Sizes	29x2.25 29x2.10 27.5x3.00 27.5x2.80 27.5x2.60 27.5x2.25 27.5x2.10 26x2.25 26x2.10

Schwalbe Rocket Ron LiteSkin PaceStar Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	520 grams
Measured Weight	540 grams
Measured Width Carcass	54 mm (un-round)
Measured Width Tread	55 mm
Measured Height	53 mm (un-round)
Measured Knob Height Center	2.5 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	4.4 mm
Measured Total Thickness Center (excluding knobs)	1.7 mm
Measured Total Thickness Sidewall	Members Only
All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 35 psi / 2.4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

With a specified weight of 520 grams, the Rocket Ron is specified as being a bit lighter than the Racing Ralph of the same size (535 gr). I've measured my sample of the Rocket Ron at 540 grams, which is 20 grams more than specified. The width of the casing is 54 mm; the tread is slightly wider at 55 mm. Height is 53 mm. Size wise, the Rocket Ron comes very close to the Racing Ralph Tubeless-Ready/LiteSkin.

Knob height at the center of the tread is 2.5 mm. Knob height at the edge of the tread is 4.4 mm. This is all very close to the Racing Ralph, which has almost the same knob height. I expected the Rocket Ron to have slightly higher knobs than the Racing Ralph.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	None (40 ml sealant) (current protocol)	Conti MTB 29 (225 gr butyl) (test protocol)
Rolling Resistance 55 PSI / 3.8 Bar	Members Only	Members Only
Rolling Resistance 45 PSI / 3.1 Bar	Members Only	Members Only
Rolling Resistance 35 PSI / 2.4 Bar	17.5 Watts CRR: 0.00525	21.0 Watts CRR: 0.00629
Rolling Resistance 25 PSI / 1.7 Bar	18.2 Watts CRR: 0.00546	22.7 Watts CRR: 0.00680
All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

Rolling resistance at the very high air pressure of 55 psi is 19.7 watts. At this higher pressure, rolling resistance is a bit higher when compared to the Racing Ralph. Dropping air pressure to 45 psi results in a rolling resistance of 20.2 watts. At an air pressure of 35 psi, rolling resistance is 21.0 watts. At the low air pressure of 25 psi, rolling resistance is 22.7 watts. At this lower air pressure, rolling resistance is lower when compared to the Racing Ralph.

It's interesting that when lowering air pressure, the Rocket Ron starts gaining on the Racing Ralph. The tip-over point seems to be 35 psi. At this pressure, rolling resistance of the Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph is within 0.3 watts. Dropping air pressure even lower results in a rolling resistance advantage of 1.2 watts for the Rocket Ron.

This behavior is probably because of the wider spaced knobs which are less of a problem at lower air pressures. There will be more tire deformation, and the lower overall knob count of the Rocket Ron allows for easier flexing of the tread. At the higher air pressures, the Racing Ralph has the advantage of a closer spacing of the center knobs which makes the tire rounder and results in a lower rolling resistance.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	31 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	8 Points
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness	1.7 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Members Only

With a score of 8 points in the puncture resistance test, the Rocket Ron scores slightly better than the Racing Ralph Tubeless Ready (7 points). This is the margin of error of the test as tire construction is almost the same.

Hard Surface Static Grip Test Results

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	No Data
Wet Grip Center	No Data
Wet Grip Edge	No Data
Measured Knob Height Center	2.5 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	4.4 mm
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 MTB grip test rim width = 30.0 mm
Wet Grip Test and Off-Road Tires (info)

Conclusion

At very high air pressures, the Rocket Ron has a slightly higher rolling resistance than the Racing Ralph. At lower air pressures, the tables turn in favor of the Rocket Ron and rolling resistance is slightly lower. The rolling resistance curve of the Rocket Ron is very flat with rolling resistance increasing just 3 watts when dropping air pressure from 55 to 25 psi. Never go over 35 psi with the Ron as it doesn't help you go faster.

The classic Rocket Ron/Racing Ralph front/rear combo doesn't seem to make sense. At a realistic off-road air pressure of 25 psi, the Rocket Ron has less rolling resistance than the Racing Ralph. A Racing Ralph only makes sense when you ride lots of asphalt roads; it probably wears less on asphalt as well.

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RATING: 5.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Highly Recommended

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