I agree on that. Every manufacturer has their own branded language for tire carcass and durometer. Sure it's product differentiation, but it doesn't make it easy to compare (and maybe that's part of the point, to lock you in to the brand). I find it darkly ironic that Schwalbe says they tried to clarify their lineup in their recent changeover of naming, and I really don't think it has helped anything.
I'm not sure things are that much better in the automotive world though. At least you have Traction and Treadwear standards with a grading scale, and a nice distinction between winter, all season, and summer. But then you end up sifting through "High" vs. "Max" vs. "Extreme" performance subcategories. Maybe it is an improvement, but it still gets murky. And off road has so many different conditions I think bike tires become necessarily more complex.
If I were to design the tire shopping experience for a brand, or a tire grading system across brands, I'd start with the terrain you ride. Deep mud? Slippery roots? Dry hardpack? Loose over hard? And tires get rated Good, Fair, Poor in each.
Feb. 24, 2022, 8:30 p.m. - eriksg
I agree on that. Every manufacturer has their own branded language for tire carcass and durometer. Sure it's product differentiation, but it doesn't make it easy to compare (and maybe that's part of the point, to lock you in to the brand). I find it darkly ironic that Schwalbe says they tried to clarify their lineup in their recent changeover of naming, and I really don't think it has helped anything. I'm not sure things are that much better in the automotive world though. At least you have Traction and Treadwear standards with a grading scale, and a nice distinction between winter, all season, and summer. But then you end up sifting through "High" vs. "Max" vs. "Extreme" performance subcategories. Maybe it is an improvement, but it still gets murky. And off road has so many different conditions I think bike tires become necessarily more complex. If I were to design the tire shopping experience for a brand, or a tire grading system across brands, I'd start with the terrain you ride. Deep mud? Slippery roots? Dry hardpack? Loose over hard? And tires get rated Good, Fair, Poor in each.