Review: Schwalbe One TLE Road Tire 25mm

(2022) Shucking the offseason tires for summer tires sent us searching for the perfect complement to our hookless set-up. After researching accepted tires through Giant’s research chart, Schwalbe One TLE (stands for Tubeless Easy) Road tires were installed. The miles that followed have been nothing short of enjoyable.

Purchasing road tubeless tires has become quite the process. Some Giant TCRs come with hookless tubeless rims. Knowing this puts an added step in the tire process. Giant recently released an updated list of tubeless tires they have tested and approved with the hookless system. Wouldn’t you know Giant and Cadex tires dominated the chart. But there were a few others recorded as suitable. Schwalbe One TLE dotted the list in either the 25mm or 30mm widths. Trying to find 30mm tires proved too difficult, so the 25mm tires were obtained and mounted. This was quite the effort for tan wall tubeless tires. 

The first impressions mounted onto black Giant rims is that the Schwalbe tires brightened the look of the entire bike. The breaking up of black tires on black rims by a simple tan line ushered in a traditional appearance. The view from the saddle was just as enjoyable. Looking down at tan walls brought back feelings of racing tires and fast events. With the One TLE touted as a fast tire, it was time to roll out onto quiet Bucks County roads.

Immediate excitement settled in as pebbles clinked the frame. The soft compound was sticky enough to soak up debris before a longer rolling cleaned the tires. With warmer road surfaces, the Schwalbe One TLEs were about to marry the outing like a great tire will do. Road vibration was absorbed and turns could be taken at higher speed. The exhilaration of riding a bike fast had returned with a simple update of rubber.

Throughout the hundreds of miles atop the Schwalbe One TLE the ride became predictable again. Despite the 25mm being a traditional skinny tire, it acted much larger. Though the 28mm would have been preferred, it is not listed as a complementary tire to Giant’s hookless rims. But the 25mm certainly demonstrated it is up to the task each outing. The claim that the TLEs have lower rolling resistance is hard to prove other than that our average speeds of rides have eeked up ever so slightly. Rest assured that’s the tire and certainly not speed workouts for events. 

Different tire pressures have been experimented with and we have settled on between 60 and 70 psi. The tires performed predictably through heavy rain on several rides that found us caught out. So the tire, at home on sun-kissed roads, also nails it in the wet. The 25mm TLE tires had a lot of proving to do, and they did it simply over hundreds of miles, in all conditions. Though these are not Schwalbe’s flagship tubeless race tire, they certainly make it hard to look past the One TLE 25mm road tire for the summer mileage.