I am testing out the super light and super fast rolling Schwalbe Furious Fred tire. I had some trouble setting it up tubeless, but with a few tricks up my sleeve I managed to get up and running. I'm only running this on the rear because I love the Racing Ralph up front. It says it's a 2.0" in width, but upon mounting it the profile actually seems like a 1.9" and even a 1.8". So narrow and so slick. I started to worry it was a weak tire. However…
With the Furious Fred on the rear I eventually forgot I was running a narrower, less grippy tire altogether, granted I'm riding in ideal conditions and terrain for such a low profile design. I didn't notice it drift in the corners, nor did I think it suffered in the climbing department. In fact, I think it did better on fire road climbs than the Racing Ralph, which felt like it was constantly trying to bite into the ground. Again, I'm riding the Marin Headlands, which doesn't have too much in the way of super loose technical trails, mostly fire road. Very close to Leadville conditions.
I did notice the faster rolling aspect of the design, but also the fact that I dropped nearly a 1/4 pound of rotational weight. My bike now weighs in at just under 19 pounds! I'll keep riding this tire to see how it holds up in the long run, on longer rides, and hopefully more demanding terrain. So far so good.