Schwalbe or Continental?

[Andy in Germany]

I appreciate I may be starting an argument second only to a h*lm*t thread, but here goes...

I've been happily using Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Marathon Plus Tour tyres for nearly a decade. In that time the only real punctures I had was one caused by 'user error' ie me overloading the Xtracycle way too much and mashing it up a steep gravel road, and one complete freak five years ago that I've never been able to figure out.

The only thing I don't like is the tread: the Marathon plus has a semi slick tread which is great on road but bit skittish on mud or packed snow, and the Plus tour has a heavier tread that manages all surfaces fine but looks a bit gnarly. If I had this on a normal bike I suspect it would also slow me down but as it is on the 30kg + Bakfiets the extra weight is hardly noticeable.

I've never used Conti tyres, but I'm wondering if the Contact plus or Contact plus Travel would work as alternatives. The plus in particular seems to have a more versatile tread. Does anyone have any experience with these versions?

 

[steveindenmark]

I use Marathon plus in the winter. They are very puncture resistant. But they are heavy and slow.

In the drier months I use Continental SP 4000. After a winter of Marathon plus you feel like you are flying.

Next year I will try the new Continental 5000 TL. They are tubeless.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I use Marathon plus in the winter. They are very puncture resistant. But they are heavy and slow.

In the drier months I use Continental SP 4000. After a winter of Marathon plus you feel like you are flying.

Next year I will try the new Continental 5000 TL. They are tubeless.

When you ride an Xtracycle and a Bakfiets, you don't notice tyre weight: I also want bomb-proof tyres because our bikes are our main transportation so I need them to be reliable and get me to where I need to go, like work or job interviews, on time without getting a puncture.

 

[DCBassman]

I've no experience with any of these, but M+ Tour would seem to be the answer, given that tyre weight is not significant.

 

[steveindenmark]

Andy. The majority of ultra distance riders use Continental SP4000 tyres. I have had one puncture in 3 years.

But I think Marathon Plus are great for winter.

 

[Slick]

I had continentals on my cannondale and I loved it for a few different reasons but I always reckoned the tyres were perfect for the bike but after a blowout a long way from home I had to put on what I could get on the rear and it was a Marathon plus. Today was my first real ride on it and it felt very different and will be coming off at the merest hint of better weather.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

The only thing I don't like is the tread: the Marathon plus has a semi slick tread which is great on road but bit skittish on mud or packed snow, and the Plus tour has a heavier tread that manages all surfaces fine but looks a bit gnarly. If I had this on a normal bike I suspect it would also slow me down but as it is on the 30kg + Bakfiets the extra weight is hardly noticeable.

I've never used Conti tyres, but I'm wondering if the Contact plus or Contact plus Travel would work as alternatives. The plus in particular seems to have a more versatile tread. Does anyone have any experience with these versions?

You are looking for different tyres for all the wrong reasons. There is no such thing as a versatile, aka multi-purpose tread.

A completely smooth tyre works perfectly well in all situations where the substrate (road) is harder than the tyre and any tread detracts from the tyre's performance in every way.

Once the "road" is mud or packed snow, the picture changes. For that you want a narrower tyre that compacts the mud/snow as well as tread which in total area represents <50% of the tyre's contact patch. That translates to narrow, knobbly tyres.

Anything in-between is sub-optimal. A little bit of tread will not give you any performance improvement in mud and snow or, on tarred road. Conversely, an aggressive knobbly tyre will be sub-optimal on tar.

It is horses-for-courses, not an issue of averages.

 

[the snail]

You could look at Schwalbe Land Cruisers, which come in 'plus' version too.

 

[guitarpete247]

I have Landcruisers on my old MTB. Had them for about 4 years with no deflationary incidents yet.

 

[Drago]

I like Contis, but it's as much a taste and preference thing as it is a logical choice.

 

[Andy in Germany]

You are looking for different tyres for all the wrong reasons. There is no such thing as a versatile, aka multi-purpose tread.

A completely smooth tyre works perfectly well in all situations where the substrate (road) is harder than the tyre and any tread detracts from the tyre's performance in every way.

Once the "road" is mud or packed snow, the picture changes. For that you want a narrower tyre that compacts the mud/snow as well as tread which in total area represents <50% of the tyre's contact patch. That translates to narrow, knobbly tyres.

Anything in-between is sub-optimal. A little bit of tread will not give you any performance improvement in mud and snow or, on tarred road. Conversely, an aggressive knobbly tyre will be sub-optimal on tar.

It is horses-for-courses, not an issue of averages.

I see what you mean, but our bikes need to be fairly good ie: reliably ridable to the next appointment/shop/pickup in most conditions: we aren't after high performance tyres. Locally cycle ways are probably about 60% tarmacked to some degree with the rest mostly gravel, and we need tyres that will reliably let us go over that, and not get too bunged up if there's mud. If they can work on packed snow when there was an unexpected snowfall so much the better.

The best tyres I had for this were some thin Michelin "Wildgripper city"'s: these were so much better than anything else I used that I kept them for nearly fifteen years long after they were worn out and only replaced them when it became clear they would likely burst any moment. Now I use spikes in winter but prefer not to change them until I have to.

 

[Andy in Germany]

You could look at Schwalbe Land Cruisers, which come in 'plus' version too.

Will have a look at those, thanks...

 

[mjr]

I have Landcruisers on my old MTB. Had them for about 4 years with no deflationary incidents yet.

I've the more roadie Delta Cruisers on 1 and two halves bikes. I rode the 1 yesterday because the Marathon on the rear of one of the halves had punctured for the third time in six weeks (local cycleways are strewn with debris including long arrowhead flints) and they really are a much softer ride than Marathons.

On tread: I think a little helps bite through the thin layers leaf mulch and debris common on autumn and winter cycleways near me. I've rescued a couple of gnarly skids that I'd not expect to recover riding on slicks when younger with better reactions.

 

[Andy in Germany]

You could look at Schwalbe Land Cruisers, which come in 'plus' version too.

Thanks for the heads up. If nothing else meant I read this on their website:

The Land Cruiser. As ever it‘s ready for any terrain. In northern Germany, the Land Cruiser is even considered an MTB tire. Nevertheless, it rolls really easily on the road.

I think you may have to live in Germany to get that one, but it cracked me up.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Ordered the Conti's, many thanks for the advice.

This morning I realised that this was more my inability to make a decision than anything and I should just try something.

We currently have five bikes with 26" tires, so even if I don't get on with them, we can use them as replacements on one of the less well used bikes if need be, and it gives us some experience of different treads...