How "flatless" are Marathon plus?

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Been running Marathon Greenguards for over a couple of years,
and this includes lots of cycle track in my local urban area, with one puncture due to a drawing pin on a canal side in Glasgow..
THEN two in the last 11 days, a gyproc nail on a country road then yesterday, a piece of stiff wire..
**it happens and I'll take that...
the previous Land Cruisers were every 300/400 mile a puncture...
I bought some used land cruisers off ebay to put on a bike i was selling(the bike was shod with marathon winters) luckily i checked them before fitting as they both had thorns in them.
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Have used them for 10+ years on my hybrids, not one puncture and I ride them 50/50 road- trail/towpath, don't even bother carrying a tube or repair kit nowadays when riding on them. I've other bikes and tyres where I do carry such things.

At first thought they are expensive, but they last such a long time that they are, in fact, very inexpensive. I am about to replace one set that are 11 years and 10k+ miles old. I have some Continental tour+ tyres on other bikes that seem to have a third of the lifespan.
 
Two separate opinions about M+. First for @OneArmedBandit:

I had a weird experience with a M+ tyre. I got 3 punctures in close succession, but not one after the other, but within a very short period of weeks. I can't remember if I identified the cause. Because of reasons that I will cover in part 2, after the 3rd puncture, I flung the tyre to the back of the shed, and replaced it with something less annoying. The new tyre didn't get a puncture for months, so whatever the problem was it wasn't the rim or the rim tape or the tube. Eventually the replacement tyre wore out, so in an emergency, I put the M+ back on, bought a folding tyre, and vowed to replace the M+ when I got the next puncture.

And that tyre lasted for ever. The puncture proof layer is green (or blue, I can't remember which) and the tyre was more green/blue than black when I next had a flat. And when I did, it turned out the flat was caused by a failed patch, and the tyre was still good. As most of the black rubber was gone, I still binned it.

Conclusion: I don't know what caused the 3 flats. It wasn't the wheel, and equally the tyre was solid too. So I guess it was a random unlucky cluster. For all the people that have 10,000 miles without a puncture, someone is going to get 3 in 150 miles (or whatever the number was).

Conclusion for @OneArmedBandit: if someone else was going to be replacing my tubes, I'd probably stick with M+.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Maybe i can pick a few brains here. I am thinking of changing my tyres to the Marathon + tyres. I have 20 x 1.95 on my folder at the moment and have been told that i could fit the 20 x1.75 inch ones to my bike. My question is, what differance (if any) would the ride be if i fitted the narower tyres?

I have hub gears on my bike and changing inner tubes is such a pain especially if i wasn't at home. That is the reason i am thinking of changing them.

The Kenda tyres on your bike are, I think, what Schwalbe would call balloon tyres, or close to it.

A narrower tyre would be OK width-wise, but you will lose the cushioning effect of the deeper sidewall of the balloon.

A better replacement than a Marathon could be a Schwalbe Big Apple or Big Ben Plus - anything Schwalbe mark as 'Plus' means decent puncture protection.

They come as 20" X 2.15" which may fit if you have some clearance around the existing tyre.

I can't see a lot of difference between Big Apple Plus and Big Ben Plus.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/s...s-hs430-tyre-with-reflex-20-x-215-inch-55406/

https://www.schwalbe.com/en-GB/tour-reader/big-ben-plus.html
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
The Kenda tyres on your bike are, I think, what Schwalbe would call balloon tyres, or close to it.

A narrower tyre would be OK width-wise, but you will lose the cushioning effect of the deeper sidewall of the balloon.

A better replacement than a Marathon could be a Schwalbe Big Apple or Big Ben Plus - anything Schwalbe mark as 'Plus' means decent puncture protection.

They come as 20" X 2.15" which may fit if you have some clearance around the existing tyre.

I can't see a lot of difference between Big Apple Plus and Big Ben Plus.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/s...s-hs430-tyre-with-reflex-20-x-215-inch-55406/

https://www.schwalbe.com/en-GB/tour-reader/big-ben-plus.html


Thanks for that PR.
 
All I can do is relate my experience - had them on for 3 years, plus slime tubes. Did about 3000 miles with a mix of cycle paths and county lanes. 1 puncture, huge piece of glass don't know how I didn't see it. They give you great confidence in not getting a puncture but at the end of the day there is always a chance, no matter how small, that you may get one - as you have backup why not just get them as they (plus slimes) are probably the best puncture resistance you can get, and that is after all what you need at the minute :-)
 

Debade

Über Member
Location
Connecticut, USA
I commuted on M Pluses for three years. The only puncture I had was due to a two inch nail going in high up on the side wall, parallel to the road. Lord knows how that got there. There was also a flat caused by a dodgy valve stem but you can't pin that on the tyre. The good news is that they are really quite easy to fit once they have had a bit of use.
.
While riding around Nashville, the same thing happened to me on my Marathon Plus. A sharp something went all the way through my tire at the hub. Crazy.

Otherwise, over thousands of touring miles, across USA, Mexico and Europe, we can only recall about 4 flats.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
[QUOTE 5331201, member: 9609"]the bad news is, "a bit of use" with a marathon is about 5,000 mile.[/QUOTE]
The good news is that you probably won't have to put them to the test.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
I was wondering if anyone can say how reliable they are if I start to go on longer rides mainly on road but sometimes on cycle paths? I know you can never say a puncture is impossible, but if it is very very unlikely that would give me a bit of confidence.
Is there another tyre which has a better reputation for puncture resistance? Can't think of one. In which case fitting them (allow time and seek help) mitigates the puncture risk (but the risk is still there). That risk can be further controlled (after the integrity of the tube has been compromised) by the use of slime (as @Cycleops has suggested). Arguments against slime is that it makes a mess etc. But the combination of M+ and slime tubes is as good as it gets (arguably better than tubeless).
I'll say it (and risk the gods): with that setup (at appropriate pressures and consciously riding to avoid glass and other hazards) a puncture is very very unlikely.
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
Have them on the commuter . Have used them since 2012. Only one puncture . Glass in sidewall/tread junction probably as I had used them a bit lower pressure than normal . You know I am going to get one today ...
 
I've been using them for about eight years on my Xtracycle and managed one puncture, uphill on a gravel road with an overloaded bike: ca 20 kilos luggage and one child on the back, plus me, mashing up a 20% gradient. I managed to smash a sharp stone through the blue protector on the back wheel- goodness knows how much pressure it was under at the time.

So possibly puncture proof, but not idiot proof...
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
If you want double indemnity why don't you get your LBS to fit some Slime tubes?

Slimes would still require inflated after the puncture. I think the OP has mentioned that they would not be able to use a pump or co2.

I have slime tubes in my wifes bike and they do work, but both punctures required a few minutes of going at it with the hand pump.
 
Part 2: the reason that, despite my last statement, I will never mount M+ tyres again. This is mostly for @welsh dragon.

I had M+ on my folder. It had the same size 16" 349 rims as on a Brompton. It would take me an hour to fit them, usually with a broken lever or 2. The last pair I tried to fit just would not go on, eventually I had rubbed my thumbs raw and the rubber started to separate from the rims.

Returned the tyre to the shop and ordered my preferred model online.
 
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