Marathon Plus's on a road bike....RESULT!

[661-Pete]

I'm fairly early on into the lifetime of my Duranos, and so far it's been OK (don't tempt fate! )

The main issue for me, on my road bike, is clearance. Marathons come only in sizes from 25mm up, and I must have no bigger than 23. I once fitted 25mm's (Armadillos) by mistake: the front was touching the fork crown and the rear was almost fouling the seat tube - a little bit of dirt on the tyre and it would make contact. So for me, Marathons are no-go on the road bike.

 

[BlackPanther]

The main issue for me, on my road bike, is clearance. Marathons come only in sizes from 25mm up, and I must have no bigger than 23. I once fitted 25mm's (Armadillos) by mistake: the front was touching the fork crown and the rear was almost fouling the seat tube - a little bit of dirt on the tyre and it would make contact. So for me, Marathons are no-go on the road bike.

Really? I reckon I could go another 5mm wider on the Allez. Not that I'd want to though! Besides, the Crud RR2 mudguards are limited to 25mm tyres.

 

[GrasB]

i didn't notice the op changed to disc wheels as well i thought we are talking about tyres here. so let's say m+ tyre is heavier by 320g (than half decent 25c tyre with p-protection). that's 640g extra where it matters most. matters to who? probably not me, as i will be getting another set at the end of this year.
i've got lighter tyres on another bike, but i don't use it for commuting.

I was using real measurements with the kit I've got. While I'm willing to pop the wheels & of the road bike & my spare weight a tyre + tube I'm not going to start removing discs to get comparable weights. That's why I only gave the weight of the tyres & tubes + the list weight of the wheel set.

 

[661-Pete]

Really? I reckon I could go another 5mm wider on the Allez. Not that I'd want to though! Besides, the Crud RR2 mudguards are limited to 25mm tyres.

Yes - the 12-year-old Bianchi steel road frame that I have, is pretty unfriendly towards fatter tyres. The bike originally came with 700x19c tyres. When time came to replace those, I decided that 19c is just stupid, for me at any rate, your range of choices of tyre, at that size, is severely limited. So I experimented and found that 23's fit OK, but no bigger.

 

[Sapper]

I have a pair of M+ tyres that I use for the winter (and still using now)

The only problem is resistance..

There is one hill, when on my Pro-3 tyres I could reach 38-40 mph. On the M+ I am lucky to reach 33 mph!!

Adrian

 

[smokeysmoo]

I run Durano+ 25's on my Langster Steel and Marathon 28's on my CX bike that's set up for general road use. Touch wood, never had a puncture in any of them, love 'em to bits.

 

[thelawnet]

I use Continental City Contact, significantly lighter than Marathon Plus while still being heavy-duty (no punctures in >1000 miles) and also faster.

 

[Tynan]

Yes M+ have a rep as being the toughest tyres available, great

But there's shades of weight/toughness all the way down to the gossamer racing tyres, it's not a binary argument

 

[400bhp]

Well no, but in a theoretical world it would be great to plot a utility curve of tyres.

weight on y axis (measued heaviest at lower points/lighest at upper points)

puncture susceptibility on the x axis ( zero = crap puncture resistance).

Mark each tyre with a cross. Pick tyre furthest to the right (probably 45 deg angle).

Jobs a good un.

 

[nomdeplume]

I recently bought a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for about £30 apiece in order to avoid punctures. This afternoon I got a puncture from a thorn thrown onto the road by a farmer using a flail mower to trim his hedge. I met a Canadian a few months ago who used tyres reinforced with a chain mail material, unfortunately I forget the name- any info?

 

[mrandmrspoves]

I recently bought a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for about £30 apiece in order to avoid punctures. This afternoon I got a puncture from a thorn thrown onto the road by a farmer using a flail mower to trim his hedge. I met a Canadian a few months ago who used tyres reinforced with a chain mail material, unfortunately I forget the name- any info?

I think his name was liam.....it's a very popular name in Canada..

 

[Tynan]

gah, these threads are meaningless

we all see so many sorts of riders, plenty trundle along and for them any tyre will do

it's not just weight is it, there's feel and effect on the handling of the bike etc etc

and talk of punctures is almost meaningless, everyone has a different bike, is a different weight, rides a different way over different roads a different distance each day/week/month

 

[nomdeplume]

I think his name was liam.....it's a very popular name in Canada..

Thinking more of the name of the tyres !

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Thinking more of the name of the tyres !

Well Liam was just an educated guess!
http://www.hancox.co.uk/biketyres.html

 

[clarion]

There used to be a tyre called a Wolber Invulnerable in the 80s which had a metal mesh. Not sure how that would stop something as slender as a thorn, though.

I use M+ for everything (actually, that's not quite true. Because of a blowout of the old Avocet tyre on my new old tourer, I could only get Marathon Racers, so it's shod with those). I tried Durano Plus, which were great, but they're not quite as 'fit & forget' as the M+. Because the rubber is softer, it can pick up flints and glass which won't immediately puncture your tyre, but, if you don't check & dig them out regularly, they work their way in and cause failures. Still loads better than e.g. Continentals.

Back when protected tyres were a rarity, I went the other way in the weight stakes by using latex inner tubes. Never got a flat, but had to top up the tyres a bit every day. Worth it, I'd say, as I had a track pump next to the front door. Not so good for touring, mind.