New Brompton owner manages to fit Marathon Plus tyres without levers

[RhythMick]

Quite pleased wi' missen really. Took the plunge on the Brompton I'd fancied for a while, came with standard tyres and I'd read the Marathons were buggers to fit on 16" wheels. Having used them on 700c I gave them a go... No problem, both wheels took about 15 mins.

Woohoo

 

[jefmcg]

I've got a mezzo, and I'm never getting M+ again; horrible experience. For some reason I got 3 flat tyres in a row with M+, each time taking more than 1/2 hour and at least one broken tyre lever to sort out.

That was despite studying this (Marathon+ on a Birdy wheel)

 

[RhythMick]

I found it really difficult on the 700c version but got it in the end. You have to really press the tyre down into the well. Once you have that technique it seems it transfers to the smaller wheel. For me at least. Not that I'd ever be confident enough to not carry levers, in fact I just bought the VAR levers which look like an excellent idea.

 

[annedonnelly]

Yeah, I can manage them fine too - on both the Brompton and the hybrid - it's not often I'm competent at manual tasks so I'm quite proud of the ability

 

[RhythMick]

The connection to the block that plugs into the shimano hub is just wires, no cover. Seems a bit prone to water ingress to me. Think I'll apply heatshrink and silicone sealant.

 

[Crankarm]

I've got a mezzo, and I'm never getting M+ again; horrible experience. For some reason I got 3 flat tyres in a row with M+, each time taking more than 1/2 hour and at least one broken tyre lever to sort out.

That was despite studying this (Marathon+ on a Birdy wheel)

Yeah I put SMP+ on my Brompton and promptly got 3 punctures in a month whereas with the previous Brompton Kevlar tyres I got none until they wore out which meant new tyres were needed. SMP+ are heavy, high rolling resistance and noisy, they make an annoying whine. For me they are all hype. They were a bugger to get on and off as well, until I very lightly greased the beads then I could get them on with just my fingers and off with one tyre lever.