So much for the great puncture proof Schwalbe Marathon Plus super tyres

[Roadhump]

So many people swear by Schwalbe Marathon Plus, but I use them on my bike and today I had my third puncture this year. After he first one in January, caused by a piece of glass in the front wheel, I fitted a brand new M+ but 6 weeks later I had another puncture, caused again by a piece of glass in the front wheel. The photo shows the damage caused to that 6 week old tyre. Since then I have enjoyed 9 months and just over 3,000 miles of puncture free cycling, but today suffered another puncture, this time to my rear wheel. Whilst changing the tube I found the offending item, which seemed like a small metal shard - I could feel the sharp point but because of the thickness of the tread the item was embedded in the rubber and I couldn't get it out from the outside, neither could I pull it through to the inside. Eventually I had to use the flat screwdriver blade of my multi tool to gouge it out which caused a bigger hole and also resulted in me losing whatever caused the puncture.

I know nothing is absolutely fail safe, and even with the toughest tyres you can expect the occasional puncture, but looking at other threads in here, some people laud the M+ as indestructible, they aren't and in my case, I feel it is fair to say that they have failed to live up to their reputation, and indeed have failed to live up to Schwalbe's claims about their toughness. Perhaps I would have had more punctures if I had used another make but I am a bit cheesed off with Schwalbe M+ tyres at present and might try some other brand.

 

[NorthernDave]

I don't think any tyre is ever truly puncture proof, but there are different levels of protection and M+'s are at the upper end of that scale and you've probably been a bit unlucky.

That said, I find them horrible, hateful things. Slow, heavy and oddly able to combine a feeling of riding through treacle with an ability for a sudden and unexpected loss of grip in the wet.
I use Continental Gatorskins on my road bikes and Schwalbe Land Cruisers on my hybrid, but I'm sure that someone will be along soon who thinks that they're no good either!

 

[Yellow Saddle]

How do you think another brand of tyre would have performed under the same circumstances and why do you think another brand would be better or, worse?

 

[CanucksTraveller]

What Yellow Saddle said. Them is some major league penetrating objects you have there, nothing short of steel tyres would have stopped those. You've had an unlucky year.
I've had M+ on my hybrid for 7 years with not a single puncture. I agree that they're not great tyres to ride and I'm not that big an advocate, they're heavy feeling and sluggish they're awful to get on and off a rim. But they are at the toughest end of the scale.

 

[marshmella]

Marathon + user here on my hybrid, yes skittish in the wet and as everyone says heavy but no problems so far. Just sounds like bad luck you' ve had.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I know nothing is absolutely fail safe, and even with the toughest tyres you can expect the occasional puncture, but looking at other threads in here, some people laud the M+ as indestructible, they aren't and in my case, I feel it is fair to say that they have failed to live up to their reputation, and indeed have failed to live up to Schwalbe's claims about their toughness. Perhaps I would have had more punctures if I had used another make but I am a bit cheesed off with Schwalbe M+ tyres at present and might try some other brand.

Tyres are made of rubber, not tungsten. The tyres on my car are several times thicker than yours and I have had two punctures this year.

If you ride over something sharp enough it will go through the tread.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

As the others said. Also, you need to regularly inspect the tyres, and remove any sharp objects before they spend too much time in the tyre. I've used M+ tyres on my commuter for 8 years and over 100,000km and only had a handful of punctures on them in that time. So another satisifed M+ user, here.

 

[Banjo]

Unfortunately tough light and fast can rarely be combined in one tyre.
Even tractor tyres get punctured occasionally.
Allways seems to be the way that you go ages without a fairy visit then get 2 or 3 in close succession.

 

[I like Skol]

Don't fight it man. Just embrace the puncture experience and learn to enjoy the superiority that comes from overcoming such a minor setback. A puncture should take no more the ten minutes out of your day with practice

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Maybe keep a better eye on the crud on the road too.

Even with Marathons, I try to make a point of not rolling over chunks of glass or metal.

Seems to work, no punctures for ages (jinxed that now haven't I)

 

[Roadhump]

Fair enough, no tyre is completely puncture proof, and with less robust tyres I may well have had more punctures. When I got home today, I entered "Schwalbe Marathon Plus" in the CC search box and found a number of thread entries saying how good they were and you just don't get punctures, which made me want to give a different perspective, hence this thread.

Some things that occur to me having read replies: I have never had a problem getting M+ tyres on or off the rims, I haven't really noticed their skittishness in the wet, although I have come off a couple of times, once on ice and once on a slippery mossy surface, and perhaps the thing I should really note for the future is that although I keep an eye on wear levels and swap the front and rear tyres to stop the rear wheel wearing out ages before the front one (not sure why, but there you go) I don't really inspect my tyres for damage, and that could have been what caught me out on one or more occasion.

I have used M+ for 3 years now but in view of comments about their heaviness, sluggishness and poor ride, I will probably try something else now; if I get 3 or fewer punctures in the next 12 months, I'm laughing.

 

[mjr]

That prominent centre seam and the way the tread is discontinuous looks a bit off to me - has someone been offloading seconds or clones?

 

[Racing roadkill]

I've only suffered one deflation in over 20000 miles of usage of the M+ tyres. You can get punctures, getting shards of toughened glass in between the tread sections is a common way to achieve it (riding over the bits of glass left over after a car has broken its headlights for example) only my Tannus tyres were truly puncture proof. I often have to be places before 05:30 in the morning, punctures are really bad news, the Schwalbe D+ on one of my road bikes, and the M+ on one of the Hybrids, have very very rarely dissapointed, the pay off of weight, and less than ideal rolling resistance is a price worth paying. I really didn't like the weirdness of the Tannus tyres, after about 5000 miles I swapped back to M+. If I want better riding feel, and rolling performance, I ride the road bikes with Continental GP4000S II or GP4 seasons on, because the (relatively) poor puncture performance is not a massive issue if I'm leisure riding, I have no deadline, and it's not stupid o' clock in the morning, dark, and freezing cold.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

i think you have identified a problem. As highly puncture proof tyres, Marathon's can be a victim of their own success if people don't check them.

Well, Schwalbe obviously can't sell common-sense to their customers: that's entirely up to the latter.

 

[Globalti]

Anybody who has done two weeks of Jury Duty will have a clear appreciation of the way the laws of chance work as they get called down to Court then not selected. The OP has just discovered the laws of chance with regard to penetrating objects and tyres.

We run lightweight, soft, grippy tyres and I honestly don't think we suffer punctures any more often than we would with a "tough" tyre. If we do, the rate is acceptable at around one puncture every 700 to 1000 miles. The only difference is that lighter tyres are more easily damaged.