Touring tyres... Super Marathons??

[bobg]

Just considering replacing the touring conti's on my Mavic MA2' rims ( yeah, I know they're old but I like them) with 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus Anybody have any strong views re weight, difficulty of removal, rolling resistance, puncture resistance etc Most feedback seems good but I thought I'd ask. If I could fit 37mm's is there any big advantage re comfort etc? This for Sustrans like conditions with a heavyish load on a conventional touring bike.... going slowly ?
Thanks

 

[andym]

I don't think Schwalbe make a tyre called the Super Marathon. Do you mean the Marathon Supreme or the Marathon Plus? Or...? (I've loked on Schwalbe's website as well as Googled and drawn a blank).

Schwalbe do a very good technical information document

http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/pdf/techinfo.pdf

which is definitely worth a read.

 

[bobg]

I don't think Schwalbe make a tyre called the Super Marathon. Do you mean the Marathon Supreme or the Marathon Plus? Or...? (I've loked on Schwalbe's website as well as Googled and drawn a blank).

Schwalbe do a very good technical information document

http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/pdf/techinfo.pdf

which is definitely worth a read.

Sorry Andy, that was me being a dick... I meant Marathon +

 

[potsy]

I have the Marathon Supremes on my CRC wishlist,not cheap but sound amazing.According to the blurb the vectran layers are the most puncture resistant in the whole range,if they are better than the M+ I'd be surprised but you never know.

 

[bobg]

And they dont make a 37mm... not my day.

Not come across Supremes yet, off to investigate.

Back again, £31 at Chain Reaction interesting, wonder what they're like when not on " tarmac", the blurb says "occasional gravel"

 

[andym]

The Schwalbe Marathon Pluses definitely have their fans. And it depends on you r objectives: if your number one objective is to avoid punctures then maybe they're the tyre for you. But all that puncture protection comes at a price: the 38c pluses weigh in at 940 grammes each which is b*stard heavy - a whopping 400g more than the weight of the Supremes (the tyres rather than the group).

There's a rule of thumb that a 1kg of rolling weight is equivalent to 2kg on the frame (OK, I have to fess up that I read that on wikipedia so I don't know how much authority to attach to it). No one likes punctures but they don't happen that often. A bit of puncture protection is a good thing but you can have too much of a good thing.

If you aren't switching from Contis to Schwalbes because you've gone off Contis, you might want to consider the Conti Sport Contacts. They'll cope fine with the conditions you describe - and they come in 37s.

 

[potsy]

And they dont make a 37mm... not my day.

Not come across Supremes yet, off to investigate.

Back again, £31 at Chain Reaction interesting, wonder what they're like when not on " tarmac", the blurb says "occasional gravel"

It's the maximum puncture protection yet much lighter than the M+ that draws me to them,tbh I've not read anything on here about them I don't think.Anyway the M+ are still going strong after 2500 miles so will be keeping them for a bit longer yet

 

[MacB]

I use the M+ and have had no punctures but they are heavy and can be hard to fit. The Supremes are much lighter and easier to fit but some reports indicate that the sidewalls can fail. They claim that this is where they've saved weight to still allow decent punture protection.

I've been weighing up, excuse the pun, the Marathon Supremes against the Panaracer Ribmo and Pasela TG. The Panaracers have a much better reputation for ease of fit, speed and match weight and puncture protection with the Supreme. But this is for social riding only, for commuting I'll stick to the M+, or at least until they wear out. But I now carry standard tyre levers, a VAR lever and the Crank Brothers Speed Lever, just in case.

 

[ChrisBailey]

There was a lot of discussion about this on the Crazyguy website, Schwalbe US even got involved. At the time IIRC it was said the Marathon plus was designed as a commuter type (punctures are to be avoided at all costs but the consequence is that the tyre is very heavy) the Marathon XC was the recommended expedition / long haul tyre. This year Schwalbe phased out the XC. I understand the Dureme is supposed to be the natural replacement, rolls well and is puncture proofed (but not at the expense of good performance).

I have the +'s on my commuter bike, wouldn't want to tour on them, sluggish and unrewarding. FWIW I use Specialised Armadillos. Everyone has an opinion on this topic though, good way to start a flame war.

 

[Crankarm]

There was a lot of discussion about this on the Crazyguy website, Schwalbe US even got involved. At the time IIRC it was said the Marathon plus was designed as a commuter type (punctures are to be avoided at all costs but the consequence is that the tyre is very heavy) the Marathon XC was the recommended expedition / long haul tyre. This year Schwalbe phased out the XC. I understand the Dureme is supposed to be the natural replacement, rolls well and is puncture proofed (but not at the expense of good performance).

I have the +'s on my commuter bike, wouldn't want to tour on them, sluggish and unrewarding. FWIW I use Specialised Armadillos. Everyone has an opinion on this topic though, good way to start a flame war.

I use these as well. No punctures, good grip and give decent mileage.

I was looking at full on touring tyres yesterday as well reading a lot on CGOAB. Many on there seem to go with Schwalbe Marathon XRs at just under 600g each, still heavy but not as heavy as the eye watering Marathon +s. Conti Travel Contacts a possibility but a few say they have had premature tyre wall failures.

 

[andym]

The Marathon XRs/Duremes are designed for high mileage - but as with anything else to do with tyres there is a trade-off to be made. In this case the rubber is harder and less grippy. If you are going on a long tour/expedition to somewhere where tyres are hard to find, then the XRs/Duremes are the obvious tyre to go for. But for normal touring they have no obvious advantages.

It's well worth reading the Schwalbe technical document and the Schwalbe website. to their credit Schwalbe give useful and helpful information about what their tyres are designed for (and by inference the trade-offs they have made).

 

[bobg]

Couldn't open that Schwalbe tech data pdf file last night but it was ok today... very interesting but in some ways I wish I hadnt (ignorance being bliss) cos that led me to Sheldons chart for internal rim and "proper size tyres,which let e to take one of the Conti Top touring 2000 tyres of my Mavic MA2 rim and measure it "hook to hook" = 13.6 mm and the Contis are 32x622 about two sizes bigger than they ought to be. Mind you they're been on there for about 5 years and I'm still alive to tell the tale. That old saying that ones ignorance grows at the same rate as ones experience seems appropriate........ I'm beginning to think I'll just leave the Conti's on

 

[bobg]

The search continues, Conti Contacts which replaced my Conti's are £35 and the reviews are rubbish

 

[Tim Bennet.]

I've always toured with Panaracer Pasela TG. Biggest I've used are the 32c version and they seem to cope very well with full on camping touring.

They seem to offer a good ride, roll well and I've gone years without a puncture. But when I've needed to, they've come on and off the rim (Mavic) without a struggle.

I'm not sure why you would lumber yourself with anything heavier.

 

[dragon72]

It's weird. People above say Conti's are crap and Spesh 'dillos are ace. I've personally found the absolute reverse to be the case. I've never had probs with Conti Contacts (formerly known as Top-Touring), and all the Armadillo's I've used have perished within 600 miles. I'm not lying and I'm sure they're not too. Maybe we ride differently!?