I have used Schwalbe's model Marathon Plus during a couple decades since I couldn't fix a flat myself so tried to avoid along tyres that were/are sold as flat proof or at least as far as possible to that.
With these I still had 1 or 2 flats / year (with the latest model (color change of anti leak layer) I even had 2 punctures in a couple months, one being a brand new tyre punctured by a marble size sharp stone)
I let dealers fix it (they picked them up at home) or in case along my path and open shop at the event I walked to.
Later on I bought a couple spare wheels so that I could use the spare bike to bring the wheel with the flat tyre to dealer. That regime lasted 15 years.
3 years ago, since my bikes always were too small frames for me, I started to have heavier loads, and since I suffered spoke breakages, I decided to get a stronger bike with a sufficiently sized frame, and went for the current travel bike, and chosed Schwalbes SuperMotoX 27.5" 62 mm wide tyres, as an attempt to have better shock absorption (usually the direct reason for spoke breakage) and a bigger ground contact surface in order to spread weight more and less likely puncture.
I have had 5 or 6 flats during these 3 years, despite common loads (as luggage) of tens kg's even 50 on occasions. Long enough period to conclude that Schwalbes Marathon Plus, expensive too, didn't offer me better puncture protection.
And since the Marathon Plus was and still is a pain to get off on (being the main reason for me to let dealers do the job, the few times I tried (back then) I ruined the edge and new expensive tyre > garbage).
With the SuperMotoX, I don't need (I discovered it when trying without) tools to get it off and back on.
Last year due to a new bike problem I had to use older bike for some weeks, and had again a flat with a Marathon Plus. Along the road I succeeded in replacing the inner tyre, and later on at home also succeeded in preventively replacing the outer of a spare wheel. But it took me alot time and alot effort. In both occasions I ended up using a coated handgrip of a small tool.
Because, plastic levers just broke, steel levers damaged the tyre so that the steel cord became exposed (and can thus rust and damage the rim), and coated steel levers bend, possibly due to thinner steel due to plastic coating replaced steel in order to keep a same tool thickness to get between tyre wall and rim.
Last story about the Marathon Plus: I once saw a dealer that had a tool that looked like a shoe-puller of a half meter long. He inserted it and whipped the tyre of in one time. Getting it back on was the common longer story ofc. Still, you don't risk damaging the tyre that's only to get it off - it's just a matter of knowing the tricks, and brute force on the end.
That was my longwinded story to repair punctures. :P
With these I still had 1 or 2 flats / year (with the latest model (color change of anti leak layer) I even had 2 punctures in a couple months, one being a brand new tyre punctured by a marble size sharp stone)
I let dealers fix it (they picked them up at home) or in case along my path and open shop at the event I walked to.
Later on I bought a couple spare wheels so that I could use the spare bike to bring the wheel with the flat tyre to dealer. That regime lasted 15 years.
3 years ago, since my bikes always were too small frames for me, I started to have heavier loads, and since I suffered spoke breakages, I decided to get a stronger bike with a sufficiently sized frame, and went for the current travel bike, and chosed Schwalbes SuperMotoX 27.5" 62 mm wide tyres, as an attempt to have better shock absorption (usually the direct reason for spoke breakage) and a bigger ground contact surface in order to spread weight more and less likely puncture.
I have had 5 or 6 flats during these 3 years, despite common loads (as luggage) of tens kg's even 50 on occasions. Long enough period to conclude that Schwalbes Marathon Plus, expensive too, didn't offer me better puncture protection.
And since the Marathon Plus was and still is a pain to get off on (being the main reason for me to let dealers do the job, the few times I tried (back then) I ruined the edge and new expensive tyre > garbage).
With the SuperMotoX, I don't need (I discovered it when trying without) tools to get it off and back on.
Last year due to a new bike problem I had to use older bike for some weeks, and had again a flat with a Marathon Plus. Along the road I succeeded in replacing the inner tyre, and later on at home also succeeded in preventively replacing the outer of a spare wheel. But it took me alot time and alot effort. In both occasions I ended up using a coated handgrip of a small tool.
Because, plastic levers just broke, steel levers damaged the tyre so that the steel cord became exposed (and can thus rust and damage the rim), and coated steel levers bend, possibly due to thinner steel due to plastic coating replaced steel in order to keep a same tool thickness to get between tyre wall and rim.
Last story about the Marathon Plus: I once saw a dealer that had a tool that looked like a shoe-puller of a half meter long. He inserted it and whipped the tyre of in one time. Getting it back on was the common longer story ofc. Still, you don't risk damaging the tyre that's only to get it off - it's just a matter of knowing the tricks, and brute force on the end.
That was my longwinded story to repair punctures. :P
