Which tyre should I get for a Brompton?

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roley poley

Über Member
Location
leeds
IME it's usually possible to fix a tube without removing the wheel. The only times I've had to get the wheel off was to change the tyre. I've got standard Marathons on there and they've been trouble-free for a few years now.
yep work on the non drive side to stay cleaner:okay:
 
OP
OP
J

JE201

Regular
Get the level 5 and ride your bike :bicycle:

Do learn how to sort a puncture though and carry the kit with you, a puncture can happen anywhere to any bike at any time (obviously you can mitigate by avoiding big potholes, piles of glass etc)
Thanks for your help.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
I bought a 2nd hand Brompton which came with old Marathons on it. As they were old anyway, and clearly not ideal for road use, having thick energy sapping thread, I went for smooth road-oriented Schwalbe Kojaks. Big caveat, not yet got 'em on the bike, so my choice was based purely on what I read.
 
OP
OP
J

JE201

Regular
I bought a 2nd hand Brompton which came with old Marathons on it. As they were old anyway, and clearly not ideal for road use, having thick energy sapping thread, I went for smooth road-oriented Schwalbe Kojaks. Big caveat, not yet got 'em on the bike, so my choice was based purely on what I read.
Did you choose the Kojaks due to the lesser road resistance, or there were additional reasons? How much extra resistance is there on the more puncture resistant tyres? Like, is it noticably harder to pedal? (if that is the case, I guess the only benefit is you would get more exercise using them..!)
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
The tan wall Kojaks look really cool, but £100 for a set of bike tyres, come on :laugh:

522456
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Did you choose the Kojaks due to the lesser road resistance, or there were additional reasons? How much extra resistance is there on the more puncture resistant tyres? Like, is it noticably harder to pedal? (if that is the case, I guess the only benefit is you would get more exercise using them..!)

Rolling resistance was my primary reason, whilst still being (supposedly) reasonably puncture resistant. There is absolutely no benefit in having tread on a road tyre, so the marathons made less sense, and as I mentioned they were very old anyway.
I confess I've not yet used the tyres yet so my choice isn't based on personal experience, but on my other bikes have marathons (albeit less cleated than those on the brompton) on one, and reasonably light smooth tyres on the other - and the lighter tyred bike does roll better. Admittedly they are very different machines as one's a quite heavy Thorn tourer and the other's a more nimble fixie.

Also I once put slightly cleated tyres on my old tourer and it was noticably harder to pedal so chucked them and went back to "road" tyres. This was a long while back and I can't remember the brands, but none of them were expensive
 
OP
OP
J

JE201

Regular
Personally I would just use what ever comes on the bike, just pump them up to 100pi. I would recommend practicing taking the back wheel off at your leisure, perhaps in the garden on a warm day with beer or coffee. :okay:
Thank you, if I had a garden I would! How do you measure the pi on a tyre?
 

12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
Standard Marathons are easier to install and remove than the Marathon Plus. There is a technique for installation described in earlier posts involving doing the tire part last that is by the stem. I've managed to put them on using only thumbs with this method.
Very good idea to practice wheel and tire removal and installation at home with no other object than become familiar with the process.
If your bike has a Sturmey Archer hub, you will also need to know how to adjust that.
Learning this in cold, rainy and dark conditions isn't nice.
I have found tubeless tire sealant is less messy and clogs the stem less than Slime, while working very well.
 
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