# Trice front tyres?



## Seamus (15 Apr 2010)

Trice front tyres.
Which one should have?

Front either,

Schwalbe Big Apple with Slime inner tubes,

Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

or Schwalbe Marathon Plus with Slime inner tubes. 


Rear tyre is a Schwalbe Marathon Plus 47-406


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## marc-triker (15 Apr 2010)

I run Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the front wheels and Schwalbe Big Apple 26" on the rear all with Slime inner tubes and have never nad any problems with that set up m8.


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## ufkacbln (15 Apr 2010)

The Marathon Plus are fine, however I am running Marathon Supremes on the Catrike all round - as p*nct*re proof as the plusses, but quicker


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## Dene (16 Apr 2010)

My commute involves a very poor cycle path, changing from big apple to marathon plus tyres have greatly reduced the number of punctures but have not stopped them.

The Marathon + tyres are heavy but for me they are worth it.


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## Auntie Helen (16 Apr 2010)

When I had Big Apples on the front they tended the foul the mudguards so I gave up. I recently bought the Quick-Release rear mudguard which is brill but also too small for Big Apples.

I now have regular Marathons all round and am very happy with them. The rolling resistance of Marathon Pluses was too much for me. I've had a few punctures but nothing significant and they're so quick to sort out on the front wheels anyway. I've only ever had two punctures in the rear wheel in 16,500 miles.


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## 3tyretrackterry (17 Apr 2010)

*I've only ever had two punctures in the rear wheel in 16,500 miles.Oh dear *AH that statement surely means your puncture count will go up probably over the next 16.5 miles let alone 16,500 miles


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## CopperBrompton (3 May 2010)

According to Schwalbe, the rolling resistance of the Marathon and Marathon Plus tyres is identical, the only difference that would affect speed is the weight, and that will mostly affect acceleration rather than cruising speed.

I hate p*nct*r*s so I have Marathon Plus all-round.


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## Auntie Helen (3 May 2010)

Well I don't agree with them, having had Marathons on the front, then M+, then back to Marathons. There is a significant difference in rolling resistance and I am unlikely to go back to M+ on the front although it's still a consideration on the rear.


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## byegad (16 May 2010)

Trouble fitting BAs to the front of a Trice?

Replace the spacers supplied by ICE with an off cut from some old straight handle bars. You can make them as long as you like to get clearance.


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## arallsopp (17 May 2010)

Auntie Helen said:


> Well I don't agree with them, having had Marathons on the front, then M+, then back to Marathons. There is a significant difference in rolling resistance and I am unlikely to go back to M+ on the front although it's still a consideration on the rear.



I think the +s are more sensitive to running 'under pressure' than the normal marathons. The original front wheel for my SMGTe has a Marathon racer, whilst the replacement (SON hubbed) now has a Marathon+. Before the SON'd racer gave up, I couldn't really detect any difference in the speed (and believe me, I was looking). With the plus, its like riding through sludge at times.

I don't mind, though. It adds a few calories and maybe 3 minutes to the commute, and its worth it for puncture proofing. If this was my only bent, I'd put racers back on though.


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## CopperBrompton (17 May 2010)

According to Schwalbe, the rolling resistance is exactly the same but the extra unsprung weight will of course make them slower to accelerate. I do agree, though, that the M+ are very sensitive to pressure.

Helen, next time we're on a ride, let's do a roll-down test on a quiet hill. Won't be exactly scientific, but should give us a rough idea.


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## Auntie Helen (17 May 2010)

It won't work as a test at all as your bike is heavier than mine (disc brake, etc), you have a fairing and presumably our relative bodyweights aren't identical either.

All I can offer as evidence is that I have been through five sets of standard Marathon tyres and one set of Marathon Plus on the front and the difference was decidedly noticeable. I keep the tyres pumped up close to their suggested maximum and all else was pretty much the same.


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## CopperBrompton (17 May 2010)

Auntie Helen said:


> and presumably our relative bodyweights aren't identical either.


That's a very diplomatic way of putting it.


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## CopperBrompton (17 May 2010)

The fairing, incidentally, makes naff-all difference to streamlining until you get to pretty high downhill speeds - I did a roll-down test with & without it on a hill where I reach just over 20mph from a standing start, and the difference was from memory about 0.1mph.


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## byegad (18 May 2010)

Ben Lovejoy said:


> The fairing, incidentally, makes naff-all difference to streamlining until you get to pretty high downhill speeds - I did a roll-down test with & without it on a hill where I reach just over 20mph from a standing start, and the difference was from memory about 0.1mph.



I'd agree with that, plus you are lugging an extra couple of kilograms around, which shows up hill. I find I'm faster into the wind with the Streamer, in fact the speed loss into even a full gale is pretty small compared to riding without the fairing. Down some of out local hills the faster I am without the fairing the greater the gain with it. So a hill I descend at 40-42 mph unfaired sees 44-48 mph faired. While another that sees me consistently hit 32mph unfaired gets 34-35 mph faired.


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## Fiona N (18 May 2010)

People like Mike Burrows have always said that front fairings make very little difference to aerodynamics compared to an aero tailbox - i.e. drag caused by turbulence is more of a factor than making a smooth hole in the air which is what a front fairing tends to do.


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## CopperBrompton (18 May 2010)

Yep, front fairings are for weather-protection and making the trike look cooler :-)


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