schwalbe marathon plus?

[theclaud]

Note that the beard is mandatory. You can't fit them without one.

I now see where I have been going wrong.

 

[dhd.evans]

Have them for my winter singlespeed; have gone 2 winters, maybe 2000mi on them so far, showing no signs of dying. Indestructible but that's because they're made of depleted uranium and are accordingly as heavy.

 

[byegad]

After breaking two tyre levers and skinning my knuckles one wet night trying to get a 2000 mile M+ off the rim, resulting in Lady Byegad having to rescue me in the car, I gave up on M+.
At home next morning, with knuckles taped up, even a couple of motorcycle tyre levers were not getting a slight hint of the tyre coming off, I cut the tyre, and bead. I then fitted Pasela Tour-guards, which lasted over 10k miles without a puncture. I felt they were a better rolling tyre too.

To illustrate that I don't have a down on Schwalbe.
I've use Marathon Racers, Kojaks and Big Apples on my trikes and can say that the first and last were/are great. However the Kojaks proved very prone to splitting in freezing temperatures, though they were fine in warmer days.

 

[martintoomany bikes]

thanks to everyone,very helpful indeed.cheers

 

[alecstilleyedye]

just for perspective, i commuted 68km a day through 2 winters on urban and rural roads on 23mm vittoria rubino pros, with very few punctures.

the low-end schwalbe tyres that came with my boardman cx went over 8,000km over the same route before puncturing (by which time the rear was worn beyond reasonable use).

i'm not blessed with any cleaner or less pitted roads than anyone else; i attribute the longevity of my tyres to keeping them inflated to an appropriate pressure…

 

[hoopdriver]

Maybe it's because I squeeze my own coconut juice every morning with my bare hands, but I've never had much problem mounting Marathon-Plusses on my rims. And once they are on, it's pretty well fit-and-forget. I never need to take them off again until many thousands of miles later when they are utterly worn through. The one and only time I ever had a flat with Marathon-Plusses was after they'd been on my high-mileage bike for a couple of puncture-free years and I'd grown so used to not thinking about tyres that I forgot about wear and maintenance and discovered to my chagrin that I'd worn a hole in the rear tyre. Totally my fault. Happily I was less than a mile from home. I put new Marathon-Plusses and back to business again. I think those same tyres are still on that bike now, a few years later.

 

[biking_fox]

Also an M+ commuter. If you do any regular off road sections then I'd certainly thoroughly recommend them. If you're road only you may be able to get by with something lighter. When I changed to regularly using a tarmac'd off road path, I shredded several different tyres very quickly, before settling on the M+ which just lasts. Large metal is generally the only object to get through. My tip for removing them is to work the tyre lever all the way around the wheel at least twice before you attempt to add the 2nd.

 

[mjr]

I switched to Marathons in 2012 after years of running Continental Gatorskins with which I had no punctures in seven years.

I had three punctures in ten days on the Marathons. Ditched them and went back to Gatorskns. Personally I wouldn’t go near a Schwalbe tyre.

Whereas I think you may as well be using paper as Gatorskins with how Norfolk arrowhead flints just stab through so easily... but I tend to use regular Marathon (rear wheel of workhorse bikes) or Delta Cruiser (all others) in preference because they offer a more comfortable ride than the pluses. Anything rides better than Armadillos, which seem sticky as well as stiff.

Those claiming Marathons have poor grip: is it when they were new and still had mould release compound on them?

 

[iancity]

Well I was a M+ user and have been for last couple of years, done around 2500 miles in all sorts of conditions and only 1 puncture which was a huuuge piece of glass...however, am in the process of changing them as I just cant get them on (at home, let alone when out in the bush). they are properly indestructible, so much so that the last few months I have gone out without any puncture repair kits/spare tubes etc as, well, whats the point. I could possibly get them off, put there is no way on Gods earth that I could get them back on...so, although the chances of getting a puncture are close to zero, I have decided that witth the increased distance I am doing, and the increasingly remote places I am cycling in/to, that I need to be able to change the tyre, so ordered some Michelin Pro4 tyres, will put them on this week and see if there is any difference rolling resistance wise although to be honest I just will feel better if there is a tyre on my bike that I can change should the inevitable happen!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I have decided that witth the increased distance I am doing, and the increasingly remote places I am cycling in/to, that I need to be able to change the tyre, so ordered some Michelin Pro4 tyres, will put them on this week and see if there is any difference rolling resistance wise although to be honest I just will feel better if there is a tyre on my bike that I can change should the inevitable happen!

Seems a bit of reverse logic at work here to me; the way I look at it, the more local I am the less bothered I am about punctures. because the inconvenience and wasted time factor is much less. I can just go home, swap bikes, and fix the flat later at my convenience. It's when I'm 3 or 4 hours walk away that I don't want to be getting punctures. For local hack use I just use whatever crappy unprotected tyres I have in stock that have come to me via scrap parts donor bikes or been changed out off good bikes. I've fitted Schwalbe to my hybrids that are used for longer rides. It doesn't have to be a choice of M+ or nothing either, as MJR demonstrates, original Marathon & Delta Cruiser+ are both lighter and more supple than M+ yet still have a better level of puncture protection than most other tyres on the market. I use DC+ front & rear and are very happy with them. I'm sure I'd be just as happy with original M, which although a bit dearer should also last longer - so be just as cost-effective mile for mile. When I next need replacements I might use original M on the rear and DC+ on the front, hopefully then both tyres would wear out at around the same time.

 

[Alan O]

It doesn't have to be a choice of M+ or nothing either, as MJR demonstrates, original Marathon & Delta Cruiser+ are both lighter and more supple than M+ yet still have a better level of puncture protection than most other tyres on the market.

And for what it's worth, I find Marathon Original/Greenguard easy to get on and off.

 

[Lavender Rose]

My mum has marathon plus's on her hybrid Carrera - excellent puncture protection, but sluggish over long distances.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

My mum has marathon plus's on her hybrid Carrera - excellent puncture protection, but sluggish over long distances.

It's the reports of the sluggish feel that put me off trying M+. Not being a racing roadie, I don't care if a tyre is fairly hefty weight-wise, but I still don't want it to feel totally dead all the same. It's a question of finding the "sweet spot" where a tyre has a sporting chance of getting to your destination without puncturing, but does not feel so unresponsive that you stop enjoying the ride.

 

[hoopdriver]

I’ve ridden tens of thousands of miles on Marathon Plusses and I don’t recall them ever blighting my enjoyment of a ride. I used to do a lot of touring and regularly rode 100+ miles a day on them, on a loaded up tourer, so I wouldn’t say they bogged me down much either.

They are not high performance racing tyres, but they are not meant to be. They are perfectly good touring and commuting tyres. A lot of the talk about weight and “sluggishness” is just hyperbole. The weight of a tyre matters only when you are accelerating, something that matters when racing but doesn't when you are touring or commuting. At cruising speed it doesn’t matter at all.

 

[mjr]

The sluggish feeling is the stiff armoured sidewalls more than weight. If you can't feel the difference between DC or Marathon and M+, I'm surprised.