What tyres do you use for touring?

[stumpy66]

I use conti touring plus reflex 32mm, no p*******s on fully laden tourer, back one needed replacing after 2500 miles

 

[andrew_s]

I used to use 28mm Gatorskins with an Audax style bike, but have now switched to a bike that allows fatter tyres in order to make rough stuff easier (and allow studded tyres for the winter). Now I use 700x35, either Pasela if I don't anticipate rough stuff, or Marathon Racer if I do.

 

[ankaradan]

I recently replaced the knobbly tyres on my old mountain bike with 1.75" Continental Travel Contacts. These are fast but grippy (and very quiet) on tarmac, but can also cope with the gravel tracks and mud, found everywhere here but the best quality main road. So far I've been very impressed, but can't comment as to mileage for a long tour.

 

[willem]

I prefer wide 26 inch tyres for loaded touring. They are comfortable, give good grip on bad roads and trails, and with the right tyre choice, can be as fast or faster than narrow 700 c tyres. So my favourites right now are the 26x1.75 Pasela and the luxury version of this, the Compass 26x1.75. They are a bit fragile, but they have held up fine for the last few years (the Pasela's, or the last 2000 kms for the Compass). They are very fast and comfortable, and the tread is big enough for mild trails. I have had one puncture with them over a number of years, and that was from a screw, next to a building site. I would prefer them to be a bit wider still. If you want a more robust tyre, my all round touring choice for almost all of Europe would be the 50 mm Schwalbe Big Apple. It is fast, comfortable, and pretty robust. We have a number of them in the family, and I cannot remember a single puncture over the last few years. Anything more robust and with more tread is great for expedition tours, but overkill elsewhere.
The problem is that more puncture proof and longer lasting tyres such as the Schwalbe Mondial exact a heavy price: they are slow, heavy, and much less comfortable. The Marathon Plus is even worse from this point of view (and the new 20111 ordinary Marathon is equally horrible). In my experience the modern choice is to get as wide as possible tyres with flexible sidewalls and some but not too much tread. Wider tyres are not only more comfortable, but they also get far fewer punctures because they can be run at lower pressures so the tyres flexes over the debris. In 26 inch I think 50 mm (usually 45-47 mm in reality) is ideal, with a wide choice of types, including the superb Conti Topcontact Winter II for the colder season. In 700 c much depends on your frame's clearance, but I would go for the widest that will fit, and see what you can get in that size. If it is indeed, like many 700 c tourers, a bike for fastish tarmac rides, I would suggest something like the 37 mm Pasela (Pasela's are quite true to size, unlike many other tyres).
Willem

 

[CopperBrompton]

Remember, though, that a heavy tyre takes longer to accelerate but maintains momentum better. For touring, even in pure efficiency terms a heavier tyre can be better than a light one.

 

[lulubel]

Wider tyres are not only more comfortable, but they also get far fewer punctures because they can be run at lower pressures so the tyres flexes over the debris.

I'm sure we've had this discussion before, and my experience contradicts this.

Narrow (25mm) tyres run at 110psi - 4 years, 0 punctures.
Wider (35mm) tyres run at 70 psi - 2 months, 2 punctures.

Both sets of tyres from same manufacturer and marketed as high puncture protection.

 

[willem]

Which only proves that your sample size is too small. That is the problem with punctures: they do not happen often enough for much serious statistical analysis. On a more cheerful note: punctures are normally not much of a problem either, as long as you buy good quality tyres, and don't ride them into the ground.
Willem

 

[Crankarm]

I prefer wide 26 inch tyres for loaded touring. They are comfortable, give good grip on bad roads and trails, and with the right tyre choice, can be as fast or faster than narrow 700 c tyres. So my favourites right now are the 26x1.75 Pasela and the luxury version of this, the Compass 26x1.75. They are a bit fragile, but they have held up fine for the last few years (the Pasela's, or the last 2000 kms for the Compass). They are very fast and comfortable, and the tread is big enough for mild trails. I have had one puncture with them over a number of years, and that was from a screw, next to a building site. I would prefer them to be a bit wider still. If you want a more robust tyre, my all round touring choice for almost all of Europe would be the 50 mm Schwalbe Big Apple. It is fast, comfortable, and pretty robust. We have a number of them in the family, and I cannot remember a single puncture over the last few years. Anything more robust and with more tread is great for expedition tours, but overkill elsewhere.
The problem is that more puncture proof and longer lasting tyres such as the Schwalbe Mondial exact a heavy price: they are slow, heavy, and much less comfortable. The Marathon Plus is even worse from this point of view (and the new 20111 ordinary Marathon is equally horrible). In my experience the modern choice is to get as wide as possible tyres with flexible sidewalls and some but not too much tread. Wider tyres are not only more comfortable, but they also get far fewer punctures because they can be run at lower pressures so the tyres flexes over the debris. In 26 inch I think 50 mm (usually 45-47 mm in reality) is ideal, with a wide choice of types, including the superb Conti Topcontact Winter II for the colder season. In 700 c much depends on your frame's clearance, but I would go for the widest that will fit, and see what you can get in that size. If it is indeed, like many 700 c tourers, a bike for fastish tarmac rides, I would suggest something like the 37 mm Pasela (Pasela's are quite true to size, unlike many other tyres).
Willem

Do you work for the people who make Pasela tyres as you mention them an awful lot?

 

[willem]

No, who do you think I am? That would be very indecent indeed. I am an economic historian by profession, without any commercial connections in the bike trade, but an interest in optimum solutions in compromise situations. I also recommended the Big Apple, by the way. And in earlier posts the Conti Topcontact WInter II for winter riding.
Willem

 

[lulubel]

Which only proves that your sample size is too small. That is the problem with punctures: they do not happen often enough for much serious statistical analysis. On a more cheerful note: punctures are normally not much of a problem either, as long as you buy good quality tyres, and don't ride them into the ground.
Willem

Please can you provide me with a link to some research based on a large sample size? I'd be interested to read it.

 

[Bodhbh]

Which tyre?
700c or 26" wheels?
Width of tyre?
Why do you choose it?

I've done most of my touring on 26 x 2.0 Marathon XRs. In honesty, they are way over the top for road riding in Europe - both in terms of the aggressive tread and hardwearing compound - but I made the call when I started and have stuck with it...no choice, as they're so bloody bombproof. On the otherhand, I've had maybe 3 flats in at least 10k miles and if there's an option of an off-road route - where they come into their own - I'll nearly always take it.

For next year I'll change to 26 x 2.0 Marathon Duremes and try and wear the XRs out on the commute. The Duremes roll much better on the road, are probably 300-400g each lighter, and are grippy enuff for off-road excursions.

I use a MTB, so 26" is what fits and I use fat tyres cos I can and I like the comfort!

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Another vote for schwalbe marathon plus 28's for me...no flats across Europe or America.

 

[Crankarm]

I've done most of my touring on 26 x 2.0 Marathon XRs. In honesty, they are way over the top for road riding in Europe - both in terms of the aggressive tread and hardwearing compound - but I made the call when I started and have stuck with it...no choice, as they're so bloody bombproof. On the otherhand, I've had maybe 3 flats in at least 10k miles and if there's an option of an off-road route - where they come into their own - I'll nearly always take it.

For next year I'll change to 26 x 2.0 Marathon Duremes and try and wear the XRs out on the commute. The Duremes roll much better on the road, are probably 300-400g each lighter, and are grippy enuff for off-road excursions.

I use a MTB, so 26" is what fits and I use fat tyres cos I can and I like the comfort!

I agree they are total over kill for road use although if heavily loaded they make your bike handle like a super tanker. I used the 1.5 inch versions for a while but then switched to Specialised Armadillo Nimbus tyres which roll a lot more easily and are a lot lighter.

 

[willem]

I do not know of any research on punctures from a large real life sample. Tyre companies only do mechanical tests with machines that puncture tyres with given force. That procedure does not necessarily mean much in real life. The problem with a real life statistical project would be to control the variables enough, and to record things uniformly. If I were to do it, something like PBP would be a good event to do this. There are many riders, and they ride quite a lot in a controlled situation. The problem would be that most riders would be using tyres at the fragile and narrow end of the spectrum. And conditions would not necessarily be representative, in that a rainy event would probably favour other tyres than a dry one, for example.
My general view is that people worry too much about punctures. I only very rarely have them. The only exceptions were when we were living in the UK, with its debris covered and rarely cleaned roads, and with the tandem, where more weight was being pressed onto the debris. In both cases, Pasela's were not robust enough, and had to be replaced by Marathons. We are a family of four, and we all use our bikes to go to work or school. During the last decade the kids have never had a puncture (mostly ordinary Schwalbe Marathons), and my wife once, from a big nail. No punctures yet with the Big Apples or the Topcontact Winter II, nor with the Pasela TG that I now have on my commuter bike. Mind you, I replace tyres well before they are completely worn. On tours, I have had two in recent years, one from a sharp piece of steel that cut through an ordinary Marathon and the other from a big screw near a building site that was too much for a Pasela. And I have had one tube failure at the valve stem. I think other more puncture resistant tyres would not have helped much in either case. Fortunately our commutes are on regularly cleaned roads, and as it so happens the same applied to much of our touring. But the statistician in me says: the sample is far too small for this to mean much.
Willem

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

...
My general view is that people worry too much about punctures. I only very rarely have them. The only exceptions were when we were living in the UK, with its debris covered and rarely cleaned roads...

Yes & no. Our first tour in Denmark was punctuated by punctures constantly. Over the course of 2 weeks we had at least 1 puncture every day and that is no fun, sometimes we were seeing 2 or 3 punctures a day. We also had a slashed tyre from debris on a cycle path than was across rutted grass. Regretfully it did detract from the enjoyment of the tour.

My old commute was a nightmare, but not because of debris on the roads, but because of where I worked, in a school. For some reason drawing pins get everywhere and it was only when I went over to puncture resistant tyres (armadillo tyres) that I finally stopped having punctures. It took several years before my next flat tyre commuting to work - and when I took the tyre off, it was the inner tube that had perished.

Over our last 12 month tour, Stuart had a total of 5 punctures in 12 months of 8,700 miles, I had 1 in the same distance.

They make a difference, but it is each to their own. We actually really like the Marathon Extremes and I prefer their handling to the XR's which are currently on my tourer.