What tyres do you use for touring?

[lulubel]

Just trying to do some research to help with my future tyre choice.

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

I've just gone from road tyres to wider "city" tyres on my cross bike (25mm up to 32mm) because I wanted more comfort from a wider, softer tyre, and I've realised I could use my experiments with tyres to try out some that might be good for touring in the future.

My first choice (Vittoria Randonneur Hyper) was made before I had that idea, and isn't suitable for touring because they're reported as not being very hard wearing, and I've also had one puncture already, and picked a piece of glass out of one of them today. I'm already thinking of giving this up as a bad job and going back to my "bomb proof" Vittoria Rubino Pros, which I had 4 happy, puncture free years with! (If they made them in anything wider than 25mm, my decision would be made,)

So, what works for you?

 

[Yellow7]

Schwalbe 'Marathon Plus' (26X1.75) & 'Marathon Plus Tour' ((26x2.1).They both have the Pu***ure protection inner strip embedded with the moulding. The 'tour' version being better for rougher roads & trails, of which Schwalbe started making after persistent requests. I rode from Milton Keynes to Cape Town with just one (1) flat tyre, I used 2 pairs, chainging in the Gambia, so needles to say what I stick with.

26" wheels are better for third world / developing countries as buying 700c tyres is not so easy, if touring in Europe then no problems, but a 26" wheels is stronger, providing you've used a wheel builder who knows his trade.

 

[Amanda P]

I've done thousands of heavily-loaded miles on Marathon Pluses - in 700 by 32 or 35 on my tourer, and 26 by 32 and 20 by 32 on my recumbent. They're not quite bomb-proof, but not far off. In my opinion, that's more important than shaving a few grams of weight off if you're touring.

There's also a tandem version, but we haven't put enough miles on the tandem yet to really venture an opinion other than that they're there, they do the job, and we've only had one p... er, deflation event.

 

[Ian H]

I only do lightweight touring. Tyres of choice are Gatorskins or Paselas in 25mm. If I was traveling outside Europe I might rethink.

 

[Moodyman]

If you want to stick to the Vittoria theme, their Randonneur City/Pro are considered very good touring tyres. Durable, comfortable and puncture protection is on par with ordinary Marathons.

Long distance tourers swear by Marathons or Panaracer Paselas.

 

[Crankarm]

If you want to stick to the Vittoria theme, their Randonneur City/Pro are considered very good touring tyres. Durable, comfortable and puncture protection is on par with ordinary Marathons.

Long distance tourers swear by Marathons or Panaracer Paselas.

And swear at other makes .

I use the same tyres I commute on currently Specialised Armadillo Nimbus 26" x 1.5 inch or ContinentalTravel Contact 700 x 35.

 

[vernon]

On 700c wheels I use Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tyres. They have proved to be very resilient and highly puncture resistant - three punctures in five years and around 8,000 miles.

I have Specialised Armadillo Nimbus tyres on my 26" x 1.5" wheeled tourer and have had one puncture in 1500 miles and 9 months.

 

[mcshroom]

I use Schwalbe Marathons, 700x32c for light touring or 700x35c for heavier touring. They are not the most exciting tyres in the world but they don't drag much on the road, can handle forest tracks as long as they are not too muddy, and puncture very infrequently so I like them.


On LonJOG I tried out using 32mm Continental Sport Contacts, but the front one had a lump taken out of it before I reached the Scottish Border and the rear was square by the end of the tour (about 900 miles, 250 of them with camping gear).

 

[Aushiker]

Just trying to do some research to help with my future tyre choice.

Which tyre? Currently Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS428 28 x 1.75 are fitted to my Surly Long Haul Trucker and Extrawheel Voyager trailer
700c or 26" wheels? 700c
Width of tyre? 1.75"
Why do you choose it? Chasing the Dirt tour required the widest tyres I could fit that where suitable for dirt and bitumen riding.

Andrew

 

[xilios]

We only use Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700 35c for touring. A bit heavy but handle good in most surfaces, they are very reliable and the size 35c (+ Brooks Champion Flyer sprung saddle) makes for a very comfortable ride.

 

[lulubel]

Thanks, guys. It seems like the marathons (in their various guises) are a popular choice. I suspected that would be the case, and I may well try them out when touring time is closer - I don't particularly want to put them on the bike for normal riding beceause there doesn't seem much point in adding that much weight to an unloaded bike.

If you want to stick to the Vittoria theme, their Randonneur City/Pro are considered very good touring tyres. Durable, comfortable and puncture protection is on par with ordinary Marathons.

This is why I decided to try the Randonneur Hypers. They're the same TPI as the City/Pros, but are described as having Triple Shielding rather than Speed Shielding, which I assumed was probably better, and was one of my reasons for choosing them. The other reason was that they have less tread, which I don't need for riding on road. I went for Vittoria again because my experience of the Rubino Pros has been so good. But, to be honest, the Randonneurs I've got seem to have a much softer outer casing than the Rubinos, which is resulting in them picking up road debris rather than pushing it away.

 

[MarkF]

Another one for Marathon Plus's, I use 700c x 35mm, I like to be able to take to varied terrain and found a big difference in comfort on rough surfaces over the 32 mm's I used to use.

Puncture resistance is everything to me, I don't care about the extra tyre weight. Another M+ benefit is that I have found them extremely long lasting, I used a pair of Continental Touring + tyres this summer and after 800 miles had to switch them around, at the same distance the M+'s appear totally unworn.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It depends on what type of touring you are wanting to do. camping tour or credit card tour, completely tarred roads all the way or dirt tracks...

We used Schwalbe Marathon Extremes (26x2.0) on our 12 month tour getting 7,000km from my OH's rear before a side wall failure, 9,500 km from the front which was swapped to the rear at 7,000km, 14,500km out of my rear tyre and the front is still going strong...
We wanted something that would allow us off-tarmac capability because about 1/2 our route through Scandinavia & the Baltic States was on dirt roads and we were then due to head off to the Pamir highway which is largely unpaved.

EDIT: my OH had 4 fairy visits (all on the same tyre as it was dying), I only had the 1 in 14,500km of use.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Yet another vote for Marathon Plus. One visit from the fairy in over 5000 miles, and they last for well over 3000 miles.

 

[Amanda P]

We sometimes tour on our Moultons. Schwalbe Kojaks are the only tyres you can get for their 17" wheels. Kojaks are fine in Europe, but in South Africa... not so much.

Throwing beer bottles out of car windows is something of a national pastime in South Africa, so there's a lot of broken glass about. There's also a special thorn, the Devil's thorn, which has little caltrop-like spikes and likes to grow near, and shed thorns on, road shoulders. In those circumstances, Kojaks aren't really adequate!