Which width of Schwalbe Marathon Plus should I go for?

[jay clock]

I have a Koga Miyata touring bike which needs new tyres. I am looking at Schwalbe Marathon Plus. The wheels are 26" and the current tyres are Conti Travel Contact 26 x 1.75. The Marathons come in 1.5 or 1.75. Anyone used the smaller ones for touring? I will probably go for 1.75 unless feedback suggests otherwise

 

[jonathanw]

26 x 1.5 will be faster and lighter and are perfectly adequate for touring as they are equivalent to 700 x 38mm for those who use larger wheels. You really would only need the 1.75 if doing a lot of off road in mud.

 

[MrJamie]

I swapped out some 700c 45mm (~1.75) Kendas for 38mm (~1.5) M+ so pretty similar scenario. The M+ tyres really dont deform very much under weight at all (im ~18stone so notice it more), probably to keep the puncture proof part on the ground. I think that this means the area in contact with the road is an extra bit skinnier too on top of the width reduction between tyres. Its probably just me but im a little less confident cornering at speed in the wet and it feels a fair bit more twitchy on trails, although no problems at all. Im very happy with the M+ tyres although im convinced i can feel their weight on steeper hills and overall theyve been great

 

[jay clock]

On balance I think I am going for the 1.75s. The existing tyres seem to have decayed badly (particularly the rear one - If I squeeze the tyre their are tons of small slits along the tread, but none like that on the front.)

All of this is a master plan that if I get laid off my bike is ready for a 2 months tour somewhere! Where? Depends on when it happens!