Schwalbe Marathon Alternatives

[Graham O]

I'm after some new tyres for an upcoming trip which will be on road and some off road on (hopefully sunbaked) gravel, dirt etc. Marathons seem to be the most "reliable" tyres, but I'm put off by weight, reported hard ride and the difficulty of getting on/off. While they may be highly puncture resistant, I will trade some of this for less weight, and comfort. I'm wondering what other tyres would be suitable in sizes 700 * 35 - 40?

In the past, I had some Continental Top Tourers which were excellent, so I'm attracted to the modern equivalent, Top Contact II, but open to other suggestions.

Thanks for you help.


PS I know tyre recommendations come up very often and I did search the forum for answers, however none of them quite answered the question. Sorry if it means going over old ground.

[PDQ Mobile]

I have Marathon Racers on two bikes.
I have been very pleased with them and wpuld fit them again.
They roll well and have lasted well.
On packed gravel I find them fine and I have had very few punct...!

Other folk will no doubt have other favourites.

[mjr]

Marathon is not one tyre. The hard ride and weight comments are mostly directed at the Marathon Plus. The Marathon Green guard and Marathon supreme are better but/because they don't have as thick sidewall protection.

Alternatives? The venerable Delta Cruiser is still a good reasonable compromise IMO. I expect there's a Vittoria Voyager which may suit. Specialized Armadillo are worse than Marathon Plus in so many ways.

[simonhill]

I think you will find just as many​ complaints about the Greenguard as the M plus. I used them for a short while and hated them.

I now use the Supremes, but as said the sidewalls are thin. Just coming up to 8,000 kms on my Supremes and still going strong. Rode some nice red tropical dirt today, no problems.

If you look at Schwalbe's website under touring you will find about 20 different versions of the Marathon. The one that gets me is "the original", that title now goes to Greenguard, but I've ridden 2 earlier versions of the original. How original!

[RobinS]

We use Marathon Greenguard "original" 700c x 38 on the rear, and Marathon Mondial 700c x 35 on the front, as the front carries less weight. On a three month tour last year we had one puncture each in the Mondials and none in the Greenguards. With the pressure at a sensible 70 - 75 psi the ride is fine, and we had no issue with the weight, we were after all on fully loaded tourers. As for getting them on and off, had heard bad stories, but they are much easier than our previous 700c x 32 Continentals.

[MikeF]

I think you will find just as many​ complaints about the Greenguard as the M plus. I used them for a short while and hated them.

I now use the Supremes, but as said the sidewalls are thin. Just coming up to 8,000 kms on my Supremes and still going strong. Rode some nice red tropical dirt today, no problems.

If you look at Schwalbe's website under touring you will find about 20 different versions of the Marathon. The one that gets me is "the original", that title now goes to Greenguard, but I've ridden 2 earlier versions of the original. How original!

Indeed.
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour.html And Schwalbe's range seem to change faster than you can blink. eg tread patterns, folding/non folding, puncture protection etc. - all marketing!
Rolling resistance comparisons of a range of tyres here

[pwa]

On my wife's bike Supremes have coped with road and reasonable track with no problems.

[CREPELLO]

There are still Vittoria Randonneur Pro's out there, but they won't be there for ever, unless Planet X buy up a big pile of them.

They are a superior alternative to the standard Marathon, being lighter, better rolling resistance and with good p******e protection.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-pa ... -tyre-700c

[sukuinage]

I've got On One Gravel Roads fitted to one of my bikes. They're surprisingly good on road and pretty good off and feel much more comfortable than the marathon racers on my commuter

[Brucey]

on tour I would accept the odd puncture in return for a nice ride quality, so most flavours of marathon are out, only the lightest built versions would get a look-in.

For commuting etc, I think that Michelin Protek is a good choice; nothing is certain of course, but in recent years a Michelin would typically have lasted about four times longer before the sidewalls crack; recent Schwalbes have been more than a little crap in this respect.

cheers

[mercalia]

I think the accusation that ( Green ) Marathons give a hard ride depends on what you weigh and tyre size if you are heavy like me the ride isn't hard - you need the thick side walls to stop squirming around the road on corners particularly. This seems to be an issue that every one ignores. Also depends on the size. if you are thinking narrow at highish pressure then yes could be a hard ride, but my 26x1.75" at 50-60 front 60-70 rear is not a hard ride just gives enough resistance to feel the road, I don't like a floating on air feeling. I think the ride I get is quite comfortable. I haven't found getting the green off at all hard.

[pete75]

This is a good site when choosing tyres. All measured for rolling and puncture resistance using the same methods. As well as looking at individual test results it lets you compare up to three different tyres.

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/

[robing]

I've got some new Schwalbe Marathon tyres for my touring bike. Previously I've had the Kevlar version, but this is discontinued so they are now
Greenguard which have a thicker layer of rubber. Apart from being slightly heavier how do they compare? ( I've only replaced the rear tyre so far, front is ok)

[Psamathe]

I'm after some new tyres for an upcoming trip which will be on road and some off road on (hopefully sunbaked) gravel, dirt etc. Marathons seem to be the most "reliable" tyres, but I'm put off by weight, reported hard ride and the difficulty of getting on/off. While they may be highly puncture resistant, I will trade some of this for less weight, and comfort. I'm wondering what other tyres would be suitable in sizes 700 * 35 - 40?

In the past, I had some Continental Top Tourers which were excellent, so I'm attracted to the modern equivalent, Top Contact II, but open to other suggestions.

Thanks for you help.


PS I know tyre recommendations come up very often and I did search the forum for answers, however none of them quite answered the question. Sorry if it means going over old ground.

I switch from Marathon Green Guard to Marathon Plus a year ago and was unsure about the impact of weight and rolling resistance. And I noticed absolutely no difference (previously done over 9000 miles on the Green Guards and not ridden anything else - so pretty used to the "feel" of them).

Month ago had my 1st puncture in the Marathon Plus' and after all these reports of the difficulty getting them on and off I was rather dreading the repair. But they came of very easily, it was a thorn nothing would reasonably have stopped and went back on quickly and easily no problem what-so-ever. In the last 3 years I've take tyres on and off only maybe 3 times so I'm far from an expert and certainly have no "technique" to speak of (just muddle my way through).

Ian

[markjohnobrien]

I think you will find just as many​ complaints about the Greenguard as the M plus. I used them for a short while and hated them.

I now use the Supremes, but as said the sidewalls are thin. Just coming up to 8,000 kms on my Supremes and still going strong. Rode some nice red tropical dirt today, no problems.

If you look at Schwalbe's website under touring you will find about 20 different versions of the Marathon. The one that gets me is "the original", that title now goes to Greenguard, but I've ridden 2 earlier versions of the original. How original!

I love Marathon Supremes: had them on my Pearson for many years and very comfortable and no problems whatsoever.