Brucey wrote:The test results suggest that you don't pay a big penalty in terms of reduced puncture protection by selecting the lightest, fastest tyre, but in reality puncturing is a rather binary event. Joy and misery are only separated by a hair's breadth at times.
Yes. Plus, the Marathon Almotion is a lot more expensive than the standard Marathon (GreenGuard) – about double the price, usually. To some extent with tyres, you can buy yourself a better compromise between speed, comfort, and puncture-resistance, but not everyone is willing to spend £40 on a bicycle tyre.
Brucey wrote:The current Marathon and Marathon Plus tyres use a thick layer of low hysteresis rubber below the tread. It is difficult for most debris to penetrate this layer, mainly because it is so thick; thick enough even that a typical drawing pin (thumbtack) won't reach the inner tube if you push it into the middle of a M+ tread. This rubber system is heavier than (say) Kevlar belts in other tyres are but it works better against things like flints and broken glass. The rubber layer is thinner in M than in M+; the tyres are otherwise very similar.
The rolling resistance is low -considering the puncture protection- in the M, M+ tyres, but only at high pressures. By comparison with some other tyres the rolling resistance increases disproportionally at lower pressures. So you can't have good puncture resistance, ride comfort and low rolling resistance, not quite
cheers
Interesting - so do you recommend inflating marathons to the top of the range indicated on the tyres and just living with a certain lack of comfort albeit with less rolling resistance? I have a marathon on the back of an exped bike.
I would generally say go with the minimum pressure indicated on the tyre unless you have good reason to do otherwise. I have 47-406 Marathons on my Circe Helios tandem & find the minimum, 50psi, is fine with 2 adults aboard (Schwalbe give 50-70 as the pressure range for that particular tyre).
Tyres pumped up to the maximum pressure allowed by the tyre will generally just give an uncomfortable ride for no real benefit.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
not everyone notices if they are pedalling in treacle, and some value comfort and/or puncture resistance over that, even if they do.
What I've noticed is that some of the more obvious usual symptoms of low tyre pressure, e.g. how the bike rides over small bumps, are somewhat absent when you are riding on puncture resistant tyres, presumably because of the (overall) stiffer carcass. So several times I have found myself thinking 'oh, I'm not going very well today' because the bike feels so draggy. I've at first not suspected the tyre pressures are low because I can still feel every bump. When I've checked, the Marathon tyres have been around 50psi. Back up to ~70psi, and things are back to normal; less comfort, more speed.
FWIW on real road surfaces, because of suspension losses, once you go above a certain pressure there is no real benefit in terms of Crr, things just get more uncomfortable. But that pressure varies with the tyre, the bike and the rider. At lower pressures you are basically trading comfort against speed. As I mentioned earlier the 'perfect trifecta' of low Crr, good comfort and the highest puncture resistance is not possible; it is all a question of compromise.
Everyone finds their own 'happy medium'; some experimentation might help you get there sooner.
1. Correctly inflated to max pressure. 2. Nice smooth good quality tyres that don't pick up stuff. 3. Don't go anywhere that gives you punctures.
I first rode JOGLE in 1994 and didn't puncture, but wore out a tyre. A boot sorted it until I bought a new pair in Taunton. I'd started the ride with rather worn tyres perhaps. Rode LEJOG and back and never had a puncture. Rode the damed Raleigh Chopper JOGLE as well as training for it and did just over 1,500miles on it with no punctures.
During my Grand Tour of Scotland England and Wales in 2008 - 1,300miles - I had a pinch puncture that took a day before it blew. Cattle grid if my memory serves me.
I rate the 26” Marathon 2.0 very highly. Performs superbly on tour, a very stable tyre that inspires confidence. I can’t abide the Marathon Plus due to its astronomical weight.
foxychick wrote:Brucey The puncture factor score is far superior on the marathon plus 117 compared to the marathon almotion 86 an increase of 36%....
yes but for a tyre that is half as heavy again (even though as tested the M+ is a narrower tyre than the Almotion) I'd suggest that is a rather modest improvement.
Either that or the scores bear little resemblance to the actual chances of puncturing.
BTW the Almotion score is 73.5% of the M+ score. Whether the M+ is '36% better' or the Almotion is '26.5% worse' depends on what you think the tests mean and what you are trying to prove, I suppose .
foxychick wrote:Are they comfortable to ride on tours?
The Marathon Greenguard? Very comfortable in 2.0”. Significantly more so than the 1.75”. If you’ve been riding the M+ you’ll be well chuffed with the ride improvement.
foxychick wrote:Has anyone used the marathon mondial in a 700c x 40mm wired version as was looking to purchase some but not too sure about the puncture and comfort level to be honest cheers.
I've got a folding one I planned to carry as a spare; it is pretty chunky, so much so that folding the tyre down is actually quite difficult
Has anyone used the marathon mondial in a 700c x 40mm wired version as was looking to purchase some but not too sure about the puncture and comfort level to be honest cheers.
