Schwalbe Marathon green guard or racer

[markjohnobrien]

Just adding a comment and a couple of questions to this thread:

I recently fitted a pair of 35-622 Racers on to a touring bike with LX17 (17mm internal width) rims. These replaced some Marathon Supreme 37-622s. I bought them as availability of the Supremes seems very limited in the UK just now. Having read the reports on the tire rolling resistance site and mixed comments in forums, I was not sure what to expect. Actually, they roll very nicely on road, I’d say at least as fast as the Supremes and subjective impression is that they are a bit faster.

The actual size is rather small - I measured them at around 31mm across when inflated to 5 bar rear and 4 bar front. A better fit for the LX17 rims TBH.

They are not as comfortable as the Supremes, which to be fair measure about 33mm across on these rims. But still pretty good. I’m quite sold on them as a tyre for on-road riding, though they didn’t feel as secure on the short distance of gravel path I rode them on yesterday.

I have Supremes on another touring bike with wider rims - DT Swiss R500DB (22mm internal width) which are supremely comfortable (sorry). I prefer those for mixed riding including back lanes in poor condition and dry off-road tracks and bridleways (at around 4.5-5 bar rear ad 3.5-4 bar front), and longer rides.

I switch to some 38-622 WTB Riddlers on the wider rims when I’m going to spend more time off-road as I can run them at lower pressures. The Riddlers are a bit slower on the road, I can feel that and it is not surprising or worrying. Oddly, the ratings from the TRR web site for the Racers are about the same as the Riddlers, which is definitely not my experience!

Do others have a similar experience? Other comments?

PeterH

Sorry, no experience of Racers but I love Marathon Supremes as they are fast, extremely comfortable, and with good puncture proofing. Used them on a tourer (in 35mm configuration) on my Coast to Coast on a range of different surfaces and an outstanding tyre. So impressed by them, they’re on my other bikes as well - very good for commuting on my Kona Sutra.

[markjohnobrien]

As Uber puncture protection isn’t my top priority (I’d go for marathon plus (and have used them in the past) in that case), I’d plump for Supremes as the best on road touring tyre. And they’re very comfortable on poor surfaces.