Thought I'd finally done it

[Si]

After two years of use on a tourer and on a commuter I thought I'd finally managed to p*nct*re a Marathon Plus tyre.
All excited I was.
Ready to do battle with the inglorious grip that the bead has on the rim, and to lose skin and blood getting it off.

What a disappointment.

When I'd finally wrestled the tyre off it turned out that the valve was damaged and there was no p*nct*re.

The Marathon Plus remains undisputed heavy-weight p*nct*re resistant champion of my world.

[drossall]

Much as I like the Marathon Plus, I've punctured them several times.

And never had trouble fitting or removing them.

I must be very strange

[downfader]

Much as I like the Marathon Plus, I've punctured them several times.

And never had trouble fitting or removing them.

I must be very strange

Depends on your rims as to how easy they are to remove I'm told.

[drossall]

I use them on three completely different rim types.

[saudidave]

Much as I like the Marathon Plus, I've punctured them several times.

And never had trouble fitting or removing them.

I must be very strange

I had to remove one last week to replace a spoke - P.O.P.

[EdinburghFixed]

When I had on the Marathon Pluses I didn't find them hard to fit in the way I expected, which was that they'd be too small (i.e. a four tyre lever job!)

But, the carcass is so stiff that when I was working around the second bead it would pop the first bead back out the other side... more of a four hands job! And yes, they were the right width for the rim (700x25).

I didn't manage to flat although the rear one had become a semi-slick by the time I got it off in the spring. I can't decide whether to have them on again this year or try something different - the recumbent has got me into wide slicks now

[james01]

When I had on the Marathon Pluses I didn't find them hard to fit in the way I expected, which was that they'd be too small (i.e. a four tyre lever job!)

But, the carcass is so stiff that when I was working around the second bead it would pop the first bead back out the other side... more of a four hands job! :

The easiest method to avoid the bead unpealing as you work around the wheel is to bind it temporarily to the rim with an elastic bungee woven around the rim/spokes ( see previous threads on this topic).

[Si]

mine are on 26" rims - one was fairly easy, but the other, jeez, camels and eyes of needles come to mind.

[swansonj]

I tore the sidewall of my Panaracer Tourguard on the rear wheel last night. I repaired the inner and limped home on reduced pressure without it quite popping through the hole. But I clearly need a new tyre. Prompted by having read this thread just that day, I thought maybe I'd get a Marathon Plus. Then I looked at weights. Marathon Plus, 980 g, Panaracer Tourguard 500 g (both for 26" 1.75). I'd be the first to say weight isn't everything, but do you guys who swear by Marathons notice the extra rotating mass?

[drossall]

No, not really. Tyre pressure is probably more important.

In terms of basic physics, rotating mass only matters when you are accelerating. I remember getting back onto steel rims once, after riding alloy for some years. Having got up to speed, the bike just seemed like it wanted to keep going forever, owing to all the angular momentum.

There again, I read all these reviews in cycilng magazines about the different handling of competing bikes with some puzzlement. Bikes are different, don't get me wrong, but the level of difference they find leaves me thinking I'm on another planet.

I wouldn't ride Marathons in a race, so don't get me wrong...

[[XAP]Bob]

I'm happy with the marathons, I'm not on a lightweight frame, and am generally carrying lunch (internally or in the rack bag).
So a few hundred grams here or there are fairly insignificant.

In terms of rotation there's not alot in it really - if anything the additional weight will increase gyroscopic stability, but that's pretty much negligible anyway.

I've now done 3,000 miles + on my Marathon+s, not a single visit from the fairy. Although I did note that the "road ridge" in the middle is significantly worn!
I suppose another few tens of pounds on tyres next year some time will be a reasonable investment

[peter236uk]

I think they are the best tyres I have used I do commute quite alot and its 12 miles each way one litte rough section but the rest on the road and also I am no lightweight.
Only had a couple of puntures as I recall famous last words bound to get one now

[Flinders]

I've been using Panaracer Ribmos for the last 800 miles, and no fairy so far- and I ride a lot of country roads with spiky hedges. The person who recommended them to me had done about 8 months of 150 miles a week on similar roads without a visit from the fairy either. I don't know how they compare to the Marathon Plus tyres, though, not having used them.

[swansonj]

Well, last night I bought and fitted a Marathon Plus on my rear wheel on the strength of this thread. The Panaracer Tourguard which ripped its sidewall on Monday was new with the bike 4,000 miles ago, so I can't complain much. From memory I've had 5 or perhaps 6 visits from the p-fairy (I suppose I could count the patches as I'm pretty sure the inner tube is original too), let's say one every 750 miles. The Marathon Plus was £30 against £20, so if I get visits at the rate of more than one every 1100 miles, well, I've made a note of this thread and I'll hold you all personally responsible!

Thanks for the recommendation

John

[byegad]

Much as I like the Marathon Plus, I've punctured them several times.

And never had trouble fitting or removing them.

I must be very strange

I don't know about strange but I've punctured Marathon Pluses too. AND they were absolute so and so's to get off and back onto the rim. I also find them very slow.

Panaracer Pasela Tour guards are faster, easier to get on and off the rim and I managed over 5000 miles commuting on a pair with only one puncture and they still look like new.

On smaller wheels (20") I;ve found Big Apples to be very good puncture wise and faster than M+s by a large margin.