Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

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Vetus Ossa
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Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Vetus Ossa »

I have been using 27.5 x 1.5 Schwalbe Marathon tyres on my ebike for the last 18 months without any problem what so ever.
My bike is VERY heavy and a rear wheel puncture away from home would be a real nightmare to repair and not something I would like to tackle. Its bad enough changing the tyre home as the tyre is so tight on the rim.
I am considering buying a Marathon Plus for the rear wheel at least.
Does anyone think this would be worth doing, and do they offer much better protection than the ordinary Marathon’s
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gaz
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by gaz »

IMO Marathon Plus are more puncture resistant than the standard Marathon. IMO M+ are tougher to get on. I can't quantify either. I don't keep a puncture/mileage log, even if I did the commuter repeatedly faces glass strewn paths, the tourer not so much.

M+ are heavier and the ride is perhaps harsher. I have to say perhaps as I use M and M+ in different widths and on different bikes, other factors will be playing their part.
Psamathe
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Psamathe »

I switched from Marathon GreenGuard (which I assume may be just "Marathon") to Marathon Plus. Some had been saying how much heavier they were and how that affected the ride but I didn't notice any difference riding them.

I think a lot of the "difficulty fitting" depends on the wheels as I don't have much experience but mine come off and on again with no trouble.

I can't comment on their puncture resistance because so much must depend of the exposure to potential punctures in relation to the number you actually get e.g. ride for 6 months and encounter 1000 thorns and get 3 punctures vs ride for 6 months and encounter 100 thorns and get 1 puncture - the one puncture might sound better but it's actually worse but you'd never know as you have no idea how many thorns you've encountered and the tyres have protected you from.

One thing I have found with thorn punctures with the Marathon Plus is that when you get a thorn in that causes a puncture it can be really difficult to remove the thorn and I've ended-up having to replace a tyre as a thorn broke and a bit remained embedded in the tyre.

I don't have much experience with different tyres so can't really advise but, in the absence of contrary opinions from those with more knowledge and experience and if you really don't want to be fixing a puncture on the roadside, what about Marathon Plus and one of those small canister things that inflate the tyre and put in sealant gunge as well http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-pit-stop-tyre-sealant/ (available from many different retailers).

Ian
Brucey
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Brucey »

when you say your bike is 'very heavy', what do you mean by this, exactly? Even if so, could there not be some means of alleviating the difficulty of the wheel removal/temporary puncture fix routine?

M+ is more puncture resistant than M, but it is also, heavier, more expensive, harder to fit, slower rolling, less comfy etc than M.

cheers
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mig
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by mig »

i was given an M+ a few years ago in 28c and fitted it to the rear of a fixed commuter for a full winter's use of some 4000 ish miles. it came off in the spring with barely a mark on it and zero visits.
too stodgy a ride for me on a fairly light set up but might be ideal on the heavy bike you describe.
i think that there are a few other manufacturers with the same sort of tyre in their ranges too - continental tour plus IIRC for one.
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Chris Jeggo
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Chris Jeggo »

On the Schwalbe website you can compare their tyres using their 'blobs out of six' ratings for Rolling, Road Grip, Off-Road Grip, Protection and Service life.
sjs
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by sjs »

gaz wrote:IMO Marathon Plus are more puncture resistant than the standard Marathon. IMO M+ are tougher to get on. I can't quantify either. I don't keep a puncture/mileage log, even if I did the commuter repeatedly faces glass strewn paths, the tourer not so much.

M+ are heavier and the ride is perhaps harsher. I have to say perhaps as I use M and M+ in different widths and on different bikes, other factors will be playing their part.


Almost all of my punctures happen on the mile or two of bridle path I use on my commute, which, although resurfaced years ago with a specific aim to make it cycle-friendly, is made largely of small flints and thorns. On my Tour de Fer (40mm Voyager Hypers) I get a puncture most days (literally) if the path is damp. On 28mm Pro 4 Endurances (different bike), perhaps one a week. On the 28mm Marathon Pluses I bought for winter use having become fed up with all the punctures, none so far, after perhaps 50 two-way trips. As reported by most other people, they are heavy, hard to fit on my rims, and are much harder work to ride on road than my other tyres.
pwa
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by pwa »

There must come a point where one must ask, if a certain bit of track demands the use of a tyre so puncture proof that it is unpleasant to use, whether that track is suitable for cycling. What tyres are we willing to put up with to continue using tracks that are unsuitable due to debris?

I say this as someone who never has to make that choice, as I don't use any particularly puncture causing surfaces. If I get two punctures a year, that is normal. More than that is a bad year.
sjs
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by sjs »

pwa wrote:There must come a point where one must ask, if a certain bit of track demands the use of a tyre so puncture proof that it is unpleasant to use, whether that track is suitable for cycling. What tyres are we willing to put up with to continue using tracks that are unsuitable due to debris?

I say this as someone who never has to make that choice, as I don't use any particularly puncture causing surfaces. If I get two punctures a year, that is normal. More than that is a bad year.


You're right. I use my track because it makes a pleasant rural start/end to an otherwise urban and traffic-heavy commute. But there are alternatives, which sometimes win in particularly wet weather. The Pluses are on separate wheels, so easy to swap if that's what I decide to do.
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Si
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Si »

I've been using M+ for years 26x1.5ish riding litter and glass strewn cycle paths and tracks, and pothole covered roads.
My experience is that they cut down on p*nct*res for three years but then I start to get a number of p*nct*res....mostly from bits of glass than embed in the tread and then, over time, slowly work their way through the protection strip.
They are harder to get on than many other tyres but are manageable, especially if you rely on good technique rather than brute force - I think that Colin 54 has a good video on this (there again I also run marathons on a brommie, and M-Winters on the tourer so the normal M+ don't seem too bad).
Probably a smidge slower than some other tyres but I can't say that the difference is that noticeable - I'm not interested in breaking strava records, I just want to get where I'm going with the minimum of fuss.
Comfort-wise, I run them on a comfortable tourer and they feel fine....I've done day rides on them with no issues...certainly better than the high pressure 23mm tyres on my 'racer'.
Grip-wise, they are a little less grippy than some in the wet, but, again, if you are not pushing the envelope on every corner you'll be fine....they certainly have more grip in the wet than your average knobbly MTB tyre and 1000s of people seem to manage with them!
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Thank you all for your comments.
I think I will give the plus a try and see how it goes, though if they are harder to fit than green guards’ fun times are ahead for me. I use Colin’s excellent method to fit my green guards but they are still very difficult to fit, and my thumbs usually ache for a couple of days after.
You ask Brucey what I mean by it’s a heavy bike, that’s a fair question as I didn’t really say why this was a problem for me.
When I was able to ride my road bikes and a back tyre flatted I would just lift the back of the bike up, drop out the wheel and mend/replace the inner tube.
There is no way I can lift my 25+kg bike to do that as its too heavy for me and I run disc brakes so I have to turn the bike upside down to do so.
Most of my riding is on cycle tracks and probably 25% road, and the Marathons have not let me down in the 18 months I have been using them, and I am very confident it the way they handle.
I was hoping the Plus would be similar but with just a little more p******e protection but it looks as though it will be a harsher ride, I hope I can live with that.
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bikes4two
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by bikes4two »

Whether M or M+, it's pretty likely that a puncture will happen sometime. I've not used the M but did use the M+ which were horribly tight on my wheels and as such I genuinely feared getting a road-side puncture and NOT being either get the tyre off in the first instance or not being able to get it back on again without levers and the risk of pinching/puncturing the tube in doing so.

This fear was hightened at the prospect of a puncture on a cold, wet, winter's day

My solution to this was to give away 2 pairs of M+ and fitted something else, not with the same puncture resistance but something I could actually change on the side of the road and not get hypothermia.
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gaz
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by gaz »

Vetus Ossa wrote:... if they are harder to fit than green guards’ fun times are ahead for me. I use Colin’s excellent method ...

Get one of these, combine with Colin's method and all should be well.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Vetus Ossa »

gaz wrote:
Vetus Ossa wrote:... if they are harder to fit than green guards’ fun times are ahead for me. I use Colin’s excellent method ...

Get one of these, combine with Colin's method and all should be well.


Haha, I have one of those and I don’t think I could fit a marathon without it. Still I pig to fit though.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

Post by Vetus Ossa »

bikes4two wrote:Whether M or M+, it's pretty likely that a puncture will happen sometime. I've not used the M but did use the M+ which were horribly tight on my wheels and as such I genuinely feared getting a road-side puncture and NOT being either get the tyre off in the first instance or not being able to get it back on again without levers and the risk of pinching/puncturing the tube in doing so.

This fear was hightened at the prospect of a puncture on a cold, wet, winter's day

My solution to this was to give away 2 pairs of M+ and fitted something else, not with the same puncture resistance but something I could actually change on the side of the road and not get hypothermia.


Hmmm, and what did you use then?
Beauty will save the world.
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