Schwalbe Marathon Vs Marathon Plus tyres.

[Psamathe]

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?

As I said before my M+s come off and on without problems (and I’m no expert).

Ian

[Vetus Ossa]

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?

As I said before my M+s come off and on without problems (and I’m no expert).

Ian

I didn’t have too much trouble removing my marathon, fitting it was a different kettle of fish.
I guess rims vary a bit.

[Brucey]

could you change the wheel with the bike on its side? Is much of the weight luggage? If so could that be removed in the event of a puncture?

No tyre is completely puncture proof; it is as well to have a workable contingency plan.

cheers

[Vetus Ossa]

Yes, I do take the point that no tyre is completely puncture proof, and sooner or later it will happen.
So do I fit (probably) the most puncture proof tyre out there, the marathon plus which is difficult to fit, especially on the trail, or a less puncture proof tyre that is easier to fit, and if so, which one?

[Mike the bike57]

I have used the Marathon tyre for four years and I have been very impressed as I have had no punctures in this time. They are very easy to fit. In the last two weeks I have purchased a new bicycle and I got a puncture within ten days. I decided to use Marathon+ and found this tyre much more difficult to fit. It is no problem as the tyres are on the wheels. I hope these are as good as my old tyres for reliabilit.

[colin54]

I think that Colin 54 has a good video on this

531colin made the video, not me, I've made use of the method shown
a few times though and it works well, it's worth practicing at home before you use it 'in anger'
out on the road.I used to use levers, brute strength and plenty of ignorance before, thank you Colin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

[Brucey]

Yes, I do take the point that no tyre is completely puncture proof, and sooner or later it will happen.
So do I fit (probably) the most puncture proof tyre out there, the marathon plus which is difficult to fit, especially on the trail, or a less puncture proof tyre that is easier to fit, and if so, which one?

Part of your choice is determined by your abilities to get tyres on and off (not everyone has strong hands) and partly by the rims you have, i.e. how tight tyres are on those rims.

Some rims make getting tyres on and off ridiculously easy; for example mavic open pro (now open pro C) are usually a very easy fit and some older rims with deep centre well (such as Super Champion mod 58 etc) are also pretty easy to get tyres on and off. Plenty of tyre fitments on these rims can be removed without using tyre levers. The downside of this kind of fit is that the tyre may come off the rim (before you bring the bike to a halt) in the event of a blowout and this may cause an accident.

By contrast some rims are made oversize and some have intentionally shallow rim wells. Most tubeless compatible rims make getting tyres on and off unnecessarily difficult IME but problems are not confined to those alone.

FWIW the combination of M+ tyres and many modern rims makes fitting/removing the tyres especially difficult for one simple reason; the rim well is usually curved (rather than square sided) and the tyre is springy, so the bead pushes itself out of the rim well unless it is (literally) strapped down. You can instead keep the bead in the rim well simply by applying constant tension to the bead, but this is difficult and a moment's inattention will see the bead pop out of the rim well again.

cheers

[Vetus Ossa]

Yes, I do take the point that no tyre is completely puncture proof, and sooner or later it will happen.
So do I fit (probably) the most puncture proof tyre out there, the marathon plus which is difficult to fit, especially on the trail, or a less puncture proof tyre that is easier to fit, and if so, which one?

Part of your choice is determined by your abilities to get tyres on and off (not everyone has strong hands) and partly by the rims you have, i.e. how tight tyres are on those rims.

Some rims make getting tyres on and off ridiculously easy; for example mavic open pro (now open pro C) are usually a very easy fit and some older rims with deep centre well (such as Super Champion mod 58 etc) are also pretty easy to get tyres on and off. Plenty of tyre fitments on these rims can be removed without using tyre levers. The downside of this kind of fit is that the tyre may come off the rim (before you bring the bike to a halt) in the event of a blowout and this may cause an accident.

By contrast some rims are made oversize and some have intentionally shallow rim wells. Most tubeless compatible rims make getting tyres on and off unnecessarily difficult IME but problems are not confined to those alone.

FWIW the combination of M+ tyres and many modern rims makes fitting/removing the tyres especially difficult for one simple reason; the rim well is usually curved (rather than square sided) and the tyre is springy, so the bead pushes itself out of the rim well unless it is (literally) strapped down. You can instead keep the bead in the rim well simply by applying constant tension to the bead, but this is difficult and a moment's inattention will see the bead pop out of the rim well again.

cheers

For several years I like to use Veloflex Pave tyres and they were extremely difficult to fit on my open pro rims. The first time I fitted one I honestly thought it was the wrong size and would never go on but after much thumb torture it did. After that I used to warm them up, either by leaving in the sun for several hours before attempting to fit or on a radiator in winter. They were always troublesome to fit but after being on the rim for a while subsequent on and offs were easier.
Anyway back on topic, I eventually decided to fit a marathon MTB tyre to the rear. It went on easier than the marathon it replaced but was still not exactly easy to fit, though I didn’t have to use any straps , and only had to use a tyre lever to pop the last little bit on.
I think that’s as good as its going to get for me and am reasonably happy that I will be able to take the tyre off in the event of the unmentionable, though I will probably try the pit stop I also now carry first.
As you mentioned my rims are tubeless ready so mounting a tyre is always going to be difficult.
BTW I am very happy with the way the marathon mtb tyre rides, being its on an ebike, in all honestly it rolls as well as any other tyre I have tried on it.

[landsurfer]

Think Marathons are over rated and over priced.
Earlier this year i switched to Vittoria Adventure tyres.
A LEJOG and an additional 800 miles later not a puncture, and they can be had from Decathlon for silly money ... Currently £12.99 each..
Top Kit ..

[reohn2]

Think Marathons are over rated and over priced.
Earlier this year i switched to Vittoria Adventure tyres.
A LEJOG and an additional 800 miles later not a puncture, and they can be had from Decathlon for silly money ... Currently £12.99 each..
Top Kit ..

Cheaper still from Planet X @ £10

[Vetus Ossa]

Think Marathons are over rated and over priced.
Earlier this year i switched to Vittoria Adventure tyres.
A LEJOG and an additional 800 miles later not a puncture, and they can be had from Decathlon for silly money ... Currently £12.99 each..
Top Kit ..

Cheaper still from Planet X @ £10

That's great unless your looking for a 27.5.

[landsurfer]

Vittoria have a great range of 27.5 / 650B tyres ....at sensible prices .... with puncture protection.

[Greenbuilder]

I fitted Marathon Plus 29er tyres to my wife's ebike...they've been excellent and much better than std Marathons. After getting a flat from blackthorn following the hedge cutter, I put about 50ml 'Stans' fluid in the schraeder tubes; to date, no punctures after daily use on poor Cornish lanes.
I've run my own mtb ebike tubeless for ages on 27.5 x 2.35 Specialised Grid tyres (heavy duty downhill grade).
If you are ever in the Calstock area, pop in and I can convert your wheels to tubeless; you'll never go back to tubes.

[Vetus Ossa]

I fitted Marathon Plus 29er tyres to my wife's ebike...they've been excellent and much better than std Marathons. After getting a flat from blackthorn following the hedge cutter, I put about 50ml 'Stans' fluid in the schraeder tubes; to date, no punctures after daily use on poor Cornish lanes.
I've run my own mtb ebike tubeless for ages on 27.5 x 2.35 Specialised Grid tyres (heavy duty downhill grade).
If you are ever in the Calstock area, pop in and I can convert your wheels to tubeless; you'll never go back to tubes.

Well thank you for that, I may just take you up on that one day. Calstock is not a million miles away from me