Originally Posted by
contango
I've been using a Marathon Extreme as my rear tyre for a while now (it replaced a Marathon Plus that was badly worn), and a Marathon Plus on the front.
I didn't notice any speed penalty on the road compared to the Marathon Plus - I suspect the more aggressive tread pattern was offset by the much lighter weight - IIRC the Extreme is about 4-500g lighter than the Plus.
I think the low rolling resistance rubber is probably a more important factor - tyre weight shouldn't really influence speed.
On the road they do hum quite nicely. Personally I find over about 20mph the wind noise in my ears drowns the tyre noise but it can be fun to turn my head slightly just to hear the drone. I've taken them over 30mph a few times and wouldn't say they scream at all, the noise is louder but then so is the wind noise.
Thank you - I was just wondering about this. I'm incredibly un-noticing of anything except road/trail and traffic when I ride. I had no idea that my Muds made road noise until someone else pointed out that on the gravel we were riding my bike sounded like a Panzer column. I don't even notice canti squeal until I start to think about tuning my brakes. I'll listen for noise on my ride tonight.
You're on an MTB - how do you find the suspension effect of the tyres? Do you share my impression that you get a bit more of it than you'd expect from a 40mm? Although I suppose this might be hard to judge if you have a suspension fork, which you probably do.