Touring - Which Schwalbe?

Which Schwalbe tire would you use for a tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Conditions will be mostly on road and bike paths, with the occasional gravel path and bike trail.

i have marathons on my trek 520 and they ride really nice ... i have marathon plus on my 26" wheeled thorn nomad and they are a little heavier but ride nice too ...

Only Marathon Plus for me for evermore!

Marathon Slicks, not sure which one that relates to on your list.

Big Apple. They turned the sows ear ride of my beater into a silk purse.

The slicks (Racer) will take the OCCASIONAL gravel path and bike trail OK. If you have more of that, I'd go with Marathon or Marathon Plus. XR would probably be an overkill in Benelux.

--J

I agree, though in my case "occasional" was a 40 mile uphill on a sand rail trail. Not perfect, but I wouldn't have traided the tires given the ride improvement on the rest of the tour. My Marathon Slick tires are 37mm and marked "On Tour", whatever that is supposed to mean!

+1 for the marathon plus--I have the XR's and they are heavy and slooooow riding.

I didn't add the Marathon slick to the mix because I assumed (wrongly, apparently) that it isn't very puncture resistant. I can always buy another set of tires, but these tires are to go on a bike that my wife will use for a three-week tour, and then afterwards as a commuter. I'm leaning towards something as lightweight and smooth riding as I can get away with without having to worry about punctures throughout our tour.

I was talking to the Schwalbe tire designer (yes there is such a person) , he just happend to be at the bike shop where I was picking up one racer and two regular Marathons. He was saying that they have a new marathon in Europe not yet available in NA. This new tire has more wet weather hold than the others. I would think that the new rubber may be just the thing, as I find this is the weakness in the whole Marathon line, they tend to be slippery when wet. They are all good long lasting tires.

I used the regular Marathons (28mm) for Florida to Texas and Marathon Plus (32mm) from Texas to Belize. One flat with the regular and zero flats with the Plus and I went on some real crumby roads in Mexico. The Plus were really difficult to get on my rims so I was a bit scared to be stuck with a flat while riding sola in Mexico, but they appear to be "bomb proof".

The Ultra, when it becomes available. ;)

The Ultra, when it becomes available. ;)

Is this the tire that teamcompi was talking about (above) that's already released in Europe?

Is this the tire that teamcompi was talking about (above) that's already released in Europe?

I would imagine so...info on the tire has been available on their website for a month or so...supposedly to become available this month.

I would imagine so...info on the tire has been available on their website for a month or so...supposedly to become available this month.

Are we talking about the Marathon Supreme? That's one sweet tire. And not too heavy, either...

Big Apple. They turned the sows ear ride of my beater into a silk purse.

What pressure do you run those at?

40 pounds. I know it's sounds low but it doesn't seem to affect speed. If you inflate them to the maximum pressure as stated on the sidewall they will ride like rocks as with any tire. When fully loaded you'll have to add more air. Just enough to not quite eliminate bulging.

Marathon XR's rode my entire 4300 mile route without a puncture this summer, and that covered everything from rough off road to the smoothest tar. Go ahead and buy a set you'll not regret it.

40 pounds. I know it's sounds low but it doesn't seem to affect speed. If you inflate them to the maximum pressure as stated on the sidewall they will ride like rocks as with any tire. When fully loaded you'll have to add more air. Just enough to not quite eliminate bulging.

Excellent. Mine came last night, looking forward to getting them on the bike.