Touring - good wet weather touring tyres

i dont want to hijack another thread so i'll ask a simular question,im riding marathon plus tyres but i have lost faith in them on wet road's.no doubt there a great tyre for puncutre protection ,but there way to heavy i had a look at the xrs but no thanks ,what im after is a tyre that grips really well on wet tarmac ,is slick, puncutre proof, capable of carrying a loaded touring bike and rider.as im new to touring the marathon plus tyres are the only touring tyres i've tryed,im now looking at these range of tyres what do you guys think.vredestein perfect touring, panaracer paselas, continental sport contact, or city contact.if there any other tyres i should look at please advise thanks.

Marathon Supremes work very well in the rain on asphalt. Way better than XR's. They're lighter too.

Marathon supreme felt sticky enough for me on my folding bike,,and I have ridden it in the rain a LOT. The other tire that felt perfectly secure on slippery roads was a Continental Sport Contact in the 26" x 1.6size on the rear.

thanks lads, the supreams look great but to wide for my liking,those contact's might be worth a look thanks

I use 37 mm marathon slicks and haven't had any problem in wet weather. And I am talking really wet.

I really like my Marathon Supremes. What size are you running?

Via the other tire thread, I ended up here: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schwalbe.asp

Peter says tread makes no difference on wet pavement, which is my opinion also, though not so if it is wet and oily. I rarely encounter oil out of the city. I think larger tires can be a disadvantage because the underlying curve can be pretty flat and more floaty. That would be ok on soft surfaces, but on water it can mean hydroplaning, or feel like it was about to happen. I have never gone down on water.

+1 Schwalbe.

I really like my Marathon Supremes. What size are you running?

folding bike had 20"x1.6" Supreme, a friends 700c Supreme is 35mm, it's got the same contact patch on the road as a 32mm Specialized Borough I've got on my LHT. On her bike I put the 35mm supreme on the front and a 35mm XR on the rear.

so did you ride them on wet roads and if you did ,what's your oponion on them.im thinking the problem with the marathon plus on wet roads is that puncture protection belt they have, you have no feed back from the road surface as you do from say road tyres like mitchlen prorace.

I don't connect lack of "feedback" with poor wet road handling as much as a hard tread is more slippery on wet roads. The Marathon Racer has great road feel but it's stickyness to the road is more a function of a supple casing than a sticky tread, the Marathon Supreme tread feels stickier AND better road comfort but that's really not from any objective A/B testing. 20yrs ago Continentals were my favorite road training tire because they lasted a long time without being slick on wet roads compared to Specialized tires available at the time,,,nowadays everyones skinny road tires seem to be much better than 20yrs ago.

I haven't used a Marathon plus but I know what you're talking about regarding a thick tread/casing making for a hard ride with an unladen bike.

I like my Paselas, but wet traction is pretty limited.

thank's for that leeg and late,god i really haven't got an idea what tyre to go for.did i say i live in ireland the land of rain.i heard the paselas are great but if they cant handle wet road's forget it.maby i should have asked for a poll on the all round perfect touring tyre.thanks all.

i'm not sure about for touring, but a good all around tire, in my opinion, is the panaracer fire xc pro. on road / off road, wet / dry, snow... so far i havent had problems with them and ive ran them for about a year on my schwinn.

In our younger days used to race on slicks FWIW. They felt fine in wet weather going around turns at 20mph. The stuff you ride over has more to do with wet traction than anything. My wife runs Schwalbe Kojaks on her LHT and had no problem in a torrential downpour while semi loaded. Of course we were "bookin' it" at 15mph! ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2697147743_1698bd21d6.jpg

I've had good luck with the XRs in wet conditions - paved and dirt/muddy roads.

What pressures are you running in the wet? Makes a big difference. Plus did it rain hard/long enough to wash the oil off the roads? Wouldn't matter what compound or tread pattern you have if oil is present or street paint for that matter.

The old Conti's Top Touring was my favorite, Top Contact replaced them.

well i've changed the marathon plus tyres,im now on conti city contact's which i find far better.mind you i did puncutre after only one week ,but it was due to hedge cutting the road was littered with freshely cut trees/hedges .but a far better tyre on wet tarmec or you guy's say asphalt.i would like to try the supreams they look great ,but i'll stick with the conti's for a while see how they preform with full camping load on.