JOHN J

good morning everyone.

hope you all had a nice commute today.

I have some new wheels comming for my cross check so I can put my 105 wheels back on my old road frame.

the new wheels are velocity dyads with a 40 h rear and 36 front.

Im wondering if I should go with 32 or 35 tires ???

I put 35s on my road bike rims originally for the cross check but at the moment I have a 35 rear and 32 front cuz I lost a tire and none of the LBS had 35 in stock so I put a 32 up front.

I weigh 240 and the cross check is a full Dresser, rack ,fenders ... one of the Mechs at one LBS I deal with is my size and he says he will ride nothing bigger than a 28.

also It seems the schwalbe tires are a popular choice

the Marathon plus is tempting

whats the general opinion

marathon plus or marathon with tuffy strips my main concern is glass as the two flats I had this summer glass was the culprit.

now if I go with marathon tires will a 32 be as wide as say a 35 in another brand??


many thanks

happy spinning.

"John"

PaulH

I'd go with the Marathon Plus. Going from Vredstein Trigger to Marathon Plus caused my flat rate to drop from ten times a year to zero in two years (so far).

The Marathon Plus has a very narrow tread relative to other tires of its width. I don't think there would be any difference between the ride on 32s or 35s. Pick the width you like.I use 40s -- they work well through potholes, across grates, and so on.

Paul

dobber

I'm using the Marathon Trekking tire on my fixed Cross-Check. Really nice, stout tire, but a pig to get rolling.

They tend to run a bit narrower than advertised, the 32's I'm running are about the same size as my Conti 28's, give or take.

For the price Nashbars got, minus another 10%, I'll probably grab a couple more.

HiYoSilver

There's a new marathon plus in 700x40
https://www.schwalbetires.com/on_tour..._plus_atb.gif#

Or for a smoother ride with less flat protection there's the
https://www.schwalbetires.com/on_tour...thon_slick.jpg

For maximum, there is also this possibility
https://www.schwalbetires.com/on_tour...arathon_xr.gif

So there are 6 marathons. [ maybe they are trying to copy specialized with "armadillo" referring to multiple tires with different characteristics but all build up the common name? ]

marathon
marathon slick
marathon plus
marathon plus ATB
marathon XR
marathon cross

A few months ago they only had 3 marathons. Wait til next year, there may be 12. ;-)

I wish they would do a better job describting the differences. I'm current running a mismatch of marathon on back and marathon slick on front. No compliants so far with a total gross weight of 260. But it's only been about 3 months. I would not recommend such a mismatch. Either go with regular marathons on both or slicks or ?? on both tires. I was going to get the plus but another rider suggested dropping down to the regular marathons for the advantage of the lighter weight and almost the same flat protection. A short while back schwalbe was talking about a new armid belt layer. I don't see on site now. They mentioned the thickness of the tire matched with the kelver belt was designed to absorb, i.e., retain glass fragments, etc. The new was designed to deflect glass, etc. Maybe there were some issues. It was only available in 2 sizes.

I don't know if you need x40 sizes. I'm running x30 on front and x35 on rear. But there is not much weight difference.

Let us know how it works for you.

ahpook

i'm on 700x28 marathon plus and they are a nice thick tire, with excellent flat protection. on my very glassy route i used to flat out twice a week and i haven't had one puncture flat since i put on the marathons. I just check them out in bright light every few days and use a screwdriver to dig out the shards of glass I've picked up.

HOWEVER, that said, if I had to do it over I would probably have just got the Marathon (non-plus) because of the weight and added rolling resistance. The difference is very noticable and if they deflate even slightly from the rated 100PSI it's like rolling through molasses.

Counter to what other posters have said, to me they seem to ride 'wider' than the rating, because the thickness of the tread seems to cause it to flatten out at the contact patch rather than being 'pointy' like my non-reinforced tires.

HiYoSilver

Additional info:

I have 300 miles on my marathons without a flat on either the slicks or regular. I didn't want to put a slick on the rear and figured if I had a flat, I would rather have it on the front as it's easier to fix.

Secondly, weight should not be much concern. Rolling resistance may well be a factor. Remember the extra weight only counts a bit on acceleration. Once up to speed, it doesn't matter if weight is in the tire or the rider. A pound is a pound. Unfortunately there is no national standard for bike tires with codes for: wearability, rolling resistance, flat protection, and maximum load. In at least one details IHPV article comparing tires, rolling resistance variances were not a signficant factor. The study was slanted towards bent size tires, but if extrapolate to road tires and commuting I don't think it is significant. I decided to accept the higher weight of the marathons and a small weight disadvantage for the major advantage of not stopping regularly to fix a flat.
I've reduced weight of the engine and improved it's horsepower, so I am faster now on the marathons than I was on the lighter weight michelins. Your mileage may vary naturally.

jnbacon

I've been rolling the 700x32 Marathons for 1200 miles now on my cross-check. Glass has not been an issue. The problems I've run into are pieces of radial tire wire sneaking into the treads and a large, sharp screw. But I've rolled through lots of glass, and not had a blowout, and only two otherwise. Would a Marathon Plus have stopped it? I dunno.

gazelle

I am running 700x35 Marathons on my Cannondale 2500+ miles no flats and I deserved a few.

CBBaron

I have used both Marathons and Marathon slicks and a friend of mine uses Marathon Plus. The Marathon slicks are definately faster and lighter than the others and offer better puncture protection than nearly any other slick. The Marathons are a little heavier and slower and even tougher with a modest inverted tread pattern. The Marathon Plus is a very heavy tire and is 2-3+ MPH slower than the Marathon Slick but looks like it could handle anything. I'd probably go with the Slicks and liners if your really paranoid. I put nearly 5000 miles through mostly poor neighborhoods of Cleveland on my commute with only one flat on the Slicks.
Craig

I-Like-To-Bike

I've been commuting for eight years on Marathons 622 x 47 (700 X47); both in Germany and the US. I average about 5000 miles a year and have never had a flat with the Marathons that had to be repaired on the road. A few developed slow leaks while at work or at home but my (non-plus) Marathons have been as dependable as can be; last a long time too.