iforgotmename

Anyone use these tires? They look like a decent all around tire and the price is right. Looking for some feedback. Thanks.

Kojak

You know what my opinion will be, but if you have any specific questions, give me a shout.

Cheers,

gb

sauerwald

Schwalbe Marathon tires are terrible. Any serious commuter needs practice fixing flats, and these tires will just not give you the required practice. They just keep rolling for thousands of miles without ever flatting.

My commuter has a Schwalbe Marathon Plus rear tire with over 6000 miles on it. Never a flat. If I were to get a flat on my commute in, I wouldn't even know what to do. Don't leave yourself as unprotected as I am - go for an ultra lightweight tire that is easy to mount. Get plenty of practice patching tubes.

gerv 

:sarcasm:
However, there is some truth here. I've had one flat on one of the 4 Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires I had and .. guess what?... I ended up taking the bus home.

MilitantPotato

They're good tires, have just a couple downsides IMO, and one bad experience.

The Good: Durability is great, don't shred when subjected to small gravel or the occasional rock. Decent flat protection.
The Bad: Pretty aggressive tread pattern for a road use tire, larger sizes have very large gaps since the tread pattern is scaled up in larger tires.
The Bad Experience: Ordered a set, they where badly out of spec and wouldn't seat on any rim I tried, they where so over sized that they'd never seat, and would blow out when air was added. Bad items happen to every manufacturer, shame these got by quality control though.


I had two cut, one on my wife's bike (26x40C) and one on mine (700x35C) by some idiot. I noticed the puncture protection layer was molded in terribly in my wife's tire, it was very thin in places, and much thicker toward the outer edges of the tire, leaving the center with little protection. Mine was nearly uniform, but thicker in the tread pattern, and thinner in the gaps, due to being molded I'm guessing. That being said, they're good tires, I'd buy them again on sale.

I do prefer Vittoria Randonneur tires though, for a number of reasons: higher TPI, folding that's far lighter (pro version), and a much tamer tread pattern that is more suitable for road riding. They fall between the HS 368 and Marathon pro in terms of flat protection, but are a faster and smoother rolling tire than both. Granted they're heavy compared to non flat protection tires, but it's a trade off.

P.S. Kevlar is good for wider, objects like rocks, terrible for thin pieces of glass that cut through the fibers. Tires with a denser rubber compound (think Marathon Plus) are the most effective for stopping flats, again IMO. Overall tire thickness is also key, which makes for a brick of a tire though.

warriorphan

5600+ miles in 3 years, one flat - no complaints here!

jeffpoulin

I had to look up which model was the 368. Looks like the "regular" marathon. I like marathon tires a lot as I have 10 of them: 4 supremes, 2 XRs, 2 racers, and 2 winters. Never got a flat on any of them over thousands of miles. They're not the fastest tires, obviously, but they're very durable, grip well in a variety of conditions, and are comfortable to ride. Ideal for touring/commuting IMO.

My only complaint so far has been with the winters. These tires are great on ice or hard-packed snow and roll well enough on clear roads (albeit, slow). However, they're not much better than normal road tires on loose snow. When riding on loose snow of more than 5cm (2 inches), the snow cakes up around the tread and buries the studs rendering them useless. They're very squirrelly in soft ruts too. On days with fresh snow, I've reverted back to using my mountain bike with unstudded knobbies, which perform better in loose stuff. So these aren't "do everything" winter tires but they're fine for about 95% of my winter riding when the roads are clear or hard-packed.

As for the product line, Schwalbe currently has 11 different tires named Marathon something or other. Plus there are a few discontinued models that used the Marathon name too. They're good tires, but the product names are pretty confusing.

Schwinnsta

I have them on my R20 and I like them and would recommend them. They are 20"x 1.75" plain 368. I think they are a good value for a street tire.

rumrunn6

I haven't ridden on those but I have Marathon Winter studded snow tires for the winter and feel that even at MAX pressure they are too wide and slow for clear dry roads. For the rest of the year, I prefer Specialized Armadillos All Condition tires (the smooth ones) sized 700x28c. Nice high pressure tire and with some flat protection.

I-Like-To-Bike

I've been using the "regular" (not Supreme) Schwalbe Marathons 622 X 47mm as well as 622 x 37mm in their previous designations HS 308 and HS270 for the past 12+ years for daily commuting and in over 55,000 miles have not had any flat tires that required a road side fix; only a few slow leakers that could be patched at either work or at home. They ride great and also last for years.

iforgotmename

Thanks for the replies, I use nimbus armadillo tires for everything but winter. My wife needs new tires for her comfort bike which will be my old tires. I am such a good man. She rarely rides and the tires are still in nice condition. I have marathon winters and really like the ride but agree that anything over 2" of snow is a challange. The marathons seem comparable to the armadillos but with a little higher psi in my size. Thanks again.

dcrowell

I have a set of those tires on my recumbent. No flats yet after a few thousand miles. I put some Continental Touring Plus tires on my crappy old hybrid, and had two flats in one week... but both were large screws that would have flatted any tire.

If money is not an object get a high-end Schwalbe. If it is, then look consider the Schwalbe Marathon, Continental Touring Plus, or even Continental Contact. I've also heard really good things about the Travel Contact.

I really like the fact that Schwalbe has a website where I can browse the tires and see what sizes they are available in. The Continental site leaves a lot to be desired.

Edit:
My Schwalbe Marathons are the 26x1.75 and 20x1.75 mounted on my long-wheelbase recumbent. That bike was my main ride for about a year.

My commute is over rough pavement, railroad tracks, and bridge expansion joints. I've ridden the bike at a Florida beach (wet sand worked, dry sand was hopeless). I've ridden on gravel roads here in Indiana.

Yes, the tires have some tread. The surface of the tire is very rounded with the tread covering the whole surface up to the sidewall. I found the rounded shape to be excellent for cornering. It feels much more stable when leaning to into a high-speed turn on a descent.

They are not the fastest tire in existence, but unless speed is your primary motivator, then who cares.

martianone

have been utilizing the various editions of the regular schwalbe marathons since shortly after they introduced them about 20 years ago. every couple years I get curious about another brand or someone has written up a nice review of that brand - so I go get it & then in a few months get buyer's remorse. Go back to the marathons as they are a good balance of features and reliability.