I have 3000 miles on a pair of standard Marathons and they look like they'll go another 2000 easy. I also have a brand new pair of Marathon Pluses waiting in the wings (biketiresdirect had a sale I couldn't pass on). I did not notice a weight difference, but now I'm curious. The standard Marathons are 26 x 2 and the Pluses are 26 x 1.75, so I'm hoping there isn't a big difference in weight. But whatever the weight, I doubt I'll notice it much. My bike (Hard Rock MTB) has never been light. For the first ten years I owned it I always rode it with the off-road tires, even on tour. Marathons are a huge improvement over that.

Biketiresdirect has Schwalbes on sale until Aug 17 - 15% off.