Originally Posted by
robow
That's a first. Never heard of Marathon Plusses described with adjectives of "supple and fast". You do often hear bullet proof, bomb proof, can be used as a boat anchor when worn out, if in fact you can ever really wear one out.
It's a truly horrid tire when riding unloaded, but fully loaded it's awesome. But I am a heavy set guy so for me it's naturally more comfortable than for someone half my weight.
go with what you are comfortable with, but really, have you ever damaged a road tire like you say? But I hear what you are saying, you can comfortably go down any road without worries, so what the heck, have fun and dont worry.
And yes, the supple and fast comment is a bit odd, but hey, you are getting out there going on a trip, so who cares.
Enjoy
I've cut up road tires pretty badly on our local gravel roads when ridin unloaded. One to a point that it was destroyed by the cuts.
I can't imagine the damage I might do when fully loaded and riding gravel. Then again some of our roads can actually destroy a wheel in 50 yards if ridden quickly enough. Not even holes, but this wave kind of surface.