Get the Marathon Plus or save some money and get the very similar Michelin Protek Cross Max I suggested in the earlier thread. Both have essentially the same heavy duty chevron pattern tread and 5mm puncture shields. Schwalbe's puncture shield is solid made from recycled materials. Michelin uses a woven fabric Aramid puncture shield, very similar to Kevlar.

I know the Michelins after riding 'em for more than two years. They're tough, durable, darned near bulletproof yet ride remarkably smoothly and don't feel sluggish. They're stable, secure and grippy on every road surface and weather condition I've encountered -- which includes light snow but not ice.

Yup, it matters.

It's a popular assertion among some but not all cyclists. Depends on their experiences with different types of bikes and tires. Ask folks who ride only skinny tire road bikes, you'll hear one extreme in opinion. Ask folks who ride mostly hybrids with treaded tires, you'll hear another. Ask folks who ride a variety of bikes and tire types and we'll shrug and say "It depends."

With skinny high inflation road bike tires I doubt tread matters much. Some road tires offer a bit of tread that's mostly cosmetic and wears down quickly so you end up with slicks anyway. Some Continental road tires have what appears to be "tread" along the shoulders. It looks like an arrow shaped direction indicator to assist with mounting the tires, although I doubt mounting direction is critical anyway.

The contact patch is tiny and more than good enough for dry, clean pavement. Hit a patch of loose sandy gravel or a wet spot and all bets are off. It's pretty much all or none with skinny road tires, not a whole lot of warning that something's about to break loose on a fast turn.

And skinny road tires will skid readily on hard braking. Tread pattern doesn't seem to matter. I've run Vittoria Zaffiros with nominal tread on the contact patch, Schwalbe One V-Guard slicks and Continental Ultra Sport 2 (essentially slicks with that useless arrow pattern "tread" on the shoulders). All feel identical in hard braking -- they skid predictably in a straight line. It's only a bit disconcerting at first.

Huge difference with my hybrid tires with chevron tread on one bike (the Michelin Protek Cross Max) and file tread on the other (Continental Speed Ride). Those tires grip well on all kinds of surfaces in all kinds of conditions. It's harder to make them skid on hard braking. When they do slide on turns with loose sandy gravel on pavement, it's predictable. I've skidded sideways several times on rural roads on curves and haven't lost control yet -- knock wood, etc. Maintenance crews don't always mark their recent work so it's a constant issue, looking for new road hazards.

But there are trade offs with wider tires with pronounced tread on the shoulders. They can feel squirmy on fast curves and sharp cornering, typical of making fast turns at intersections. Skinny, slick road bike tires respond predictably whether riding straight or leaning into curves -- as long as the pavement is clean and dry.

So... it depends.

Not really comparable. In some surprising situations no tread is preferable. Hikers who climb wet rocks, especially covered with slippery algae or moss, often prefer shoes with felt or similar soles and little or no tread pattern. Some will carry those specialty shoes for wet rocks and mostly wear other hiking shoes/boots with more pronounced tread. Those specialty zero-tread wet rock shoes don't last long.

I've owned a lot of hiking shoes and boots and never cared for the heavily lugged classic Vibram type soles. They look great on paper and in the store. On actual hikes they're a mess. Gravel gets trapped in the tread. Mud clogs it up and suddenly your boots weigh twice as much. There are only a few types of terrain where heavily lugged soles are optimal.

I preferred my old Herman Survivors with dimpled or pebbly type soles. They've been fine on everything I've encountered, including ice. They don't grip on ice, but they're very predictable. No squirming or erratic feel that can lead to slipping. Just scuffle along with the body directly over the shoes, the penguin walk, and it's fine, like scuffling in sock feet across a wood or linoleum floor. And they don't trap gravel or clog up with mud.

Next best were my Montrail low top hiking shoes with lightly lugged tread and very soft soles. I've worn those things out over almost 15 years. The outer sole is gone under the ball of the foot. It's just down to the articulated sole support. And they're still good on slick wet and icy pavement, light snow cover on the ground, etc.

Might be different if feet moved like tires but they don't.