700x28, riding around town, no heavy loads. I won't mind a heavy tire.

Do you mean a tire with the most flat protection, or maybe just the most total miles until the tread is gone? One from the Schwalbe Marathon family of tires is probably your best answer for both issues, but the most comfortable for riding long distances is probably something else.

Conceivably, one could wear off 1" if a solid tire.

The latter.
I can't ride long distances anymore.
I should have specified a pneumatic tire. Or has the technology of solid tires made them more reasonable - I can't imagine.

Another vote for Schwalbe Marathon. The one pair I bought lasted forever. The only problem was I didn't like them.

I am curious. If you don't ride long distances anymore, why is durability important to you? I also don't ride as much as I once did and my tires start to suffer from drying out and cracking long before they wear out. I would rather ride smooth rolling supple tires for my use. Puncture resistance I can understand, but I don't wear tires out anymore

Back when Specialized Armadillo tires lacked additional modifiers, I rode one on the rear for about 7,000 miles.

Wore like iron. Also rode like iron.

I was a bit relieved when I finally replaced it.

People in the PNW buy 80K mile rated tires for their cars. What they are buying is tires that are hard as rocks, do poorly in our wet weather, and don't handle well. But they last 80K miles.
I had Bontrager Satellite tires, wore like iron, rode like stones. Vittoria Randonneur tires, nearly impossible to mount, wore like iron, rode like stones. Schwalbe Marathon 32 mm. Wear like iron, better than stones. Schwalbe Marathon Plus 38 mm. Rode pretty darned well ( I am heavy at 210 pounds) and wore well. If you can move from your 28mm to a bigger tire, at least to 32mm, your comfort will improve a good amount without giving up wear. My non load carrying bikes have 32-35 mm tires, the touring rig 37mm tires.

Look at the Schwalbe web site, I think they have ratings on wet road traction on their tires. Not a huge factor but worth a look

Another vote into the Schwalbe Marathon echo chamber. Lasts long, good flat protection and rides well.
There's a few different flavors of Marathon to choose from so just read up and pick your favorite, if that's the route you decide on.

I bought a couple of Bell brand 700 x 38 tires on line recently. They turned out to be rated for e-bikes and mopeds.

Hilariously heavy, even with Kevlar beads. I replaced a Michelin Protec tire with one. Though the belted Protec tire is far from light in weight, the Bell tire feels as though it weighs twice as much.

So if there's a similar Bell tire in the width you need, and you prize durability over all other considerations, that should do the job.

Why not?

I'm down to my last 2 tires; I keep in-stock so I don't have to walk to the LBS to get a replacement. My most recent failure was a blowout. It annoyed me. I may not buy the longest-lasting; I'll include it in my consideration. Difficulty of mounting/dismounting also matters.

! In Montreal? Has it a lot of ozone? I've lived in the desert the last 40 years, don't get this.

I drive about 200 miles annually; my last tires failed from age, not tread-wear. They'll be my last. I may outlive my next set of bicycle tires.

I live in the desert, so not an issue. I read about Hunter Thompson and ether: sounds dangerous for bicycle riding.

The Bell stuff I've bought has always been something else relabeled. I don't know that weight always correlates with life: soft materials abrade off quickly.

I used to ride Schwalbe Marathons or Marathon Plus tires. They are very robust in their construction and last many, many miles. Pumped up to a pressure in the middle to upper part of their recommended zone, the ride can be described as "riding on frozen garden hoses". They are simply not very flexible in the sidewalls. The rubber is very hard. The tread lasts for thousands of miles. I don't recommend them. I have changed to using Continental Contact Plus and Continental Contact Urban tires. I can't say how long they last but they are holding up well so far and the riding experience is much more pleasant. I believe the tread is much more grippy than the hard rubber of the Marathons, which is important for maintaining traction. If long tire life is your only criteria, get the Marathons. If the all around tire performance is what you want, the Continental tires are a good compromise with only a little sacrifice in lifetime mileage.

Agree. the Continentals come in 32 and 37mm. Go as big as you can fit for a bit better comfort.

Then run a lower pressure.
I don't know what you run your tires at but on my 700x35's, I'll air up to around 60psi and air up again after it slowly drops down to about 30 over the course of a week (rear tube has a bunch of patches and leaks a bit, replacing soon). 60 is firm-ish, around 50 is quite nice. 30 is soft enough for me to tell it's time to air up. I recently ran it around 20 psi when I was in a hurry to get out the door to make it to work and decided to air up after I clocked in. I could feel the rear floating all over the place as it wanted to fold the tire over but never pinched the tube and didn't unseat the bead.

Another bike has a 700x25 Marathon and that one I keep between 50-80. Much lower than 50 runs a high chance of pinch flatting. It's not the most cushy tire but then again, no 700x25 really will be, at least not compared to a larger tire and all else created equal.

P.S. - Never had grip issues in dry or wet. No experience with ice or snow so can't comment there.

I pump my tires to 60. After a week the Marathons were down close to 50 but still rode hard and stiff. When I finally wore them out and changed to a different brand, it was a relief. As for grip issues, a more flexible tire can maintain a larger contact patch with the pavement. It won't matter to you until the tire slides sideways during a turn. The Continental tires have more ability to conform to road imperfections and roll over them without disrupting contact with the road. But the OP wanted to know the tires that last the most miles, which is a different criteria. I was trying to suggest he consider other factors.

I fully agree that the OP should consider a wide variety of tires. Everyone is going to have their preference and this is a great place for people to share those preferences. Eventually, the OP will pick a tire and roll with it, pun intended, based loosely off other folk's experiences and opinions.

I'm just disagreeing with the assertion that the Marathon rides stiff and isn't flexible. My opinion is that it's a great tire. You have found it to be stiff an un-flexible and that's like, your opinion man.



Granted, there's plenty of factors that will dictate how a tire rides and feels, such as size, pressure, bike weight, rider weight, where stuff is loaded on a bike, etc. and everyone will perceive the effects differently.

I can certainly make that happen if I try hard enough but that can be said for any tire. I've taken it through some extremely nasty conditions and have yet to lose traction on pavement. Even found myself on a supremely muddy trail this winter and kept the bike upright though the bike was tracking all over the place, Marathons have no business in thick mud.