Simple.

Because there is a buyer who will pay for an expensive bike tire at a price that the manufacturer can be profitable at.

There are also bikes that cost more than some cars.

Not sure that I have a good answer for that other than possibly sales volume.

I guess the other answer is, technically they aren't. Sure, you can source a very high end bicycle tire and then the least expensive automotive tire and the bicycle tire is going to be more expensive. But, having just bought within the past year, 4 new tires for our family vehicle, the bill was over $1,000 for 4 Continental tires, not anything spectacular performance-wise, just a solid set of tires.

Schwalbe does produce a 700x28 (28-622) road tire that retails for $18US. I'm not sure you could find any reasonably worthwhile automotive tire for anything close to that.

I see the original Marathons over here for around £15. Good pricepoint but wish the treadwear was better.

My parents bought a pair of (probably pretty cheap) folders, and I was surprised that they came stock with 20-inch Marathon Supremes. Maybe they're wire-bead, I haven't had to find out yet.

I think we all could use one, this could rival the chain lube/helmet discussions if it lasts much longer. Hope I didn't cause you too much aggravation.

[MENTION=200073]acidfast7[/MENTION], Is that a fixie, or just a single speed?

Always ridden in SS mode. I'm assuming you're asking due to the treadwear?

I'm 188cm/80kg (6'2" / 175#), so I'm not that heavy.

I really think it is the poor UK road surface as they're much worse than when I commuted in the US (ME/MA/NY/FL/TX), Copenhagen, Frankfurt or Stockholm. Tiny stones with no surface protection. Really does a number on tyres.

I also had a SCHWALBE Luagno split it half after about 200 miles. Literally broke across the tyre (almost like at a joining seam) ... felt kind of cheap anyway.

Went on here: https://www.bikeforums.net/16634158-post547.html

Came off here with a full refund:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=16752487&postcount=587

made it 191 km and I put a gatorskin on, which was double the price. Halfords didn't have any Marathons in stock on that day.

That wore through the sidewall (this seems to be common) at a little under 2000 km.

The Marathon has been a decent tyre for the price, I just expected more out of the treadwear. Otherwise, it's been great and I'll continue to use them as I have them on my bikes in Munich, Budapest and Copenhagen.

I should say that glass protections has been phenomenal. I have at least five deep gashes that show the GG when pinched like in that photo. Banger of a deal for £15.

Also, I have a friend at Wiggle.com and they bought bike24.de and stated that they have no more Marathons (original) in 23-622, which is a shame. They said the whole tyre market follows the pros that have moved to 25-/28- and 23-622 isn't common at all any longer?

Is that what you see?

lol the commuter's longstanding claim that wider/softer is better is finally the latest fad of the weight weenies

The original marathon is pretty much impossible to get in 23-622 any longer :/

I'm late to that party, my next tires are going to be wider. But I'm going to wear the current set out first.

With a tire that narrow, and a sidewall that thick, you might as well just go solid

That's what she said. :D


Incidentally, I ordered the Marathon (not supremes) HS420's last night. They should be here next week

So update...

I got the Marathon HS420's in 37-622 and they measure exactly 37mm when inflated

Though I think I immediately regretted this when I put them on the bike.

They look too thin, and ended up being thinner than the 37's I had on there. With the cheap suspension fork they look comically narrow.

I'm wondering if I should have gone with the 40mm tires, now that we've removed fenders from the equation.

They are slightly heavier, but would they ride better? Be slower? Would I even notice? I am overthinking this?

yes:thumb:

Yes I should get the 40's or yes I'm overthinking it?

[MENTION=468175]Skipjacks[/MENTION] you are over thinking it. you already have tires use them up and then get another pair later or get the tires and see which you like better.

I have been known to get into my own head at times.

I forget, did you ever say what the bike is?

I've used 26x1.5" (32mm) treadless Nashbar Slick City tires to roadify a couple mountain bikes, and 'comically narrow' sounds about right. I have described it before as 'like a porn star -- shockingly bald down below'

It's a Specialized Crosstrail

It came with 38-622's that are closer to 42mm

I've had Michelin Proteks on it for about 2 years that are 37-622's but measure to 39mm, but are more rounded than the Marathons. The Marathons are more pointy across the tread, like the top curve of an egg vs the bottom curve of a egg if that makes any sense.

So even though they are only 2mm thinner than the Michelin's they look tinier.

I assume the pointer profile means the slick center on the tread will be the highest pressure spot on the ground, which is a good thing. It's probably part of the overall design to give the tire better rolling resistance. It just looked weird on the bike, especially in the suspension fork with arms as wide as the tire and lots of clearance space. hahaha

(And I've been thinking about swapping out the suspension fork with a rigid fork anyway since I only use this bike as a commuter now)

Whatever...they will probably expand out a little bit once I ride them. I didn't get a chance to test ride them today because I couldn't get the kids through breakfast in time to get out the door soon enough. So now I'm sitting here with fresh tires I haven't ridden on overthinking everything.

My Hardrock has a 23" frame with 26x1.5 tires on it. There's room for fenders with plenty of room to spare.

After running the 26x1.5 Performance City Slicks for years I got a string of flats that made me reconsider them and switched to the same size with a flat guard. After using them for a while I started to wish I'd put a wider tire on instead of the same size, why didn't I think this through BEFORE I made the switch?

42-->39-->37, I think you'll get used to it.

I hate the 42mm's Specialized Trigger Sport tires that came with the bike for riding on pavement.

Hate them.

They sound like a hurricane and have the rolling resistance of dragging a cinder block behind me. (Pretty decent on hard pack gravel and crushed limestone and stuff like that though)

They are a comfortable ride though, absorbing any bumps in the road nicely. Just slowly.

The 39mm Michelin Protek were a great speedy ride. But I wore those down to the liner pretty quick. Like a few hundred miles quick. Nice ride but that wear was ridiculous.

Apparently, the Marathon Plus is not a match for crappy UT roads. 3rd commute into work and I get a flat.

To be fair, I'm dodging debris all the way to work, every day. The next city over (Layton) does a pretty good job keeping their roads clean, but I bike through Clearfield and Syracuse, and it looks like a frat party just let out pretty much the entire way with broken bottles, and (probably the worse culprit) shreds of random car tires.

Nice thing about a velomobile is that I don't actually have to remove the wheel to change the tire/tube. :)