Opinions on Marathon Supreme tire?
01-27-20, 12:03 PM
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Opinions on Marathon Supreme tire?
I'm considering a new bicycle, the Sutra, a loaded-touring bike made by Kona. It comes with 40mm Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires, which I really dislike for hardpacked pavement (where I do most of my riding) because of the rolling resistance caused by the tread pattern. I would replace the Mondial with the Marathon classic, except that the closest sizes it comes in are an actual 38mm and an actual 44.45mm. If the 44.45mm classic is too close of a fit to the fender, I am considering the Marathon Supreme in an actual 40mm. Is this a good tire? It looks appropriate for what I want but I do remember seeing an unfavorable anecdote about it. I can't find that (or anything, with this site's search function) now.
01-27-20, 12:24 PM
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I had 35mm Supremes. It's alright. It's somewhat dead feeling, with all the protection it has, but I don't think there's any way around that if you want that puncture protection.
(I've also had Mondials, and the Supremes felt much better/faster than Mondials.)
(I've also had Mondials, and the Supremes felt much better/faster than Mondials.)
01-27-20, 01:24 PM
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We ran a set of Supremes on our tandem for 3 seasons with good results. 20"x1.6" and 26"x1.6". Both folding bead. No punctures. About 4300 miles.
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01-27-20, 01:31 PM
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Almotion appears least rolling resistance.
Supreme is next.
No experience with these two, but have several sets of Schwalbe Marathons of different flavors and all have been great.
XR's / Big Apples (2 sets) / Dureme's / Regular Marathons / Marathon Winter's (2 sets)
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews
Supreme is next.
No experience with these two, but have several sets of Schwalbe Marathons of different flavors and all have been great.
XR's / Big Apples (2 sets) / Dureme's / Regular Marathons / Marathon Winter's (2 sets)
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews
Last edited by stevel610; 01-27-20 at 01:36 PM.
01-27-20, 03:03 PM
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We have ridden the Supremes across the US, Canada and 3 European tours. Heading back to Europe again this year and the Supremes are going with us!
01-27-20, 03:46 PM
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If you'd rather replace the Supreme with a straight Marathon, go ahead. The 2 mm difference between 40 and 38 is down in the noise -- depending on rim and inflation pressure, they're within experimental noise.
01-27-20, 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by pdlamb
If you'd rather replace the Supreme with a straight Marathon, go ahead. The 2 mm difference between 40 and 38 is down in the noise -- depending on rim and inflation pressure, they're within experimental noise.
01-31-20, 10:35 AM
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I probably should've asked this in my previous post: ARE THERE any issues with going to a tire that is 2mm narrower than what came with the rim? I've had an issue where the tire was apparently not wide enough for the rim. When I inflated the tube, the bead of the tire apparently didn't meet the rim properly, allowing the tube to squeeze out from underneath the tire and burst. The difference in size was greater than just 2mm though.
01-31-20, 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Nyah
I probably should've asked this in my previous post: ARE THERE any issues with going to a tire that is 2mm narrower than what came with the rim? I've had an issue where the tire was apparently not wide enough for the rim. When I inflated the tube, the bead of the tire apparently didn't meet the rim properly, allowing the tube to squeeze out from underneath the tire and burst. The difference in size was greater than just 2mm though.
Tube squeezing under the tire sounds like a tire installation issue, although it could be tough to install a really narrow tire on a really wide rim.
There are a few recommended tire sizing charts:
https://www.wtb.com/pages/tire-rim-fit-chart
https://www.lightbicycle.com/newslet...cycle-rim.html
If you have a wheel driven speedometer, it will need to be recalibrated.
