Oh. I didn't know I was talking to you. I was just talking to OP.

Sorry if you didn't get that. I don't think you understand how this forum thing works.

Have a great night.

@OP, if you enjoy the riding part of bicycle touring, find some supple tires like Panaracer Pasela or Vittoria Hyper line of tires. I'm sure you'll feel the difference.

Huh? You imagine posting on a public forum is a private conversation? I guess I really don't know how these forum thingys work. I always thought that was what a PM was for.

But back to what your coach once said. Every touring tire I have ever used could be stood up against a wall in some way so I am just wondering what he meant by that and how it pertained to touring? You offered it in a public forum in a thread about touring tires so I figured maybe he/she was a touring coach and knew something I didn't or, maybe, you just said something out of context that had nothing to do with the subject at hand. In those cases I find it best to confirm before jumping to conclusions.

I'm sorry if that offended.

You also said:

Which runs contrary to my experience. I used 1.75 Marathon Plus tires across Western Canada last September and found them to ride pretty smoothly. Did 174km's one day. Did Golden to Revelstoke in one day, Kamloops to Merrit, Merrit to Hope etc... All big mileage days with plenty of elevation. Not as fast as my 1.5 CST Ciudads perhaps but I had to balance that against the debris I expected to encounter along the TCH for a couple of thousand KM's. Those supple Ciudads flat out fairly easily.

If the OP asked for fast I would probably say high pressure thin tires. If they asked for comfortable I would say fatter and lower pressure. If they asked for tough I would say Marathon Plus. But that's just me answering the question. I get it that others answer differently by suggesting things that aren't even related to the question to begin with.

I am considering the Schwalbe Marathon GT 365. I believe that it is a new tire for Schwalbe. Does anyone have any experience with this tire?

the toughest touring tire will feel like riding concrete tires ...

of course one can do 174km or 250km on Schwalbe concrete tires, no problem at all. question would be: how does it feel like, compared to lighter faster tires....

Seems like an odd concern, when one is hanging dozens of pounds of weight in parachutes off the side of the bike.

and a nice Compass or Panaracer tire feels better than any Schwalbe, even with tons of weight on the bike.

Possibly, I've never used Marathons to compare, but a sliver of glass which was almost too hard to see when removed from the tire defeated my Pasela PTs. I've never seen a need to use anything else for everyday riding, but that is hardly "tough". I rejected them when I was looking for a tough tire to take on a remote tour on rough rocky roads.

there are many glasses too hard to see on the road, flats come when they come, one does not have any influence ...
of course, with Schwalbe tires one is on the sure side, but rolling feeling is poor.
with Panaracer Paselas I did 5 big tours, 38mm, in Spain, Romania and Georgia, we tour off road most of the time, these three countries have off roads for years, any problems with the tires. yes, flats, but I can live with them;) in fact remembering well I had no flats with them in 2015 and 16.

Felt good. I don't recall tire performance being a concern.

When people resort to hyperbole like Schwalbe concrete to bolster their position I tend to discount most of what they say after that. Your positive review of the panaracer could also be just as over estimated for all I know. That's the downside to that.

I really don't get what some of you are arguing.
Its not what would you prefer to ride if given a choice? It's what's the toughest tire? Trying to suggest a light supple tire is tough(er) just shows a bias that can't even look past itself.

Arguing that you don't personally want a "tough" tire to champion your choice does not answer the question either. It just minimizes it to allow for your prefered rhetoric.

Hey, I've got Paselas on two of my bikes plus my fiancee's road touring bike, with the overwhelming bulk of my riding miles on them over the past two years. I love them for a lot of things, including a clean road tour in an area where I wasn't too concerned about parts availability, they just aren't what I think of when I think "tough".

TL;DR

Not wasting time.

Yet you wasted just enough to say you weren't wasting any?

Weird.

I agree that Paselas are not a set that I would consider "tough" tires. My point is, do you really need "tough tires" when you are doing less than a month of touring? I'm sure there are people out there that enjoy riding part of bicycle touring. IMO, tires and optimal tire pressure are the critical part of comfort, traction, and safety.

FYI, I normally carry a saddle pack and a pair of front panniers when I tour. Maybe that's why I don't have problem with supple tires. YMMV.

:p:p

We're only talking touring tires here :)

Sure. I don't have the luxury of months off work to go touring, but that doesn't mean I can't care about toughness. I have ten days off for my next trip, I'd gladly trade suppleness for toughness to reduce the amount of time I waste fixing problems, and to reduce the risk that the trip comes to an abrupt end because I tried to take supple tires somewhere they don't belong. Even if I am packing a spare folding tire, I'd rather not have to use it. I.e., I'm not looking for longevity, I'm looking for not dealing with issues in my short vacation time.

I'm sure there is a debate to be had on where the line lies for each person individually, I'm just arguing the point that someone asked for a tough tire, they are given advice that having a tough one is overrated and you need something that fits the needs of someone looking for comfort.

agree!

you don't need tough tires, too much drama about puncture resistant. two big off road tours in 2015/16 8 weeks, zero flats with Panaracer Paselas 38mm

You know, I like where this is going...

I just did a trip with no cookset or stove so we could say you don't need those to tour.

All this drama about warm food - HTFU I say.

Thanks! The calculator recommends me 39/58, so basically keep the rear the same and drop ~10PSI from the front. I think I shall experiment with this a bit.

To the OP. After all this sniping back and forth and offering of opinions regarding touring tires, I think the answer to your question of what is the "toughest" tire is Schwalbe marathon plus. ... but in case you didn't really mean to ask about the toughest tire but instead were asking what is a comfortable tire to tour on, Panaracer pasela is you answer.