Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Xtracycle?
 

So I got my freeradical and my new wheels and new Marathon Plus tires and was super excited. Long story short they don't fit. 700x35 and I had to deflate them to get them in and there is definitely no room for fenders. So if anyone is planning on this combo it don't fly.

Question is now this, if I exchange the 35mm for 32mm will the marathons fit with fenders?

Also, are 32mm wide enough for loaded touring?

Last thing, just to vent. It seems that there is a lack of planning on the xtracycle. If it is made for carrying loads then it should accomodate wide tires, and commuters like fenders don't we? So why wouldn't the frame extend an inch or two? 35mm isn't that big.

Thanks for the input

I ran 32's with fenders on mine and they fit. Conti City somethings... You should be good with 32's. I also could not run 35's either.

Thanks I thought you said that you were running 32's but I read on some other forums and blogs that people were running 35's and had problems with 37/38. Well I guess I have to return the tires and get 32's.

One bright side to this is those tires were some of the easiest to put on ever, road or mountain. I have read nothing but complaints about how hard they are to mount. Front went on easy without even having to use a lever. Rear had to use the lever once.

P.S. they are sexy tires.

some 35's will fit..... it's just a real tight fit. A good 32 Marathon will be golden with your kit. Fenders will fit and you'll be set.

I guess both how easy they are to put on and how "tall" the whole rim/tyre combo is (and how much is left for fenders) has a lot to do with rims. Same tyre on wide or narrow rim should make a difference. Also I think I read somewhere that they suggest 26" or even 24" wheels for heavy loads on the x-tra.

Rims are Mavic A719 if anyone cares

I think the some of the marathon series are sized bigger then one would expect. My Marthon XRs 35s are big and really closer to 37s I'd say. Schwalbe's website lists my tire's ETRTO # as 37-622. Your plus's have the same ETRTO number.

Does seem odd that xrtracycle doesn't allow more room for 700 tires and fenders. My bet is that they designed it with expectation that more people would attach to mountain bikes with 26" wheels which should leave loads of room for tires and fenders.

This is very true. The only difference between the two is where the brake mounting is located. You can use the 700C kit with a 26" mountain bike wheel as long as you have disc brakes on the mountain bike..... nothing needed except the 207mm ish disc.

Take extreme care if using wide tires on narrow rims, especially Schwalbe tires (as they usually are wider than there listed number). Running a wide tire with narrow(er) rims can lead to all kindes of tire problems, including catastrophic failure-like tire roll off, side wall failure, bead popping off etc. All when you would least want something to happen, like on a fast descent.

The Mavics are 622x19 which according to Sheldon can handle up 28-44mm tires
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html

So I should be fine correct?