A (Hopefully) Unique "Best Tire" Thread
 

As most of you know, Schwalbe ceased making the go-to off-road touring tire, the Marathon XR (50-622). The new Schwalbe models that are promoted to replace the XR either do not come wider than 42mm or their treads don't seem aggressive enough for off-road riding.

I have a 29er hardtail with Tubus Swing and Tubus Logo racks on the front and rear, respectively. Each rack will carry as much as 25 lbs worth of panniers, gear, food, and water. I weigh 170 and my bike weighs 31 lbs. I have Sun Rhyno Lite rims, 36 Alpine spokes, and White Industries hubs.

I need durability first because I'd rather not lug a spare. Next would be a tie between weight and puncture resistance. I'm not worried about price, because, hey, getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with a failed tire would be a penalty far in excess of the cost of any tire.

Could you give me a recommendation for clincher tires for the front (>47 mm) and for the rear (<=50mm) ? Thanks in advance for your help! I asked this question in a MTB forum, but they don't apparently value durability as much as us cycle tourists.

cyclesafe im only guessing here but what about the marathon extrems,seems everybody that used them have great prase for them. you could get in touch with vik on this forum he likes them.best of luck.

Thanks for the response. The widest Extreme in 700c is 42mm, the widest Dureme at 50mm has not enough tread, and the widest Supreme at 50mm has no tread. Hence the dilema. Why would Schwalbe screw up a good thing?

Are you sure Schwalbe stopped making The Marathon XR in size 50-622? I just checked Wallingford Bicycle and they have that tire and size in stock. Sometimes it can be hard to get certain tires and sizes from Schwalbe. I hope you're wrong about not making the XR's. I like mine but I use them in a 35.

Yeah, can you post a link for the claim that XR has been discontinued?

The current catalogue, available here does no longer list the XR. That, I presume, is where his 'claim' is from.

Cheers, A.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum..._id=140170&v=3

The above is hearsay, but I do recall in my surfing some admission from Schwalbe itself that they had discontinued the XR. The XR is not mentioned in Schwalbe's 2010 product lineup.

Another bit of hearsay....

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum...age=1&nested=0

Anyway, I can't find anything else while quickly retracing some of my earlier surfing.

Well, if the XR is discontinued what would you use for the GDR in 47or50-622? Front and rear.

since the title of this thread is so vague, I'm going to hijack it :D...

How much slower are Marathon Pluses vs normal marathons? Not riding the most haphazard roads, so the extra protection won't be worth much of a reduction in speed

How about the new Marathon Plus MTB?

http://www.schwalbe.de/gbl/en/produk...349cc9b47fbdcb

Not available in 700c (29er).

Cool. That's really bizarre though, the XR got some pretty good writeups from long distance off road tourers. Why would they do that?

My standard Marathons 26 x 1.5" weigh a bunch at around 650 g so unless you need the utmost in puncture protection, I think the Plus's additional tire and rotational weight is not worth it. I know I'm provoking the anger of Flattius (God of Punctures) by writing this, but even with the standard Marathons, I haven't flatted in over 3 years. Oh, now look what I've done :(

Not only are they very heavy the seem to have a dead feel that is beyond what the weight would cause. They were bad enough that I took them off after a few hundred miles. Some folks love them though.

have you shopped around seeing if someone has any in inventory that you can get now and save for the trip?

i hear you on this one.
and i've been playing around with a variety of touring combos, its an infinite function, no doubt

so in august, i rode Astoria to Ventura, Ca http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=566271
i used a set of Schwalbe marathon cross 700x38c

in Arcata I did 12hrs of Humboldt
12 laps, 92 miles, over 16,000ft of climbing
placed 3rd.

all i did was reduce the psi
i forget what it was, all i wanted was some tire cushion, but not so much that i'd pinch flat, so i played it on the safe side, i could have gone softer, i'm sure.

the bike i rode for this trip is a custom Hunter 29er, with a set of MAVIC SpeedCity wheels.

the bags i used are from Jeff Boatman at Carousel Design Works.
the whole setup, under 50lbs, no doubt.

potentially, I'm in the same situation.
"what would you use for GDR?"

I've used up 2 sets of WTB Vulpines, while I think they seriously rock, the compound is too soft, i wear them out in about 3,000 miles, rotating front to rear, etc...

I've had some email correspondence with Schwalbe.
my 2 cents is to bring something like furious fred to market, but with a more durable compound.

obviously to fill the gap between
a road touring tire
a CX tyre
a 29er MTB tyre
purposefully aimed at things like GDR
Leadville
and I'm thinking more and more of this trend becoming more popular.
gravel centuries, etc...

I'm certainly seeing this in North Texas. Trails here are unrideable when wet, and the MTB community turns into "dirt roadies". I'm engaged in building up and on/offroad light tourer, as well. My next tour in June from TX to CA will be 90% roads/gravel roads and 10% Great Divide MTB route.

often times the term comes up as "Mixed Terrain"

Yea, truth be told, even the standard Marathons aren't that compliant and lively feeling. I keep wanting to try the Marathon Supremes (considerably lighter) but I just can't get myself to cough up $125 for 2 bicycle tires.

I can understand that. I bought two 20"x1.6 Supremes for $140 with shipping. They both had hops from overlapping layers but one wasn't unacceptable and the other was. The problem wasn't evident in the 700x35version. So now I got some 700x35 tires from Vittoria and Panaracer that fit a similar design as the Supremes and they all look like they have similar techonologies in their construction. I don't doubt that they're good but whatever Schwalbes business model is it involves offering the most expensive tires in any size and a price to justify unique tires in uncommon sizes.

Yes. This morning I bought another 50mm XR for my 29er and a 35mm for my Americano, both destined for the rear wheels of those when the XR's that are on them now wear out. Wallbike still has stock.

But that doesn't address the future. For the front wheel on the touring 29er I am contemplating for now a 2.35" Panaracer Rampage with Slime tubes for goathead country. Hopefully, some day Schwalbe will bring out a 50-622 Extreme that I would use on the front instead.

For the front wheel of the Americano I will use a Marathon Supreme as the front tire rarely flats.

I found the Schwalbe "announcement" of the discontinuation of the Marathon XR.

http://schwalbetires.com/

Half way down the page under "New Touring Tires From Schwalbe". Apparently they are trying to ram the too-heavy Marathon Plus Tour and the too-thin Marathon Extreme down our throats. They're cleaning up the confusion around the Marathon sub-brand by dropping the tire that tourers want the most - XR - and pushing the one they want the least - the Plus. Sounds like Schwalbe's marketing has been blinded by their technology.

I found the "announcement" from Schwalbe on their European site:


http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/start...3fea7631cc2d98

I'm thinking of purchasing Schwalbe Marathon's for an upcoming winter tour on paved roads.

Should I be looking at Marathon Plus With Smartguard or should the normal Schwalbe Marathon's suffice? Are the XR's just overkill? I've heard that the Marathon Pluses are a bit sluggish... but offer more protection.

The XR is not so great in slush (but durability and puncture resistance are outstanding), but Supremes handled well when I crossed Monarch Pass in a snow storm this year - as long as the slush is soft enough so that the tire can make contact with the paved road. The Pluses are for when you want to minimize flats regardless of weight. They are very very heavy. I've never used the "normal" Marathon so I have no opinion.