1) +1 0ver 16,000 loaded commuting/utility miles w/one flat and one slow leak. Over 3 years.

2) Good luck with that one. :p Seriously, get a Kool Stop tire mounting tool, liquid soap, patience and you're golden. :thumb:

I just replaced the Conti's my LHT came with, bought in 2008. The rear was almost bald, getting flats, No complaints about the tire.

I went with a larger tire for a softer ride, the Schwalbe Duream 42x630, smooth & comfy :-) Time will tell how durable it will be.

Probably the biggest tire I would run on my 62cm frame with SKS fenders.

On a recent cross country trip:
Schwalbe Marathon Plus on 3 bikes = 0 flats
Schwalbe Marathon on 3 trailers = 7 flats
(Next time I'll go with Marathon Plus on everything)

When I took delivery of an LHT a few years ago, the original tyres were Continental Contacts. I got two punctures on my first ride, both times stone chips penetrated the tyre. This was over road where I normally ride a road bike with 23mm tyres. Needless to say, they did not stay on the bike for any longer than it took to get in some Mararthon Supremes.

I use schwalbe marathon supremes on my new 2011 LHT. It took me about 3 weeks to get them from Ireland. I paid about $90 a tire. I've put about 100 miles on them, and for what I payed for them they better not go flat for a while, LOL. The bike came with continental city contact tires [26x1.5] which I immediately replaced.

Taking a different tack, we run Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech in 28c at 115 lbs. when touring on our tandem. Nice ride, good road feel, fast enough, good in wet, no flats so far. Pavement tire mostly, though you could do hard paths on it. We had a team running Marathon Plus go down right in front of us on a steep wet climb, just from pedal force. I put safety above all else and never run a tire that won't stick hard corners in the wet. Flats, smats, I can fix a flat. Collarbones take longer.

We run Conti 4000s 25c at 120 psi for sport riding. Even better wet sticktion. Our all-up sport weight is about 350 lbs., so most of you could tour on that tire just fine.