That's my take on it as well.

For touring single bikes, I have developed an affection for Continental Pasela's over the past two years due to their smooth ride feel. I run 700 x 35mm or 37mm on the front and 37mm on the rear. I carry a 35mm folding version as a spare for either end.

I mostly run the Marathon Plus's on the tandems and triples; typically in 26 x 1 3/4" on 48 spoke wheels. I don't remember ever flat'ing one of them, but agreed that they are a bit heavy and provide a good bit less in the way feel on the road (aka "dead"). A fair trade-off overall imho.

Whatever tire you choose you have to compromise between level of flat resistance and how good of a ride. The Marathon plus sits firmly in the extreme in the flat resistance end of the scale sacrificing ride feel to get it. I'd argue that the Plus does give you the "reliable" and "flat resistant" from your list at the cost of the "good ride". In fact I'd say the ride is the worst of any tire I have ridden on. That may be fine if that is where your priorities are, but it is at the far extreme end of the continuum between best "ride feel and performance" and best "reliability and flat resistance". I prefer something more in the middle of that continuum.

Different touring cyclists will emphasize different tire aspects. I've ridden on 700x-35 Schwalbe Duremes and found them very heavy and "dead". If I was doing the same gravel/road combinations I'd probably go with a 28 or 32 Gatorskin or Paselas for the deeper tread.

I tour mostly on roads with a lightweight set up so 25mm Gatorskins work nicely. They have good flat resistance for the weight and roll nicely on the roads. If I wanted less rolling resistance I'd go with a wider tire, or a wider rim to make the tire work like a wider one. I like my bike to feel a bit agile and climb well and I find the Gatorskins do that for me.

I have had good luck with Conti Top Touring II tires. (The "Top" model being the key.) Foldable and come in 28, 32 and 37c. If you are not planning anything rougher than something like the Katy Trail, 32c should be fine. I am not light and don't pack ultra-light and had no trouble with 32c on a cross-PA tour that included the entire GAP trail. Rode the 37c size in MT last year on some very rough, hilly/mountainous roads with no problems.

I don't know about agile and nimble(is that possible with 20+lbs on the bike?), but lower rolling resistance, quick(relative, of course), and reasonable performance, for sure. Those are qualities I want in any situation in which I'm rolling along on a wheel. Agile and nimble would be nice too if it were possible while loaded. I've hit 40mph on my bike while loaded on tour, and had loads of fun blasting down many very windy descents. I'd rather do that on grippy tires with good feedback that are fun to ride than dead feeling tires with harder rubber. I'll gladly change a flat once in a while for the fun and confidence of a nice riding tire. ...Not to mention that weight and rolling resistance thing. It seems like that could be a factor in a 1200mi ride.

I weigh 190lbs and my bike and gear another 40lbs so that's 230lbs total. I found 25mm Gatorskins to be perfect for trail riding. I rode the Erie Canal from Troy to Buffalo and had no problems. The tires were good over the hard packed gravel and even the muddier bits were easily ridden. When trees blocked the path or I needed to get over some standing water it was easy to pick up my bike. For serious off road they would not have worked well, but for fire trails 25mm or 28mm training tires are fine IMHO.

I outfitted 3 bikes last year for the TransAmerica Bike Trail, 4000 miles from Virginia to Oregon. All 3 had Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. All 3 made it the whole distance with ony 1 flat and no other tire issues. All 3 had a fair amount of tread left at the end. IMO, great loaded touring tires!

any comment on schwalbe durano plus?

how do they compare to hardshell, armadillo and the like?

I have ridden Schwalbe Marathons, Panaracer Paselas, Conti Catorskins and Vittoria Hypers. I wish I had ridden the Hypers first as they are the best overall at comfort, handling low rolling resistance and flat protection. Not the top of any category, but near the top of all categories.

This is good to know. I'm looking for 40mm replacement for my Duremes and preferably something that also comes in 50+mm when I move up to a new frameset with more clearance. Big Apples, Big Ben, Almotion and Supremes are on the list.

Specialized Roubaix 700X23

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme (folding) for nice paved roads and light gravel.
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial (folding) for everything else.

I use the 26 x 1.6 Supreme and 26 x 2.0 Mondial, but choose your size based on your bike, wheels, load, terrain etc...

I rode 35mm Duremes for a bit and they felt really slow and heavy. It put me off Schwalbe tires. They were just too heavy and are overkill for how I tour, but that's a bit unfair because I used them on my old touring bike on some rough roads. Anyway I much prefer the freedom and livliness of a 25mm Gatorskins.......I basically limit myself to good, tough road training tires and the Gatorskins often come top in surveys, so I use them.

What about width of 700c tyres to support weight, I'm 68kg(150lbs) my bikes 15kg(33lbs) and my gear food and water included is 30kg(66lbs), totaling 113kg(249lbs) I was thinking of running 32c, but maybe 28c would be a better option, what is every ones views on it.

+1 my roommate rode across the US and more (min. 4,000 miles) on a single pair of a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. He swears by them.

Another vote for Vittoria Voyager Hypers. I run the 700x32s. Panaracer Pasela PTs are also nice if you need a little tread for unpaved surfaces, but don't roll as nicely on paved roads. I've got a set of Hypers with more than 3,000 miles and I've had one flat during that period. I can live with that. I hate riding on heavy, dead-feeling tires. Life is too short to ride on tires like that.

Wrong company for the Pasela. They're made by Panaracer. And they aren't bad as a touring tire. They are fantastic compared to Continentals but Bell folding tires you get a Helmart are fantastic compared to Continentals in my opinion. There's something about 4 blowouts...not flats but actually blowouts...in 30 miles and having to ride a whole tour at 70 psi to keep it from happening again that will put a person off of using a tire. Add to that several blowouts on other Continentals and a casing split after a minor rock strike and I'm cured from even considering a Continental for any bike.

Panaracer Pasela, Vitoria Randonneur and Michelin Lithion (although they don't make them in 32mm widths anymore) have all served me very well for touring tires. I haven't had a chance to try Schwalbe yet. The stars just haven't aligned properly.

66lbs is a huge load. I'd suggest 32mm tires as there will be no advantage to 28mm given that load going uphill slowly or downhill fast. If you were a 90kg rider with the increase being muscle as well as bones and your load was 8kg I could see narrower tires having some performance advantage (touring?) as the rider can unweight a lot of the load with their body weight. With 100lbs of bike underneath you you're pretty much picking a line with little time to correct and plowing through whatever shows up in your path. I did a lot of touring at your weight with 8kg of gear on 28mm tires, 6kg on rear, 2kg on front. But once the weight went up another few lbs I was glad I had the larger 32mm rear tire when it came to gravelly roads where I could hear rocks occasionally hitting the rim

My load may be heavy, and I myself may be quite light, but I can tell you that the 70kg of me is all muscle, next to no fat what so ever 174cm tall

My point wasn't your power to weight ratio but your weight in relation to the dead weight on the bike. The more dead weight on the bike the more impact the rims get hitting rocks and potholes as opposed to a bigger rider with less dead weight on the bike who can unweight the rear wheel in crappy conditions. I just don't see the upside to 28mm tires with a 66lb of dead weight.

My wife and I run the Marathon Mondials 622-50 on our adventure touring bikes. We have taken them on many gravel roads in Tuscany and in our local mountains where we have lots of rough logging roads and tarmac with loose, sharp basalt chips on top. The 2 inch wide tires of the Mondial tread style have relatively low rolling resistance. It is a common misconception that wider tires have lower rolling resistance. Just the opposite is the case. This was counterintuitive to me a first, but this article made sense to me- Tech Info | Schwalbe North America. One big thing is that speeding down a gravel road, especially with extra weight on the bike, the wider tires just gives you more confidence and control. The volume of the 622-50 provides the comfort too, so the stiffer sidewalls is not a big issue. It is a waste of time to put thicker tubes, liners or sealants in these tires, because you just won't need them, and that is needless weight. I am not afraid of changing a tube. I have done it thousands of times, but now I just have to do it for my friends that don't have these kind of tires.

I've used many but currently running the Hypers and have had a similar experience to Tarwheel. So far, very impressed, excellent ride characteristics, very decent flat resistance, and surprising durability on a fairly lightweight tire. Liked them well enough to pony up $100 for a second pair. The Randonneurs by Vittoria were also very decent and cheaper.

Seriously, there are plenty of gators there and you WILL see them, but fear not! They really are afraid of humans, and in every case they scampered away long before we got near them. Just make sure you make plenty of noise..... You want them to notice you.

ww.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/marathon_mondial I'll have probably 3K miles on my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires by the time I launch cross country in May so it'll be time to "retire". I'm look'n at the Schwalbe Mondials right now. Can anybody give me any information about them? Are they reasonably comfortable or will the kill my butt between Seattle and Miami?

EDIT: I just read Gyro_T's comments about this tire and I think that answers my question, unless somebody has anything else to add.