Schwalbe Marathon

[overlander]

Thats it for me this morning two punctures 3 miles apart and 1 hr late for work, the roads have deteriorated to such an extent i have no choice, Ordered a set of Schwalbe Marathon Reflective Kevlar City Tyre from wiggle today with inner tubes. Decided not to mess about with patches and carry spare tubes and fix the puncture at home. I have heard that they are very tight to fit, hopefully will fit them on Saturday.

Should add that i picked this over the cityguard as i do still expect some punctures as the roads are atrocious about here. Theses are much easier to fit so could be done at the roadside if needed, plus the reflective stripe is a nice touch.

 

[tillson]

Personally, I would have spent that little bit extra and gone for the Marathon Plus with Smartguard. I've done about 6000 miles on these without a puncture. Admittedly, it all been on road.

I've heard that the Marathon Plus can be difficult to fit, but my set went on using just fingers and thumbs.

 

[overlander]

Guess your right, i have just changed my order with wiggle is now the cityguard thats on the way. was just worried that they were really hard to fit but guess as you have confirmed its dependent on your rim.

 

[Streethawk]

Running one bike with Marathon Plus tyres and one with Marathon Plus Tour i've not had a puncture in the last six months of using them. I was getting fed up of flats on my normal tyres.

Both sets were very hard to get on the rims though.

 

[overlander]

Did you guys use alloy or plastic levers to fit the tyres? Would be tempted to try with the plastic levers to ensure no damage to the rim.

 

[flecc]

You can use plastic tyre levers with them if the rim design needs that. Much of the reported difficulty with MPs is due to the added lateral stiffness of their carcase arising from the extra protective layer.

In difficult cases, start opposite the valve, squeeze the tyre walls inward so the beading sits in the centre well area of the rim and if necessary tie in that position with string or PVC tape to keep it in there. Then work around towards the valve on both sides, putting the valve area on last.
.

 

[iaing]

One of the few areas of bike repair when it actually helps to have 2 people doing the work, provided one just holds the tyre in place of course.

Iain

 

[HarryB]

I have mostly fitted MP tyres by hand only rarely resorting to a plastic tyre lever and probably through lazyness. I have fitted quite a few since 2006 but my emotion came with a different make of puncture resistant tyres - they have proved an equal to the MPs so far. I will check on the make next time I look at the bike.

 

[piotrmacheta]

I fitted slime tyres as well just in case. Not sure if they work but haven't had a flat since.

 

[HarryB]

I fitted slime tyres as well just in case. Not sure if they work but .....

...if you do get a puncture you won't be able to fix it

 

[JamesC]

Fat Spanner Large Tyre Levers

Did you guys use alloy or plastic levers to fit the tyres? Would be tempted to try with the plastic levers to ensure no damage to the rim.

I can thoroughly recommend these long tyre levers from Fat Spanner. They certainly won't scratch the rim, but take care with the excellent leverage.
Long, strong and light.

James

 

[overlander]

Well after all that worry over hours of wrestling with tyres it pushed on using my fingers except for the last inch and on slight push on a tiny lever on on it went

It really must be rim specific so fitting for me was easier than the standard tyre, heres hoping no more punctures every week .

 

[aseb]

...if you do get a puncture you won't be able to fix it

I managed quite easily. It was like an abrasion which was caused by the poor carcass of the original Raleigh tyre on my X-Byke. One spot of the carcass on the tread area was poorly made and weak, showing through whereas there was tread everywhere else. Luckily I had the puncture protection in so inflating it was good enough to get me home (I even used it a couple of days later after topping up the tyre). That original tyre had managed 1700 miles before I got a flat).
Tube out and patch fitted while I waited for the replacement tyre- I got Michelin City with the puncture resistant protection.
Repairing was easy enough (though obviously not as easy as a tube without sealant in)- valve up when letting air out, cleaned a little goo off the valve sealing face. Could easily see the where the orange sealant was working easily, cleaned the area and applied the patch. It worked with no major concerns.

I'm happy to use the stuff, does a good job of avoiding punctures. It seems as if this stuff is another one of those 'strong opinion' things. Helmets anyone?

 

[HarryB]

No just my opinion. I don't use the stuff because I carried on getting punctures and it made fixing them on the road less reliable and to top that it did a good job of wrecking the valves rendering the inner tube useless. I have not had a single puncture for 5 years now. Two of my colleagues arrived 30 minutes late to work this week - you can probably guess why.

 

[flecc]

I managed quite easily................................Repairing was easy enough (though obviously not as easy as a tube without sealant in)- valve up when letting air out, cleaned a little goo off the valve sealing face. Could easily see the where the orange sealant was working easily, cleaned the area and applied the patch. It worked with no major concerns.

I'm happy to use the stuff, does a good job of avoiding punctures. It seems as if this stuff is another one of those 'strong opinion' things. Helmets anyone?

It's not just an opinion thing. "One swallow doth not a summer make", you were just lucky, it worked because the sealant did manage to do the job on that occasion.

I've tried various makes over time and can assure you that when the sealing fails with a worse puncture, the resulting large mess between tube and tyre makes repair very difficult. Bear in mind that is on the road, not able to get home as you were lucky enough to do.

This stuff was invented for car tubeless tyres where it works because there's one thick layer to seal. Later sold for bike use, it often fails with more serious punctures due to the two thin layers of tyre and tube not giving a reliable and stable thickness to seal into.
.

 

[Streethawk]

I've got some of these knobblier Marathons, done two rides on them and they seem very good, much improved grip off-road, imperceptibly slower on the road.