pakeboi

Looking for feedback on the 20 x 1.5 Kenda Kwest 100psi as a commuter / touring on a folder .

Puncture protection , rolling resistance , on wet pavement , ect. vs the Schwalbe Marathon Racer ?

Thanks !

tim24k

I run them both. I like the Kenda Kwest 100psi the best as they are good value. Good in the rain and roll well also. Not quite as good puncture protection though as the Schwalbe marathon.

bent4me

I've had both but my recommendation is Schwalbe Marathons Greenguard. They are flat resistant, last a very long time, have a relatively compliant ride and have very little rolling resistance, making them reasonably fast.
I have them on my Xootr Swift and my recumbent trike.
Just sayin!!!

spudston

I have two Dahons one with the Kenda Kwests and one with Marathon Racers. I don’t have a lot of miles on the Schwalbes but I haven’t noticed any big advantage to either tire. I haven’t had flats on either. So, I would go with the cheaper Kendas.

tomtomtom123

Well, if you want to rely on the results of this rolling resistance test:
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance...hon-racer-2015
It says that the 37mm marathon greenguard has slightly less rolling resistance than the 35mm racer. It says the racer is +10psi on average recommended pressure than the marathon, so you need to account for this difference. You can't compare them at the exact same pressure since the wider tire needs lower pressure. Even if you compare the marathon at 70psi and the racer at 80psi, the marathon still has about 0.5w to 1.0w in savings.

However, if you were to compare a 40mm marathon and a 40mm racer at the same pressure of 70psi, then I'm not sure that you can extrapolate from these results with 37mm and 35mm at different pressures of 70psi and 80psi. But I assume the difference in rolling resistance would be very small when comparing both tires in 40mm sizes.

You could also consider a 47mm marathon for a slightly softer ride.

Without greenguard, I would get punctures once every 400km to 500km or so, from staples and nails on the road. With greenguard, I never got punctures until the age passed 2 years, or I guess 3000 to 4000km.

Schwinnsta

I have had both and am going from impressions and experience. The marathon was heavy, stiff, and slower. Granted it was puncture resistant. I liked the racer. It seemed a better balance between suppleness and puncture resistance. Both were 20-inch,,406, 1.75 wide.

How was the rolling resistance calculated in the link above? I suspect in a lab and not the real world.

edelay

Way fewer flats on the Marathon Racer. I did find them a little squirrelly on the back for really sharp cornering.

joey buzzard

I like the Kenda Kwest line. Even their standard lower pressure tyre rolls well, which came as standard on my Xootr Swift. Originally I was going to replace these with something else, but I was very impressed both with the performance and the low cost of replacements. Prior to acquiring my swift I'd been paying big bucks for road bike tyres, so new tyres for less than I was often spending on lunch was something of a revelation to me. I later switched to the 100psi Kwest and was pleased with these as well.

I'm not so fond of Schwalbe Marathon Racers. After I mounted them I felt like these actually slowed the bike down (possibly my imagination, but hey, they certainly didn't make it feel any quicker). When I slapped a pair on the Swift for a multi day winter ride across Ireland I thought at least they'd be tough enough. Nope. In addition to not feeling particularly fast, I had an unusually high incidence of punctures which was frustrating me being on the road far from home. Unfortunately, when I finally got fed up around the ninth puncture into my trip I tried replacing these with Schwalbe Kojaks which are the least satisfactory tyre I've ever mounted on my bike. I literally had a puncture riding home from the bike shop and every time I rode the bike thereafter it was likely as not to have a flat. Also, I think that so skinny a tyre on a 406 20" wheel gives an uncomfortably harsh ride and ultimately slows the bike. It has a lower profile which makes the wheel smaller as well which doesn't help anything. So I'd definitely avoid 20" Swalbe Kojaks like Covid19. They're expensive and crap.

Right now and for the past year I've been running the regular Schwalbe Marathons. These have somewhat redeemed the good name of Schwalbe in my books. For one they're very well made, which is apparent immediately on first glance. And they're rated for 100psi (I usually keep them at 90psi). I've been riding them now over a year and I've put thousands of kilometres on them and they're holding up great. Very few punctures have occurred and they don't show much wear despite the high milage, the extreme Andalusian summer heat and a daily ride up and down a steep dry riverbed that they've been subjected to. These tyres roll reasonably well and don't feel sluggish (like the Racers) so I'm happy with them.

I can't say whether the regular Schwalbe Marathon tyres I like roll better or faster than the Kenda Kwest. It's been some time since I've been on Kwests. The Kenda tyres are cheaper. However, I was replacing them every four months or so. They didn't last long whereas the Marathons keep on rolling no matter what I do to them. In a world of scarce resources that's also drowning in plastic I'm not sure if I want to replace my tyres frequently just because they're cheap. So for now at least I'm sold on the Marathons. Just avoid the crappy "Racer" version and you won't be disappointed.

3speedslow

+1 Rolled on both, prefer the Marathon Racer for ride and puncture resistance.