SurlyLaika

I'm currently running Armadillo's 700x25 on my CC. Since January, I've ridden about 900 miles. As of the last month, though, I've been averaging 125 miles a week. I'm not sure about the math, but I think I can expect to log at least 1,600 miles total by June when I'm planning a self-supported tour from the border of California and Mexico north up the Central Valley to Oregon to the Pacific Coast and back on down to San Diego. My question, then, is should I replace my tires before hand or on the road? What is the life span I can expect out of a decent set of tires?

For commuting/touring purposes, I wanted to bump on my tires to 700x32, for a little more cushion. (no complaints about the Armadillo's though, no flats yet)
I am considering:

• Schwalbe Marathons Plus $40 each, 800g/each, reflective sidewall
• Panaracer Pasela TourGuard $20, no reflective sidewall
• Continental Gatorskins $45, 320g...only up to 700x28, though
• Vittoria Randonneur Pro or Hyper $35, 700x32 420g or $35, 700x32 350g, respectively

However, I can become confused and overwhelmed with all the features and latest technologies of these tires when I look them up online. Besides price, weight, and reflective sidewall, what should I look for in a good tire?


Thanks.

Bike Hermit

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme or Panaracer T-Serv. fuggedaboudit

simplygib

3.5k miles on plain Marathons so far, 2k of that was loaded touring. They look to have at least 2k left in them. I'm sold.

Had Armadillos in the past. I didn't keep track of the mileage but my guess is they lasted somewhere close to 3k miles, all unloaded (commuting and recreation).

Cyclebum

You left out protective belting, tho that is pretty obvious.

I'm riding on Maxxis Overdrives, 700x38. 4000 miles, 4 wire flats. Look good for another 1000. Easy on/off. Limited availability. $30.

Most any reputable brand of touring tire will serve you well. Vittoria Randonneur has a good following.

As for when to put on new tires, I'd go ahead and replace those 25s with the 32s before your tour, simply because of the extra weight. They'll give you a bit more shock absorption and carry the weight better. Or should.

mercator

Those marathons last forever but they are bloody heavy. I'm running a set of Randonneur Pros, which have the reflective strip and seem very nice.

I would put new tires on before the trip.

Cyclesafe

The Armadillos are not high mileage tires. Nor, in my personal experience are the Marathon Supremes. The Marathon Plus 28-622's are a bit heavy, but they are durable and puncture resistant. The width is perfectly OK on asphalt with moderate loads. Your Amadillos will be about 2/3's worn out (my experience was also about 3000 miles) when you start your trip, so get new tires. The Pluses will be good for 5000+ miles and will make a great commuting tire when you get back.

NoReg

I use Schwalbe Marathon slicks, and they don't last super long, but they run with very little resistance.

StephenH

My Raleigh Sojourn came with Vittoria Randonneur Cross tires in 35x700. I've got over 10,000 miles on the bike, and zero flats. The rear tire lasted about 5,000 miles, front was still okay at 10,000. (The rear was still rideable, but I replaced it due to wear.) Can't say how these compare to any other tire, but I've been pleased with them. This has all been daily riding and rando rides, not loaded touring.

SurlyLaika

Okay, so I'll replace them before I leave. I had an inclination towards Vittoria's or Schwalbe Marathon's. What's the downside to heavy tires? Does it really ride that differently?

SurlyLaika

Really? croos tires on a touring bike? and that worked out nicely? My CC came with Ritchey Speedmax cross tires? Inverted tread, so smoother in the middle, some grip towards the edges but everyone's told me not to ride those.

Cyclesafe

The downside to superior durability and puncture resistance is weight. Some will say that the weight of the Plus is too much. Ask yourself whether you want to worry about your tires on your tour. If a couple of flats are OK, then the Marathon Supremes are for you. Taking three Supremes (with one in your pannier as a spare) weighs less than two Pluses. Yes, the weight makes a difference.

late

Sex appeal?

This is a process of elimination.

If price is not a concern, go get marathon supremes.

If it is... pick a max price.

pick a max weight.

That'll narrow it down.

If you want to keep it under 400 grams,
there's the Hyper, which is durable for it's weight.
And the Ribmo, which ought to be more durable than other Panaracers.
And the Marathon Supreme folder.

I ride the Hypers. But on a tour like yours I'd prob jump on the Supremes.
Which assumes my guess is correct that you want to keep the weight down a bit.

SurlyLaika

Yea, I'm leaning towards the Vittoria Randonneur or Vittoria Hyper because of the weight is similar to my Armadillo's. I just don't know if I'm ready to lay down the dough for the Marathon Supremes because I don't know how it will affect the quality of the ride.

SurlyLaika

very helpful review on the Marathon Supremes.
Although rivbike seems to imply that the tires are not true to size.

Is it this Schwalbe Marathon Supreme?

fietsbob

Marathons may be heavy , but light tires would puncture more easily ..
so If you don't mind mending punctures.. go with a lighter tire,
if not heavier Kev band tires..

SurlyLaika

I think the Marathon Supreme folding tire 700x32 is both light and puncture resistant. The only thing is the price but I found a British website that offers a good deal. What do you ride with, fietsbob?

Cyclesafe

It's relative. I've worn out 3 37-622 Marathon Supremes. I had 2-5 punctures per tire and they lasted about 3-4K miles. They rode great and I'll get them again when I'm not riding primarily in the city. I get many fewer flats with the Pluses and they last far longer. However, IMHO Schwalbe did bicycle touring a disservice when they discontinued the Marathon XR. Their claim of equivalence with the "new" Supreme / Extreme / Dureme was wishful thinking. There must be something they're not telling us.....

BTW, a review of a tire after only 350 miles is ridiculous. That's less than a week of touring.

Doug64

We,ve been running the plain old Marathons(32mm) and have been happy with them. They are lighter than the Supremes and the Plus. Having said that, we used Continetal Ultra Gatorskins (28mm) on a 3650 mile trip across the US and for part of the Pacific Coast. For two bikes and approxinately 10,000 loaded miles we had about 16 flat tires. The back tires got about 3k miles. I really like the way they ride. What tire you use depends on your weight and the weight you plan on carrying. I carry a foldable Vittoria as a spare. I'd rather ride a little lighter tire and fix a flat once in awhile than use a bombproof tire that weighs twice as much. The weight is noticeable. When I get a flat it only takes 5-10 minutes or so to check the tire and put in a new tube--not a big deal.

Tourist in MSN

Some are strong advocates of the 15 percent tire drop theory. For around town I use much higher pressures than 15 percent drop, but I find when my bike is loaded down with camping gear, the weight on the back wheel gives me about a 15 percent drop when I have the tire pumped up to max rated pressure. (Hutchinson Globetrotter 700X37, max pressure 87 psig.)

My point is that a 32mm wide tire might be too narrow if you are going to carry a lot of weight. Check out the 15 percent drop theory.
https://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf

The weight I had on my rear wheel exceeded the highest weight on their chart, I had to pull out a ruler and extend the line to the right on their chart to figure it out.

I bought Schwalbe Duremes for my 26 inch tourer, very happy with them. I also have a Schwalbe Extreme for gravel but you would probably not like that on pavement.

iforgotmename

I have both the supremes and the duremes (26") and they are both great tires. I haven't had the duremes long enough to test their durability/longevity but my initial impressions are great. They roll very nicely on the road and handle hardpack and gravel excellently. I haven't lost that much speed compared to the supremes so they will stay on until the road debris clears up around here. I am going to use the supremes on a ride across Ohio this summer and the duremes for a bikepacking trip to the Allegeheny National Forest. The tires do run a little smaller than the sizes stated, I highly recommend both tires.

ZCow

I would go Gatorskins or Marathon Plus/Supremes. I've always felt that it's not so much about the tire but how often you keep up with inflating it and watching for road hazards. I've put 1500 miles on a set of Continental UltraSports (granted, I took them off for Gatorskins), which are pretty flimsy compared to the list here, but I still feel I could get at least 1000 more. I frequently pumped up my tire and made sure to run around the tread with a rag after riding. I've gotten two flats on the US's both due to rushing out with under-inflated tires.

late

I used Marathon Racers one year, and they were about 1 or 2 cm smaller than advertised.

My Hypers are 32, and that makes them larger than most tires saying they are 32.

Panaracers seem to run 1 or 2cm small. But I haven't tried the Ribmos.

I have used the Tourguard folders, and I'd pick something else now.

Btw, do you know of a place that has Vittorias cheap? Because the Hyper
doesn't seem much cheaper than the Supremes, from the websites I saw.

staehpj1

My criteria is:

1. nice ride feel
2. light-ish weight
3. reasonable flat resistance
4. reasonable longevity

For me that means Ultra Gatorskins are a good choice. I want a lively ride and am definitely not one who makes a big deal about fixing a flat once in a while or having to replace a tire on a multi-month tour.

motobecane69

I love my gatorskins, I had some pasela tg's they were superlight, rode very nice but the sidewalls are paper thin and one ripped really easily on me. I'd be worried about that on a major tour. I've also used armadillos, which I actually thought wore very well but they were SO DAMN HEAVY, i thought the ride quality sucked but if you liike the ride quality on them, you may like them.
I recently put on a set of nashbar streetwise 700x35's on my commuter. I call them my ghetto gatorskins. similar supple feeling ride, pretyy darn light and so far no flats. HAve yet to get a flat on my gatorskins and i got one flat in 6 months on an armadillo so I think they are all good in that regard. They also don't seem to be quite as large as a 35c but I could be wrong in that regard. I think if you've been happy with armadillos you owe it to yourself to try something else simply because you can probably get much better ride quality

Search around gatorskins used to come in 32c you may find some somewhere

bradtx

albertmoreno, A heavy tire on a touring bike can have it's +s. It'll act like a flywheel once you get to cruising speed which may help in the long haul. The downsides are they require more effort to get going and slow down. Once the bike is loaded with gear I just don't think there's much difference and the heavier the touring gear, the less difference there is.

I'm very unlikely to load as heavy as many of the riders on this forum and two tires I'm interested in are the Vittoria Randonneur Pro and on the economy end the Hutchinson Top Slick 2 in 32-35C.

Brad