prairiepedaler

So long, old pal.

After 7 years of use as a rear tire it finally gave out due to wear. It did it's job remarkably well. You can see in the picture that there was no tread rubber holding the two sides of the tire together so it started to deform. Probably two flats from the tire that whole time and from debris which evaded the blue protection layer. I ride a regular Marathon in the front and a Plus in the back (we all know that most flats occur in the rear tire so why not put the toughest one back there and save a little extra weight up front). The rider weight is around 205, plus always carrying from 10 to 50lbs on the back in the cargo bay.

I would recommend these tires.

Flip Flop Rider

with ya man, use the same tires with the same results

bobwysiwyg

@prairiepedaler, how many miles total would you estimate? Good wear no matter what.

Paul Barnard

You used every bit of the life in that one! I have a pair on one of my bikes. They roll pretty darned well. I have used mine on asphalt, jeep trails, hard pack dirt and single track with very satisfying results.

prairiepedaler

Yes indeed, Schwalbe got the Marathon Plus right (unlike their Winter Tire ). I don't know how much mileage it took to get the tires to that point but I'd estimate maybe 3500 kilometres? That's about 500k a season which might be highly conservative. Seems like I ride one hell of a lot more than that. Others have said they get 10,000k out of them. Maybe it is time to finally buy a cycle computer. I bought two of these at the same time and have had one stored in a clothes closet since (now installed as replacement for the deceased). One of the few flats I had on the tire was in the exact spot where there is most apparent wear! I thought that interesting. I fixed that flat, inspected the tire and saw it was just slightly wearing at that time (you could just see a touch of blue through the tread. Within a weeks' riding the tire had worn to the point you see in the photos. So if you own these tires and begin to see blue or green peeking through, better replace 'em quick!

Wildwood 

I've got a pair on a tandem.
Worst time for a flat would be when riding with the spouse.


Never on a roadie for recreational/fitness rides.

indyfabz

I would only put a tire like that on my touring bike and, if I did, I would never let it wear to that point. That would be inviting one large PITA. Chance of a serious failure during a high speed descent aside, imagine discovering wear like that in the middle of nowhere with no bike shop within 100 miles. Maybe even 200 miles.

M.A

7 years? Mine dont even last 4

prairiepedaler

Wouldn't you know it, after just installing the new Marathon + on the rear I get a flat! As you can see, it really isn't the tires' fault. A shard of sharp, right angled metal entered into the portion of the tire where the protective layer is thinnest. But good news; this means, of course, the likelihood of having a flat on this tire now should be far into the future.

For comparison, there is a picture of the regular Marathon (which is used for the front) purchased and installed the same time as the Plus on the rear. It still has quite a bit of life left!



This is the regular Marathon on the front.

MikeyMK

My only experience of Schwalbe Marathons is on the front of my recumbent trike (tadpole), where they struggled to grip. Understeer city... But that's neither a common or fair criticism, as they weren't designed for the job of cornering whilst upright. I'm sure they grip fine when tilted over into corners.

I never got a puncture, though!

TaintedRide

Congrats on wearing out a tire!! There is something so satisfying to me when I wear one out. I ride in Arizona where it's really flat so no concern about high speed descents. Keep on wearing those tires out!

Bassmanbob

I love these tires on my touring/commuter bike.

Wilfred Laurier

A buddy has a set of Marathon Supremes, and also has other tires for swapping in for faster rides, but wound up getting a puncture every time he rode with anything other than the Marathons, so doesn't bother swapping them out any more. They may slow him down a bit, but less than stopping to fix a flat.

wphamilton

Why? If I was adjusting my sense of probabilities after a flat, I'd increase the chance of flatting.

jackb

My wife, my son, and cycled from Pasau Germany through Austria to Bratislava this past spring. The company which provided the bikes had Marathon Plus tires on all their bikes rented for touring. We were told that we would not get a flat. They were right.

63rickert

I used Schwalbe Big Apples on my commuter for a decade. After the third rear tire wore through with no flats decided those tires were just overbuilt. No flats for a decade is nice and Schwalbe achieved their design goal but light tires are nice too. So replaced the Schwalbes with about the lightest tires possible in a similar size. The new tires are Compass/Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass. Two years now and exactly one flat. That was on a rear tire that was completely worn through (need to inspect under the fenders more often) and the cause was a scrap of wire, most likely a wire from a gear or derailleur cable from my own basement.

The tire that weighs half as much does wear through quicker. Also gives at least one mph. Greatly increased comfort. Improved braking and cornering traction. The bike simply gets used more. And all time spent on bike is more fun.

prairiepedaler

Wearing out a tire is like a badge of honour - especially for a front one! I think I may have underestimated the amount of travel time on these tires. Probably more in line with 2500k per year, riding from around end of March to Mid-November on them (and then switching to winter tires).