Skipjacks

I need advice. Plus I looked around Bike Forums and felt like everyone would be super thrilled about another tire thread. I mean...that's not played out at all!

I need new tires for my commuter. I'm down to the Continental Top Contact II's and the Schwalb Marathon HS 420's

Conti
https://www.continental-tires.com/bi...s/top-contact2

Schwalb
https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_t...s/marathon_420

They are both on Amazon with a negligible price difference.

I had been running Michelin Proteks (a much cheaper tire) and I liked how well they rolled but they are just so miserable to mount. They are also a very stiff tire that isn't very forgiving on bumps after a while.

Flat protection is nice but it not my primary goal. I don't run over a lot of nasty debris. I think both of these tires are flat resistant enough for the roads I ride this bike on.

A good rolling tire with a comfortable ride that corners safely are more my goal.

I'm 90% riding fairly smooth pavement on the commuter with the occasional dirt/grass path. Maybe running off a curb or hitting an uneven joint in a cement parking lot. That type of stuff. Nothing crazy.

37mm actual width is my max to fit inside my fenders.

Thoughts between the Top Contact II's and the Marathon HS 420's?

I know the Schwalbs are THE tire most people gravitate towards. Sometimes there is a reason for that. Sometimes products just get popular because they've been around longest.

Cyclist0108

Compass (aka Rene Herse).

Drink the cool-aid.

Skipjacks

Looks like I'd be about $82 a tire to get the type/size I'm looking for.

There isn't enough Kool Aid in the world to overcome how cheap I am.

350 grams though....not gonna lie...that's sexy.

alan s 

Marathon Supremes.

Skipjacks

I can't do $80 a tire.

alan s 

Might have to shop around. I recently bought a Marathon Supreme 26x2 for around $50 from Walmart online.

Darth Lefty 

Q: I need a sturdy garment

A: Here, try this tissue paper. It's the best tissue paper you can get!

RubeRad

Maybe next you can ask about chain lube vs wax

I think the reason is flat protection. At the high end (Supreme) also suppleness and ride quality, but at the low end, I see more people say they ride like rocks (but it's worth it for the flat protection).

I don't have personal experience with either tire, but given your benign environment and stated preference for comfort/performance vs flat protection, I'd look more towards the conti. That's an interesting looking tire.

In fact, I'm going to need a new pair of tires in a few months, I might go for those in 47-622. If you get them, let us know how you like them.

no motor?

I ran the Forte commuter tires for about 5 years and really liked them until I got a couple of flats. Smooth, fast, light, cheap and easy to obtain before Performance tanked.

jetta_mike

Pasela's? I'm liking mine so far.

Skipjacks

Good idea!

What is everyone's opinion on using WD-40 to lube my triple chainring?

acidfast7

I have one HS420.

Not thrilled about the treadlife but the roads here are ****ty.

Cheap tyres though (around €20 to my door.)

Good glass protection.

Skipjacks

Alright Marathon lovers....

How accurate are the listed sized on the Schwalb Marathons?

Do they run pretty accurate or run small like Continentals do? Or run large like Michelin's do?

Darth Lefty 

You'll find two numbers. The larger one is the height.

Michelin tires only run true to size if you fill them with bibendum

acidfast7

ETRTO charts are precise. This is not rocket science.

RubeRad

Ah, the real question is, are the contis tubeless-ready. I can't see anything claiming they are, so I guess not.

I want my next tires to be TLR so I can experiment with ghetto (split-tube liner) tubeless for commuting

Phamilton

Over 4,000 miles on my Bontrager T1s when I stopped counting miles. T1 ($20/ea) only available in 700c up to 25mm wide, the T2 ($25/ea)available up to 32mm. Mine are 27 x 1 1/4. Easy to mount, tread compound soft and grippy both dry and wet. No additional puncture protection but maybe a dozen flats on mine so far. They are good tires. 27 x 1 1/4 is 440g. Look them up.

Skipjacks

That chart shows what size tire you can fit on what size rims. It does not show how accurate a company's claimed tire widths are.

It's also a guideline, not a precise chart. People exceed those recommendations all the time.

It's also not even remotely what I asked.

Skipjacks

It all makes sense now.

A Michelin tire claims to be 35 mm but it 38 mm when mounted.

And their mascot claims to be 175lbs with a healthy BMI....but in reality....

acidfast7

It is precisely what you asked produced by the manufacturer, which tends to be very precise on the whole. Their usage of loanwords in their non-native language could use improvement, I confess.

I am sorry if you do not appreciate a well-answered response and would rather prefer anecdotal experience.

If you wish to continue to troll me, you may, but I will continue to provide reliable information for the remainder of BF members and guests.

Skipjacks

It wasn't well answered. It was answering a question nobody asked.

That chart shows how wide of a tire you can fit on a rim of any given width. That is not what I asked. It's not even close to what I asked.

And spreading outright lies like "bike tire measurements are precise" is not helpful to anyone. It's REALLY unhelpful to someone finding this thread who doesn't know that labeled tire sizes are notoriously inaccurate.

Why the snot did I take you off ignore? What the hell was I thinking? Go ruin someone else's question thread for your sick laughs instead.

For anyone else finding this thread in the future....here is real information on tire sizes, measurements, and safe rim width/tire width information as well as a detailed explanation of various tire measurement systems

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

acidfast7

I highly recommend that people learn ETRTO as it helps make sense of the remnants are the various European systems out there.

28in and 29in is still very commonly used in multiple countries (on trekking and MTB bikes in Germany as an example) and is simply a 700c in France. ETRTO clarifies all of these into a simple -622.

I like the romance of calling a 650b and 27.5 but it gets confusing cycling across multiple countries where those archaic systems mean different things.

Skipjacks

None of which has anything even remotely to do with what I asked. So please stop trying to derail the thread.

I'm asking you nicely. This one time. So pretty please, with sugar on top, go away.

acidfast7

I'm not sure how to answer this more plainly. I've had about a dozen Schwalbe tyres. I measure them when they arrive and before/after mounting them and they always match the ETRTO size specification. I'm not sure what's confusing about this. I don't even see why this is a question.

StanSeven

I cleaned up the thread. Let’s stay on topic and avoid the bantering.