cobyrne

I ran marathons (700cx32) for commuting for years and had very few punctures. Punctures, when they happen, generally occur when the tires are pretty badly worn and the blue puncture guard material starts being visible in spots. I did have a roofing nail that went straight through a half worn rear tire, but I don't fault the tires for that. After a few sets I replaced the front with a Schwalbe Kojak (35mm) and kept a Marathon on the back. I find this is more comfortable for absorbing road chatter and small bumps since the Kojak is more supple and I can run it at lower pressure (50 psi) without noticeably increasing my effort to maintain speed. I keep the Marathon on the rear at relatively higher pressure (70-80 psi) since Marathons aren't very supple and have increased rolling resistance at lower pressure. I found the rear tire picks up more debris and cuts, so having the more armoured tire there makes sense to me. So far I haven't had any more flats than when running Marathons front and rear.... *knocks on wood*