Originally Posted by
staehpj1
There probably are settings where a setup that stiff and heavy makes sense, but yeah I shudder to think about it. For me it is as much the super stiff noncompliant ride of a super stiff sidewall with a heavy tire and tube, but also the weight. Industrial settings and really extreme commuting settings come to mind, but I for one would never tour on something like that again.
I love a lively compliant sidewall and light wheels and tires, at least to the extent possible for the conditions. They make riding a joy.
If someone else can find joy on a super stiff tire and heavy wheels and tires more power to them, but it would suck too much of the joy out of riding for me. I tried going that stiff heavy route once (Marathon Plus 700x32) and hated it. I took them off and sold them.
Ummmm, you mean like remote areas in South America, where a ripped up tire is a show stopper, until you can organise a decent new one? I get the impression the OP isn't going to be credit card touring. There's nothing lively about a bike loaded for remote touring, it's gonna be as heavy as hell anyway, food, fuel, maybe extra water. Even touring in Europe, if you are camping you end up with a reasonable load.
There currently is only one officially tubeless touring tire in a size that will fit the OPs bike, the Surly Extra Terrestrial in 26" x 46mm. I can't recommend them because I haven't used them, only the 2.5" version, which I ran tubeless, and they suck because the mileage you get isn't very good heavily loaded. The 46 may be different as the tread pattern is much closer, and even then they are going to come in around 800g or so anyway.