lifanus

Thank you for your inputs guys, very helpful, tried to look at some tires you've recommended but all out of stock in US... i went to my local bike shop and the only tire they had was Kenda Kwest which I believe was same tire on my old Dahon Vybe which i got 0 punctures over 6 month of riding, for 25 bucks a pop, so i bought these as backup till my next puncture on my kojak

sjanzeir

I beg to differ. The 20x1.5 Racers that came stock on an older Mu I used to own felt like pulling an anchor even at the maximum 85psi. I almost immediately swapped them out for a pair of 20x1.60 Marathon Supremes (way back when I could still buy them, that is.)

Now that the good old 20x1.60 Marathon Supreme has been discontinued, for me at least, the Big Apple in the next best thing. I ran a pair of 2.00s on my Mu's narrow 14mm rims for months with nary an issue before I shifted them over to my new Hemingway, which came from the factory with unprotected Kendas (I got a flat the day after I picked up the bike.) I would get a second pair for the Mu in a heartbeat, but that's no concern for the time being, given that I've got me a little stockpile of Supremes on hand.

Inisfallen

Update:

I've been riding around New York City since March of this year on Schwalbe Marathon tires. I've been commuting to work (7 miles from home) three days a week, on average (sometimes more, sometimes less), going to the supermarket (my favorite supermarket is 1.8 miles from my home, according to Google Maps), visiting an elderly relative in a nursing home weekly (7.5 miles), and lots of other riding, including sometimes just riding for fun.

So that's a pretty good amount of miles. And I didn't get a single flat. I don't even carry a pump and patch kit anymore.

And then the other day, I went to get my folding bike out of the closet and go to work, and the back tire was flat. Disappointment ensued.

So I took the tire off, pulled out the tube, and had a look. I had unfairly maligned the tires. It wasn't their fault. The valve stem had separated from the tube. This wasn't a puncture.

I still love the Marathons. They're holding up amazingly well to the rigors of NYC's dirty, trash-strewn streets. They were a bit expensive for bicycle tires, but worth every penny.

Winfried

There's also the option of getting fast tires à la Kojak… and stick a Tannus Armour Insert for puncture protection.

https://tannus.co.uk/armour-20-width

tds101 

I have the Continental Tour Ride on one of my folders, and they're quite good. Ebike certified, extra puncture protection, long lasting,....I'd forgotten about them. Amazon.com : Continental Ride Tour Replacement Bike Tire - Extra Puncture Protection, E-Bike Rated City/Trekking Bicycle Tire (12", 16", 20", 24", 26", 27", 28", 700c) : Sports & Outdoors

joey buzzard

I've tried s few 20" 406 tires now. Here's some bullet reviews:

Kenda Kwest
- Came stock on my bike. Was surprised how well they rolled as they felt refreshingly fast.
- These are about average for puncture resistance and they don't last forever, but they're cheap to replace and do the job as reasonably well as can be expected for the price and then some.
​​- Good choice, especially if affordability is a consideration.
7.5/10

Schwalbe Marathon Racers
- Tried these, didn't like them.
- Seemed sluggish when compared to my Kenda Kwests and I found them prone to punctures. I felt that these tires offer the worst of both worlds - high rolling resistance and poor puncture protection.
4/10

Schwalbe Kojaks
Sick of the Marathon Racers going flat and these being the only 20" option in the shop I was visiting, I decided to give these a go.
-Total junk in my opinion. I mounted them in the shop and didn't even make it the 3km home without a flat. For several weeks I rode these and it seemed like I was changing tubes out as much as I was riding my bike.
- Ended up riding 60km on a flat one night because inevitabily had a puncture during a long day in the saddle and it was too cold to stop and try to fix it. I replaced these as soon as I could (sooner actually as in desperation I bought a really cheap hardware store tire to replace the Kojak I'd ridden deflated 60km becaus I was in a small town and that's what was locally available).
- I also l prefer a chunkier tire on a 20" wheel as the Kojak's skinny racing profile made the outer circumference of the wheel smaller and the bike ride harsher. I believe Kojaks slowed me down while riding in real world conditions. They certainly didn't feel great.
- Also, not the most affordable. They get half a 1 out of ten for being lightweight. That's the only good thing I can say about them.
0.5/10

Schwalbe Marathon (100psi)
After the Kojaks and the Marathon Racers let me down in quick succession I was quite skeptical about Schwalbe, tires generally. I happened to be in Berlin however and.I couldn't find any Kenda Kwests in 20". At Box Bikes (where they sell fancy folders) the staff showed me the regular Marathon. I was immediately impressed with the quality of its construction and having no other great options I bought a pair to replace my hardware store bought tire and my remaining Kojak.
- Two years and many thousands of kilometres later (much of it on rough track as I ended up living several kilometers up a dry riverbed in Southern Spain) these tires are still doing the job well.
-I've had very few flats in that time.
- They roll fairly well and I've put them through days where they have travelled more than 200km and put on more than 2000 meters elevation gain. They work well with me and the rest of my bike. They're fast enough that I'm definitely not slow and I can easily recommend these.
9/10



​

sjanzeir

This had been my exact experience with the Marathon Racers that came stock on a Dahon I had a few years ago. I wrote somewhere around here that they felt like pulling an anchor - even at the top recommended pressure - and punctures were unusually frequent, even compared to some unprotected tires that I ran for years. I'd say you're being generous with your 4/10 rating.

Jipe

The Schwalbe Marathon are excellent tires, strong and astonishingly fast rolling for a touring tire. But they are heavy and their grip on wet roads (or worse cobbles) is poor.

I think that currently, the best tradeoff is the Continental Contact Urban, fast rolling, strong (at least for the center, sidewall aren't as strong), good grip and sufficiently lightweight (there are lower weight options but these are road race tires much more fragile),

And in 20"/ETRTO406, they exist in 3 width : 32mm, 42, and 50mm.

Only drawback: often out of stock!

Southside123

If puncture resistance is your main priority, I highly recommend the Schwalbe Marathon Plus like others have mentioned. They are tough as nails, moderate rolling resistance, and very long tread life. If on the other hand, low rolling resistance is your main priority, give Schwalbe Pro One TLE Evo (Amazon.com) a try. I have them installed on my Dahon MU P27. The drawback with these tires is they are almost impossible to mount onto the rims, tread life, and puncture resistance.

pinholecam

I used 18" Schwalbe Marathon Racers extensively.
High mileage, audax, light gravel, tours and fast rides with even road bikes.
Seems a good enough compromise for me wrt puncture resistance, weight and nylon/kevlar protection thickness.
In fact, the tires still had plenty of life in them when I sold the bike together with the tires after 3 years

lifanus

Thanks again guys for all your continued input on the quest for that perfect city tires!

My Kenda Kwist finally kicked the dust after maybe less than two thousand miles, and I've decided to go with a pair of Maxxis Hookworm tires since they were on sale for just $20 bucks during the holidays. Just installed one on my rear tire and I must say it looks great and should provide better rolling performance compared to my cheapo Kwest. I'll come back and update since I'm still waiting for a extra pair of inner tubes to come before I replace the front one... For now I'll ride Kwest in front and Hookworm on the back... lol

Here are some pix for your comparison:


Hookworm on rear, Kwest on front

Pinigis 

We have been running the Kenda Kwest tires for a decade now, and I really like them, but they have been hard to come by (at a production scale) and we have had to acquire CST and Wanda instead. I hope that the Kwest supply improves over the next year.

Fentuz

what’s the maximum tyre width you can fit on kinetix comp pro?
i run Kojak 35-406 and while I don’t worry about puncture, my wife would like a knobby tyre that handle mud better…
35 is on the max side. I saw schwalbe little joe does 37-406.

BobbyG

Tire liners (Mr. Tuffy's etc.) will add puncture resistance to any tire. For the last 10-years of my bike commute I used tire liners and went from 1-2 flats a month to 1-2 flats a year. The tire liners allow be to run more supple tires which feel and perform better than less pliable, stiffer, sturdier tires.

LondonTourer

I second Schwalbe Big Apple. Using Slime tubes for puncture resistance

LondonTourer

It seems both Big Apple (Raceguard) and Big Ben (RaceGuard) have the same ratings (Higher is better):
Rolling: 4.5
Road Grip: 4
Protection: 4
Durability: 4

However on Off-Road Grip, Big Ben is a 3 while Big Apple is aa 2.5

Jipe

I use the Big Ben Plus (after having a Big Apple Plus that doesn't exists anymore).

Same as Big Ben and Big Apple but with an additional puncture protection layer.

In ETRTO406, only available in 55x406, no 50x406.

sjanzeir

I don't know about the Big Ben, but I can tell you from experience that the Big Apple downright sucks on pretty much anything other than clean, stable asphalt or roughly finished concrete.

Jipe

That's not my experience, the Big Apple does a good job on gravel trails as long as they aren't muddy. Because its wide, it also work on soft ground, I used it on the hard sand of a beach at low tide.

My experience is not with the 50x406 Big Apple but on the 50x355 of my Birdy.

I do not have Big Ben tires but well Big Ben Plus 55x406 and grip of road is not very much better, same lack of grip on muddy trails.