jbmorrison

Hi all, I thought I wud ask if anyone has had problems with marathons on wet roads ?.I am running 40-622 (Green Guard) and they can be scary slick on wet surface (Blacktop) I am running abt 50~60 Psi, tried 40psi front made no difference in traction.
Anyone have the same experience?..I have abt 250 miles on the Marathons just trying the tires out on a few over night trips...They do the same unloaded and loaded with abt 18 lb in rear bags and 5 on the front rack..Any Thoughts wud be welcome!.
JB.

MarcusT

I used them for about 2k km and on wet roads. I did not notice any particular problem with traction. Perhaps because I'm a heavier rider and the bike was fully loaded.
They are still on my MTB converted to tourer converted to commuter
Presently using Marathon plus and pretty sure no loss of traction compared to other tires

TiHabanero

I had a similar issue with a set of the red sidewall Armadillo tires. The problem stemmed from the tires being about 10 years old. They had hardened and were no longer soft enough adequately grip the road when wet. They were noticeably different from new on dry surfaces, and real ugly on wet. I still rolled on them, just didn't take risks cornering.
Are the tires old like the tires in above example?

jpescatore

I've run both 32mm and 35 Schwalbe Marathons. Not very often on wet roads but don't remember any issues - they have plenty of tread. I'm another heavier (220lbs) rider,

They got a very good review on the Rolling Resistance site here but they don't test for wet road traction.

axolotl

I've been riding on Schwalbe Marathons for years and have found them to be superior to all other tires I used previously. I haven't noticed any traction issues under wet conditions. FWIW, I'm a lightweight rider.

djb

No issues at all in the rain. I've never found any of my bike tires to be an issue in the rain, I mean we aren't on a motorcycle with power, we are going pretty slow and use appropriate caution in corners depending on traction available.
I must have 10,000 kms on my set of regular marathons. My wife has never commented on her set that she's ridden on for years.
you say you don't notice any difference between 60 and 40 psi, that's certainly not my experience. There's a big difference in ride feel with that huge range, I feel it in wet or dry.
how much do you weigh?

jbmorrison

you say you don't notice any difference between 60 and 40 psi, that's certainly not my experience. There's a big difference in ride feel with that huge range, I feel it in wet or dry.
how much do you weigh?[/QUOTE]

I really cant feel much difference in the 50~60 psi I normally run, the 40 psi was front tire only ,still not a lot of difference. I weight abt 145 to 150 Lb..

djb

I really cant feel much difference in the 50~60 psi I normally run, the 40 psi was front tire only ,still not a lot of difference. I weight abt 145 to 150 Lb..[/QUOTE]

I weigh 135ish and ride different bikes with different width tires. Bike with 35mm I often get to 35psi front, but 40 is common, another 5, 10 more at rear depending how much stuff I carry.
Another bike has 42mm tires and I run a bit less pressures, but with both bikes anyway, I notice better cornering suspension and general ride comfort with lower pressures, certainly from 60 to 40

but then I noticed a real difference in cornering with 28 slicks going from 100psi to 75, 80.

staehpj1

I think the compound is fairly hard and as a result the wet traction isn't great, but not terrible either at least that was my impression from my limited experience with these.

jbmorrison

Sorry for delay Ti... No I bought the tires in 2020,they are not hard, but do seem rather flimsy...

jbmorrison

Thanks for the input staehpj1. I tried my Conti Ride Tour 42-622(measure 37mm) in place of the Marathons today in the a lite rain and they worked great! I think I keep the Marathons as a spare or back up tire.... Thanks JB..

staehpj1

It depends on what you compare them to. In the manufacturer's matrix of features they are biased toward protection and durability at the expense of some rolling resistance and road grip. That is to be expected for some tires if that is what the priority is, but the fact remains that compared to a more performance oriented tire the compound is probably pretty hard. I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, but If you want a more performance oriented tire and are willing to sacrifice some protection and durability it might be. I tend to ride and tour on tires that are a bit more performance oriented so it seemed harder than what I am used to touring on. It is certainly harder than a real performance tire like a road race tire. I don't know for sure, but I am guessing that the compound is probably softer than their Marathon Plus models.

djb

Stae, I've never ridden on the plus versions, only the regular version, greenguard, so I don't actually know if there is a construction difference.
I do know that lowering the pressures on the front can make a real difference to front end feel, comfort and traction, which for riding in rain is what it's all about.
if I can run 35mm marathons at 35 psi front, then 40mm can be at least the same or lower.

re front feel for traction, in my experience here is where we get into tricky territory about individuals picking up on levels of actual cornering traction.
I personally have spent a lot of time playing with tire pressures and feeling out traction on the same route and corners on bicycle, backed up from past experience racing motorcycles and also regularly commuting on snow--so I think I have a pretty good feel for front end traction, whether at 100mph on a racetrack, or cornering hard on a bicycle in hairpin turns on descents in the Pyrenees or wherever I have the pleasure of attacking corners.
Just today I partially lost the front a number of times but didn't crash in downhill turns fatbiking at about -9c, was fun as heck.
Tire traction in rain is tricky, I find it can be hard to suss out traction limits because wet pavement can vary in traction due to different surfaces, patches of oil etc, so I'm more careful cornering in the wet because traction can change mid corner if you're unlucky. Really though, I've ridden on regular marathons a lot, and they've never had me say, these things suck in the rain....but I haven't been racing on them.

staehpj1

I tthink you'd probably find the plus quite different if my past experience with them is still current. I am not sure if the compound is differentt, but imagine it probably is, but for sure the sides walls are or at least were way stiffer. They felt and rode like a solid tire. Yeah you can run lower pressure, but when the sidewall is really stiff that doesn't have quite as much effect.

I have some racing background on both bicycles and motorcycles too, but most of my experience where I really pushed the limits of tracrion were on dirt not pavement.

FWIW, I didn't mean to imply the regular marathon model was a super hard model that was really poor traction on wet surfaces. I just wanted to point out that in the broad range of tires from road racing to full on utility no flats tires they tend toward the "protection and durability" end of the scale to use schwalbe's terminology. That means a harder compound, a stiff sidewall, and a fairly substantial belt.

djb

all really goodpoints, especially this and about a stiffer tire at lower pressures not feeling better like a more flexible tire.

but this is the touring forum, so while there are nice tires out there that work also for touring, really nice tires that will work great in the rain will always have touring compromises.

Tourist in MSN

My 40mm wide Marathons with green guard worked fine in rain, but in wet weather I take corners quite slow and my rim brakes have less grip than the tires in wet weather, so all I can say is that they were good enough for me.

I used between 40 and 45 psi in the front tire on my folding bike which has 40mm wide Marathons when I was in West Texas, they had a very rough chip seal and I needed that lower pressure to keep my hands from suffering from too much vibration. Otherwise I might run them about 15 psi higher. The West Texas trip was not carrying any load on the bike, I would likely use more pressure if I had front panniers on the bike.

staehpj1

Yes, absolutely, but it will always be a compromise whatever you choose. If you choose a hard stiff long wearing tire you don't get the performance of a race oriented tire and vice versa. Since the choices are on a continuum you can choose something in a spot on the range that suits you and the use at hand. The Plus is pretty far at one end of the continuum. The regular Marathon is probably a notch or maybe two closer to middle, but still on that end of the scale. I tend to think of tires like gatorskins as in the middle of the range, but that may be my skewed perspective.

LeeG

You might consider a different front tire. Unless you are riding on very bad roads and rocks with your weight and load you can ride on more supple and softer tread tires, also smaller tires if they meet your riding comfort. The Schwalbe Supreme and Marathon Almotion are stickier and as a front tire will last almost as long as the Marathon Greenguard on the rear. Another tire that worked well for me commuting in constant rain and urban roads w glass was a 35mm Panaracer T-Serve Protite. When I weighed 220 lbs and was commutting daily I felt plenty connected to wet roads with those tires. There’s no reason to sacrifice grip on the front tire for durability that is more suited for a rear tire and heavy loads. My $.02 is that the mondo tough Schwalbe touring tires are for folks who simply don’t want to ever fix a flat and are pushing big loads. They’re more like truck tires.
I commutted across a grid covered draw bridge and found the Continental touring tread made for a wiggly crossing. Those Scwalbes and Panaracer were more neutral. Panaracers Gravelking Plus slick might be worth checking out.

DangerousDanR

When we first started touring on the tandem we ran 700x38c Marathons. We did three tours in Scotland, oftentimes riding in the rain, and we had no issues. They are a good tire.

Switched to Continental GP500 700X32C, and we are not going back. They ride better and roll faster. And they cost more and don't last as long.