afrowheels

Got a puncture today (my first on these Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires in 7000km, including the previous tour of 5,500km) and after looking closely at the tire I reckon I may need new ones. I am carrying a foldable 26x1.6 which I'll probably put on the front now but my current ones are 1.75 and based on the experience so far I would prefer to go upwards in width rather than down. Thought it would not be too difficult to get some replacements shipped but everyone seems to be out of stock of 26" tires 😑 even without taking into account that I would need them shipped to Colombia. The move away from 26" is starting to seem like a real problem for those of us who've stuck with this size.

tyrion

You can't buy direct from Schwalbe in Columbia?

https://www.schwalbetires.com/Marathon-Plus-11100761

gauvins

or bike24 . Plenty of variants. Reportedly shipping to Columbia

afrowheels

I looked first on Amazon because I know they often ship to Colombia. All the 26" I could find (only looked 1.6 and above) were out of stock including Schwalbe itself. BikeTiresDirect ship to Chile but not Colombia (weird). REI don't have 26". Jensen's don't have 26". No stockists of Schwalbe in Colombia I could find.

I spent 10min to find that they only seem to ship to Canada and the USA 🙃 so I guess that's a 'no'.

Thanks, didn't know about that site. They seem to ship to Colombia but estimated delivery time is 4-6 weeks...

ThermionicScott 

www.schwalbetires.com is the website of the North American distributor, if I'm not mistaken.

gauvins

hmmm... tire boot can't get you going?

(or, perhaps, learn to enjoy Columbia; or email them WRT expedited/expensive shipping options?)

Tourist in MSN

I did not try to figure out if Amazon in Germany will ship to Columbia or not, I will let you research that. I am not sure what the difference between Marathon Plus and Marathon Plus Tour is but they have the Tour version in Germany.
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/SCHWALBE-...dp/B004MMVT1Q/

When I ordered from Amazon in Germany for shipment to USA, I used a credit card that did not charge a currency conversion fee, I told Amazon that my card used Euros to avoid a currency conversion fee.

Or check what else they might have.
https://www.amazon.de/s?k=schwalbe+marathon+plus+50-559

SJS in UK has them, they ship to lots of places. Is this what you wanted? But since Covid, SJS shipping costs have been a bit high, check that before you get too detailed in your search. SJS has sold a lot of 26 inch touring bikes (I have two of them), so they have a large customer base that looks for that size.
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-la...00-inch-50559/

Last time I ordered from SJS was 2017, their shipping fees at that time were quite reasonable, but that was before Brexit.

Steve B.

REI has a bunch, so does BikeTiresDirect

afrowheels

Guys, on the one hand I appreciate the replies but on the other hand sending me to sites that don't ship to Colombia wastes time I don't have. SJS doesn't ship to Colombia. I already checked REI. I am enjoying Colombia but there are various reasons I have a schedule (visa, bookings, etc). Etc. So maybe think twice before posting without checking or reading. (I didn't actually ask for solutions, I expressed a concern - which has been supported by all the proposed alternatives that don't work!)

ThermionicScott 

Does your tour stop dead if you don't have Schwalbe Marathons? Surely there are other 26" tires for sale in that country.

Steve B.

Im not researching if the friggin dealer ships to Columbia, sorry.

veganbikes

The whole point of going 26" is finding tires in other countries. If I am so stuck on a single tire brand I cannot easily get well I probably didn't need that size and could have gone 700c or 650b or something. 26" is fine but generally the biggest reason I hear for people choosing it is for the ability to find a tire in that size in most countries, not necessarily the exact tire I love but a serviceable tire to get me rolling in an emergency. Obviously if you have a 26" bike already from back in the day it might be different but still just grab a tire and when your itinerary gets you to a country you can get your chosen tire in swap back to that tire or see if you have any friends back home that can send you the tire of your dreams.

I think making do is some of the fun of touring. To a point obviously freezing every night or starving yourself is not fun but making substitutions or having to do a funky repair is kinda neat.

Steve B.

A buddies son touring thru India, was in need of a new 700C tire. He found what he needed on line, ordered to his parents house, they shipped to India. Few days is all. Maybe you could do something similar ?

RCMoeur 

Most of my current bikes have 26" / 559 rims.

There are still a lot of 26" tires available, but yes, the options for higher-performance tires seems to be steadily dwindling. I could see the OP having difficulty sourcing good tires in 559 that could be shipped to his/her/their locale.

(semi-off-topic musings on the subject follow while shaking fist at 650B...)

I am currently hoarding curating a collection of gently-used spare 26" high-pressure tires since Specialized discontinued the 26 x 1.25 100 psi Fat Boy and Nashformance discontinued their 26" slick not long before going belly-up (coincidence? I think not.) I've been typically finding them at bike swaps or other oddball places. I'm fully aware none of them are getting any younger and that there's a risk of excess rubber aging / cracking / delamination / cord bulging once I get to finally mounting & using these tires the older they get, but I'd rather ride an old good light tire than a newer heavier less-efficient tire. For now, anyway.

PhilFo 

Starbike ships to Colombia and looks to have every 559 Schwalbe available in stock.

axolotl

I'm amazed that you began a tour in South America with tires which already had 5500 km of wear. It never occurred to you to start the tour with new tires?

Folks, it's Colombia, not Columbia.

MarcusT

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/
"Colombia

Colombia

Shipping costs 34,99 € Bulky goods1 x Bike x per trekking bike x 1bulk goods: transport-suitcase, bicycles
The indicated bulk-goods' charge is valid for one parcel, which is one transport-suitcase. If you order more than just one transport suitcase, the charge for bulky goods is increased according to the ordered quantity, since we cannot send several transport-suitcases together in one parcel.
xDelivery method not available. Unfortunately, bulk goods and bicycles cannot be dispatched to these countries.

Attention: We offer deliveries by DPD and DHL (only within the EU; outside of the EU only by DHL, who will cooperate with the national postal service for delivery). Depending on the choice of the transport company, this choice can result in higher transport costs than those mentioned in the table above. The above-mentioned table shows the least expensive freight costs with the corresponding transport company, which needs more time to deliver. The other choice delivers faster, but is more expensive - when making your choice during the ordering process, you will see the corresponding freight costs listed before you agree to our terms and conditions. At this point, you can still return and choose the other transport company."
I have not checked their stock of tires.

MarcusT

I found a European vendor who seems to have what you're looking for in stock and claims shipping to Colombia.
https://www.deporvillage.net/
I recommend try to get folding tires, the package will be more likely to arrive undamaged

Also Check out Decathlon. According to the website they have a number of stores in Colombia.
https://www.decathlon.com.co/

Tourist in MSN

Sorry, I thought that they did ship there.

But, I am not interested in spending a lot of time researching an answer to a question that I will never ask, thus I did not research it in detail.

I was only trying to help, which you clearly did not want.
​​​​​

Tourist in MSN

That was accurate before the big resurgence of 650b tires, but a lot of the bike manufacturers wanted to make a change. And when they stopped making new bikes in that size, replacement tires are getting harder to find.

I have one more reason for preference for 26 inch, it is a lot easier to put a 26 inch wheel with a tire on it in a 26 X 26 inch S&S case than a 28 inch wheel.

But I only have one S&S bike, my two non-S&S 26 inch bikes are still ridden but those bikes no longer fit the historical norm of finding a 26 inch replacement tire in a small village in S America. I still like those bikes, have no reason to replace them.

Back 15 years ago when someone asked - Should I get a new touring bike in 26 inch or 700c? My advice back then was if you wanted to tour on tires wider than 37mm, get 26 inch because quality tires wider than 37mm tires for touring were very hard to find back then. But, that clearly is no longer the case.

When I have toured on a 700c bike in the past, I did not carry a spare tire, assumed I could find a replacement if I needed to. But starting about nine years ago I have always carried a spare tire when touring on a 26 inch bike, it might be too hard to find replacement tires if one is needed. Have not needed one yet, but I still want to make sure that I am not stranded somewhere and a folding spare in the bottom of a pannier means I have one less thing to worry about.

I recall hearing a couple decades ago that if you were touring in a country that previously had been a French colony, it was easier to find 650b tires than 26 inch, but since I have never been in such a place, I have no clue if that was accurate at that time or not.

tcs

Confused. Is the claim that the OP can get 650B tires shipped to Colombia, but not 26"?

tcs

Hmph. Found a place with 26x1.75 Marathon GreenGuard in stock that ships worldwide. Oh! These are not the Supremes the OP requires. Never mind.

BTW, "International shipping times vary widely and are at the mercy of customs agents, international post offices, and carrier services."

Fun fact: Ubertourist Heinz Stücke once waited for tires for three weeks in Africa.

ClydeClydeson

Damaged tires are a nuisance, but obviously the real crime here is offering help to OP without checking his database of acceptable vendors.

My advice is to just remove the tire and ride it on the rim, then you won't be so bothered by people trying to help.

njkayaker

You are going to have a bad time if you think telling people on a public forum not to post is going to have an effect.

Seems like "expressing a concern" and not being interested in help is equally "wasting time you don't have". If you really don't want replies, you should "think twice about posting".

phughes

https://www.amazon.com/SCHWALBE-Mara...reation&sr=1-4