Marathon HS 368

I've had these on several bikes, in 26", 700c, 27", even 26 x 1 3/8". Hooked and hookless rims. These tires are solidly made, durable, constructed of quality tread compound, very consistently round, priced right, and have never let me down.

I have also used fancier Marathons ("XR" on my touring rig, "plus" on a commuter bike, and "slick" on a rain bike), and can say the same about those. The "slick" was a bit heavy for what it was, but whatever.

My motivation for posting is just to say that no, absolutely not, there is no systemic problem with any of these tires. I've been purchasing them often for the last 10 years and have never had a dud. They can be made to come off hookless rims, with difficulty varying with the design of the rim. I think hookless rim users are responsible for determining the application of tires for hooked rims: sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. I find that the angle of the rim sidewalls matter a lot: older hookless rims are both shallower and angled outward from the spoke bed, relative to new rims. These will let tires de-bead pretty easily.

And I don't usually replace these; I sell the bikes they're on... They last a long time!

Couldn't be happier. Thanks y'all. Really like the reflex sidewalls, too!

After trying a few lesser renowned tires a few years ago I decided it was time to invest in some real rubber. After reading quite a bit and asking trusted members of the Philadelphia cycling community I gave the Schwalbe Marathons a try. These were originally the old pre-2006 marathons. The rugged original in both 700 x 32 and 700 x 28.

What great tires they were! I weigh in at 250 and with a lock and laptop on a commute and gear for weekend trips I am pretty hard on my tires. I also ride through Philadelphia where breaking glass in the bike lane is what people do for fun on the weekend. After 2000 or so miles the tread was still usable and not a single flat. I was sold, these were such fantastic tires. They made cycling a joy and left me to concentrate on the scenery and my ride.

When it came for new tires on my '87 Schwinn Voyageur equipped with 27" wheels I was relieved to see that Schwalbe offered the Marathon in that size. I quickly ordered a pair for my newly built wheels, Velocity Synergy rims laced to NOS Deore XT hubs. (While I'm on it Velocity makes fantastic rims. Give them a try for your next wheel.)

After bringing the new tires up to 90 PSI front and rear on brand new rims I went for a spin. POW! After a few miles the rear tube blew the tire right off the bead. They were really easy to get on the rim, but I'd never guessed that they'd blow right off the bead. I thought it was a bad installation so I tried it again. POW! Jeez, twice, really? A third time. POW! Ok, three blowouts is enough. I've had it with this tire. I tried it on different rims. It's just too big and looks to be built out of tolerance.

Is it possible that the 27" tires are poorly made? I never had problems with the 700 sizes. In fact, they were nearly impossible to mount the first time, but they lasted forever. These went on so easily I had to finesse the bead into the rim to keep it from popping out.

A friend of mine had the same experience with his 28" Marathon tires. POW! Anyone else have this trouble? What's with the 27 and 28 inch tires? I have nothing good to say about them, which is a shame as they used to be fantastic.

Looking forward to hearing if anyone else had this trouble.

Any plans to produce this tire in a 700x38c size?

Best all around bike tire I have ever had. Purchased Oct. 2007 both tires & Schwalbe tubes. Finally had flat at 4,500 miles,(Small sliver of glass). Currently have over 6,000 miles on these tires and still have over half the tread. I mostly ride smooth city streets, but also ride on the shoulder alot where there is lots of bits of glass and sand. The wet traction is excellent. Only one wipe out since I put them on and that was because of Ice Storm. When New you had to try hard to break traction in Dry Snow!!! I couldn't belive it!(It's a street tread) I ride all year, I have no car. The only bad thing I can say about the tires is that they are heavy, but so what. These tires will outlast 3 sets of cheap tires and they have much better wet traction & puncture resistance. These Tires still show no signs of dry rotting or cracking even though I have ridden 2 winters w/them. Sorry to see they dropped the 50 size. G.I. From St. Louis, MO / USA.

I have a 700 x 38C on my back wheel that was recommended to me and put on by my bike shop. I wanted to put the same on my front wheel but I don't see this size listed. What am I missing or not understanding?...

Silly me, I bought these thinking I'd be flat-free for a while. I even reset my odometer so I could later cry with veracity, "I cycled ___ miles and only 1 flat!" No such luck. Fixed a flat yesterday and another today. Maybe I need slime tubes, but I bought these tires specifically so I could ditch the heavy tubes and ride light and free. Sigh. Guess I'll keep scouting for the ideal tire.

This comment/question may be unique to the 40-635 (28 x 1 1/2") size. This is an old rim style used on English rod-brake roadsters, Chinese or Indian clones and utility bikes.

I have had these tires blow off the rim twice while stored in the back of a station wagon (estate) on warm or hot days. They were inflated to 70 psi (tire rated at 80), and the outside temperature was about 70F. It happened once on an Indian made replacement rim and once on an original Raleigh rim. I am an experienced mechanic and am confident that the rim strips, tubes and tires were assembled correctly.

Needless to say, when I have to leave the bike in the car, I now reduce tire pressure. I haven't had occasion to test if this prevents the problem.

I'm wondering if these inflation pressures are inappropriate for a rim type designed almost 100 years ago, when no one envisioned much over 30 psi for tires.

Best bang for the buck
Have tried the xr ,good but heavy ,the supreme"s , nice but very pricey ,and the marathon plus, good but heavy and wore out realativly early.
The HS 368 does the job with little fuss and wont break the bank.

I've put around three thousand kms on a pair so far commuting to work. So far only one flat and it was a dry wall screw. I love these tires, they are fast, basic all purpose tires. I will replace them when they finally wear out. Cool reflective sidewals too!

Got five distinct bikes and most of them have Marathons, I like the flexibility of Schwalbe and to be able equip them with unique treads. Love to see these classics in a Black with RED reflex line, take note please!!

..and only one flat. Fortunately it was on the front tire. It was a piece of glass that became embedded so I am not going to fault the tire. The first 100 or so miles was on really bad dirt roads. Since most of my tour was to be on pavement, I opted to take the chance with some 1.5s so I would make good time once on the pavement again. I had the tires down to about 50-60lbs and they did fine. It wasn't plush but surprisingly, no problems considering I am about 225lbs and carry about 45lbs. 600 grams is a fair amount for a 1.5 so indeed they should be able to handle a little dirt. I would use these tires again on my next road tour. They aren't light but they do roll well.

I ride every year bike 10 000 km to 15 000 km past 20 years and I did try many differrent tires from Continental , Vittoria , Panaracer , Michelin and Schwalbe . Once I had on my old trusted touring Cannondale Schwalbe 308 and there was good . These Schwalbe HS 368 on my new slightly modified Trek 520 is much better tire , I run 700 x 35 and it handle load well under dry or wet condition , is fast - just perfect tire for hard packed dirt road in Europe or asphalt when on long distances touring . I do not recommend this HS 368 for bicycle commuting at all because Schwalbe made much better tire for this kind of city riding for about some price . I did rotate HS 368 once after 2000 km - front tire to rear and rear tire to front and after 3500 kilometers loaded touring those tires looking pretty good , I think if you take good care they survive more then 5000 km - 7000 km . I had only one flat on those Schwalbe HS 368 - small puncture - wire from steel belted truck tire went through .

Thanks for making the 305mm Marathon available again. Now German bankers can continue to ride their HPVelo Spirits down to the shore and stand around in their bare feet.

This is the worst touring tyre I have ever used. The old marathon 308's were much more reliable. I found it punctured about every 300km, even on nice smooth roads in Europe, with relatively light loads. Of the eight tyres I bought for a big expetition, two developed broken beads, one after just 300km.

Please stop recommending this tyre for touring. Or say something like "for ornimental purposes only". Better still go back to the earlier model. If you made the Supreme in 406mm I would have gladly chosen that instead.

Olly Powell