Marathon Plus ATB HS 353

I just completed a 1600+ mile heavily loaded solo tour through the southwestern US on Marathon Plus ATB (700x40) tires. The tour was mostly on pavement, but also included several multiple day dirt, sand, and gravel road routes. I found the tires to perform very well on all surfaces except deep sand (although they did perform well on shallow sand over a firm substrate).The central rib provides a smooth surface for rolling on smooth pavement, while the lugs assist with gravel, dirt, and rough or edgy pavement.

Although I encountered cactus, thorns, broken beer bottles, nails, wire, sharp rocks, screws, and truck tire remnants on a daily basis, I only developed two slow leaks on the entire trip. One was caused by a glass shard (I think) and the other by a thorn that had obviously been in the tire long enough to work its way partially through the inner wall of the tire. Both of theses leaks would have likely been prevented by a careful daily inspection of the tires.

I found these tires to handle particularly well on western highways with irregular shoulders (not designed for bikes?). Some of the shoulders had edges between different portions of the paved area that were at slightly or not so slightly different elevations, and that ran parallel to the direction of travel. I found these tires never failed to handle these edges extremely well, but I admit I almost always crossed these irregular edges cautiously (except when my eye was on the semi in my rear view mirror).

Initially, I seemed to notice a slight effect of the central rib to make the bike feel a little tippy as one leaned towards the tread’s edge in cornering. However, this was minor, and after a few minutes riding became a non-issue. All of that said, I am considering trying the standard marathon plus tread in the 700 x 45 size when it’s time to replace my rear tire, in order to compare its handling in sand. I tried the Marathon XR tires in the 700 x 40 size, and loved the way they handled, but found them to be less puncture resistant to the sharp, prickly environment of the American southwest.

This tire is designed for riding on pavement as well as some occasional trekking on forest roads and gravel. Due to its weight they are not very suitable for single track.

Team Schwalbe