Marathon Plus HS 348

I ride fixed gear mashing and thrashing the sin out of my wheels. Laying down skids at 30 in traffic and trick nights (aka what can I jump my fix off/on) are both very common. The blue foam skids great! I killed my first marathon in 2 months, but I was working 4 days a week at a ski hill. I did not get a single flat in that time though. I did botch a bunny hop at speed, it was a 4 step, taking the roundness out of my deep v but not getting a flat. The complaint I have is… When the foam on a vittoria is skidded off the tire still has the inner carcass to go through. You know for sure to get a new tire. I though these would be the same way, nope! Once the blue foam is gone there is nothing left as a warning. So with blue showing all the way around I still expected to skid it till there was… nope flat time! So I am wondering how long this one, my second will last. Maybe 6 weeks? Guess it depends on how much I go climbing…

The grooves in the tire should be .5mm wider. Small rocks tend to stick in there instead of releasing. The sidewalls should be made stiffer for better handling. Also consider changing the compound for easier rolling and dry performance, it’s too far towards wet performance.

This is all compared to the original tires with it’s thick block treads (26x1-3/8”) that has lasted, believe it or not since the late 60’s and thousands of miles with no flats. Expected modern tire technology to match or exceed the old stuff.

As far as mounting, I had no problems. Pretty typical install. But the tires seemed a bit deformed which made seating the bead on the rim (and keeping it there inside the rim) and inflating the tires quite an experience. Probably due to the tires hanging on a hook for a period of time before it was sold. Lost/blew up a few tubes too because of the seating problem. The original tires had a deeper overall rim bead and better hooked rim section. As it is, going over 60-65psi with the Marathon Plus is not an option or wise choice with my tire size. Maybe after a few hundred miles and the summer heat the tire will return to their original shape and allow higher air pressures without blowing off the rim.

My surly long haul trucker currently has a pair of worn out 26 X 1.5 tires. I am leaving for a xc trip in a few weeks and want to get a pair of marathon pluses, but they aren’t sold in the 1.5 inch size. If I get the 26 X 1.35 size will that tire fit on the current rims that I have? Or should I start looking around for a different tire. I’ve heard good things about the marathon plus so I’m hoping it will fit but I just don’t have a lot of experience in this area and don’t want to spend all that money for a tire that won’t fit. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

My wife and I spent 3 weeks in January on a bike tour of southern India. We choose the Marathon Plus 348 - 26 x 1.75 tires based on reviews regarding puncture resistance and rolling resistance. These were mounted on our hard tail mountain bikes outfitted with pannier bags as we were carrying our own gear. The tires performed flawlessly. Rolling resistance was minimal and we felt confident when moving from pavement to soft shoulder to get out of the way of speeding trucks. We had no flats despite having rolled over stuff that would have punctured other tires. On a trip to Burma a few years ago, where we used another type of tire, I ran out of inner tubes and nearly out of patches with all of punctures we received, which is why we invested in the Marathon tires. They are a bit heavy, however we carried no spare tire and could have saved weight on fewer inner tubes. I would also recommend the tire lube Schwabe sells as it helps with centering the tire on the rim.

Norm

I need to put a pair of the Marathon Plus tires on a Look 555 with an HSC4 fork (HORRIBLE roads!!), and would like to know how the sizing plays out for actual inflated width/height. In the past, some 700x28 tires fit, and others don’t. For example, a T-Serv 700x28 fits in the fork, but just a hair too tight for practical safety. The same tire in the rear is fine. The fork issue is not width, but height.

I’d like to run with the largest size that will fit, so any input on sizing is welcome. I would be using the tires on Sun CR-18 rims, if that makes any difference. Also … how would the Durano Plus 700x25 compare in terms of flat protection? If only a 700x25 tire will fit, it may be another option.

I recently had my 3 speed Humber outfitted with the Marathon Plus. Rode great first couple of times. A big step up from the 40 year old originals. Love the ride. Pumped them up the other day to 85 and put the bike away. Just went out to take a ride and the front tire bead was dislodged and the tube flat. Strange, since I had more than a few hours of riding over the last couple of weeks with no problem. I am reading about the stiffness of the bead - is it possible it wasn’t seated right, and when I pumped it up the bead somehow pinched the tube on its own? That would be a new one on me. Any clues?

I lived in the UK, and there are extensive cycle paths that are far away from the roads. They are often strewn (well, at least in York) with large shards of broken glass, nails and thorns. Think drunk teens and construction sites.

I had my commuter (Gazelle) fitted with them, and found them bullet proof. I inadvertently ran over shards of glass that dug into the tire, but never made it past the blue liner. Tacks, screws and small nails might work their way into the tires and the only sign I had was the ticking sound when the metal of the offending intruder tapped into the pavement.

I have bought many a set of Schwalbes, including their Stelvios and Marathon series. I never needed to replace them and recommend them without question.

As to the issue of dampening the ride, it’s a small price to pay. There are costs and benefits to every choice and I prefer safety and reliability over a small penalty in perceived performance. Carry a bit less, lose some weight or whatever and you more than make up for it.

As an aside, I feel that it is to Schwalbe’s credit they allow this forum to exist and not censure negative feedback.

I don’t have many miles on mine yet, but I wanted to start with this.

I just got these in 700x32 size for my hybrid tourer. My rims are Specialized 622x17. I’ve changed many tires in my day. These are by far the hardest to install on my rims (which I’ve had several different tires on over the years). I had to use 5 tie-wraps and 2 stiff levers to get the bead to stay in. This is the very first time I had to resort to the tie-wrap trick to get a tire on. I sure hope they’re flat resistant because I’d hate to change one by the side of the road! I better pack some tie-wraps.

I know ease of mounting is a variable that depends on both the tire and the wheel, but I’ve never - ever had this much trouble with any combination before. I wish you better luck than I had.

These are way too heavy and the ride has a very dead feel. The weight, sluggishness, and poor ride just isn’t worth it to avoid the occasional flat. I took them off my bike after a few hundred miles. Their poor performance sucked all the joy out of riding for me. I would only consider them for commuting on very glass and debris strewn roads.

26 x 1.5 Please.

I’m replacing 700x38 Infinity armidillos with 700x35 Marathon Plus Tires which seem to be similar. Hope the Marathons are more flat resistant - have had numerous sidewall problems with Infinitys. Also, the Infinitys allow up to 100 psi inflation, vs. 85 max for the Marathons. Wondering why such similar tires have different max inflations? I am a 210lb rider, and my old Trek 750 is fully decked with bags/lights/tools, so I assume I want to max out the inflation for the load? Any experiences comparing these two tires?

After 5 flats during the first 1800km on my Trek Hybrid, I installed the Marathon Pluses. 4000km later, I have only experienced one flat and that was a 3/4” long, #8 wood screw. Despite the screw in the front tire, the blue goo allowed me to continue to ride almost all the way to work before the pressure was so low I had to walk. The blue goo also acts as a passive suspension system, smoothing the ride on my hard-tail bike.

I know I am probably tempting fate, but my confidence in these tires has grown to the point where I removed the pump, spare tube and tire levers from the bike. Initially I was concerned with the weight increase over the original Bontragers, but the difference is not noticeable at all.

I won’t look elswhere when its time to replace these. Peace of mind is priceless.

I have a kmx trike st class. I have had many flats and wearing issues on the Maxxis hook worm tires that came with the bike. Are these Scwalble tires good to replace the ones I have. I am looking for some dependable 16” front tires.

We started tandeming with a bike with stock rims and 700-28 tires. We are tall couple and our team with bike weigh over 425 lbs. We found out the hard way that our stock setup was not up to the task. The front tire flatted from overloading leaving us scraped up in a junkyard parking lot. I did my research-new wider rims, Cross 4 lacing with the biggest SS spoke, and the HS 348 in 700-35. We returned to the road as well as hard-packed trails. Hundreds of miles later, No Flats, No Problems, and Silence from the lady in the back.

Do the 4 digits on the sidewalls of Schwalbe tires represent the date of manufacture (e.g. 0406 = fourth week of 2006)? How old should ‘new’ tires be?

I’m about to embark on a 3500 mile self-supported tour and am trying to decide between the Marathon Plus HS 700x28 or x32 tires. Any opinions? I weigh 130 lbs and my bike, fully loaded, will probably weigh around 60 lbs. The plan is to ride only on paved roads and shoulders. I’d obviously love to go with the smaller and lighter option if possible, but I don’t want to sacrifice traction or control. Thanks!

Like to see 26 x 2.125 size available. My GF loves to do long rides (20+ miles) plus shopping on her cruiser and would like a tire with better puncture protection.

I have these fitted to a Specialized Hardrock MTB and covered 14,000 kms of touring and commuter riding in Australia without any punctures (I do use slime in them).
With my 95 kilos and 4 panniers totaling 45 kilos they are showing some signs of wear but I intend to replace them with the same tyre. Incidently I run them at 75 psi and the ride is perfect.

I have broken a few spokes and just replaced the wheel with 12 guage spokes so although the weight has affected the wheels the tyres have serverd me well.

I am moving over from 26x1.95 tires, running at f/b psi of 55/35. At 70/70 the Marathons are pretty unforgiving, in my opinion, on my hardtail steel MTB.

I wonder what psi others are running these tires at.

I have a Greenspeed GTT2s Tandem and am currently running the 20 x 1.75 Tioga Comp Pool with Velocity Rims, can I move to the 20 x 1.35 Marathon plus will they work with the weight of the bike @ 64 lbs and 350 lbs of riders.

Will your easy Fit liquid help with fitting these tires?

When are we going to see 20 x 1.5 and 26 x 1.5 ? Please, don’t tell us there isn’t a demand. Currently use Schwable / Marathon Racer HS. Waiting for the day when I can purchase Marathon Plus.

Dan

Hi, I ordered the marathon plus 700c x 35s for my road bike.
I have measured the rim bead width and it is 15mm .

will this damaged the sidewalls or is the marathon plus reinforced enough soo it will last the expected lifetime of the tire?

Thanks
JP

The front tires (349’s) on my trike show a fair amount of wear; the tread is somewhat bald-ish, although there’s a lot of rubber left to the blue layer. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT FLATS on my commuter trike, so….is it time to replace them, or am I being wasteful?

How do I tell when it’s time to replace them; I want to do this BEFORE the first flat, y’know?

I put a pair of Marathon Plus (20” x 1.75”) on my RANS Rocket recumbent bike about 18 months ago. Now, after more than 5000 miles of mostly recreational riding, I’m very happy and surprised to report — NO FLATS! And that was the critical factor for me. I live in southeastern Washington, the desert side of the state, where the tackweed plant roams freely (Tribulus terrestris, a.k.a. puncturevine, tackweed, goathead, “that damn thing”, and more). Riders will get a flat every couple of hundred miles on normal road-bike tires, from the spikes of the plant’s perfectly designed seedpods.

So the Marathon Plus and its rather bold claims of being bulletproof sounded very attractive to me. The tires are pretty heavy for a road bike, each weighed almost a pound more than the tires that came on my bike, and those were not lightweight tires! But they’re well-made, installed easily, and roll nice and round. I don’t mind that extra weight, because it’s actually been doing a great job over the past 5000 miles. The tires still have plenty of tread and have had no problems with the casing, etc. The main thing, though — NO FLATS.

What a joy! Forget the time, the inconvenience, and the dirty hands involved in fixing a flat. More important is the risk of an accident when a tire goes flat, and that’s something to avoid. So the Marathon Plus not only makes my flat-free rides more enjoyable, they also make my rides much safer.

If I were a commuter, I’d definitely want these tires so my daily, time-constrained rides would be flat-free. When my tires finally do need replacing, I’ll be putting the Marathon Plus back on again.
——-
Now the admission. I did, in fact, get one flat tire over those 5000+ miles. But it was a special-case flat, really! Not from a tackweed or a bit of wire or glass, but from a one-inch roofing nail that would have flatted a car tire, or probably gone through the tire *and* the rim of a regular road-bike tire. Certainly a special case. In fact, the tire didn’t go flat. I heard a tick-tick-ticking sound and pulled over to see what was up. I found the large head of the nail flush with the tire tread, but the tire was still hard. When I pulled the nail out, then I heard the air coming out. So this was a very special case, and I’m glad the tire dealt with it very well. So, one flat in 5000+ miles, still an outsanding record.

hiya - bought mine over a month or so ago - 24” and 26” and tubes.
i like them. i have yet to give them a proper assessment because my rims need to be replaced, but I can _finally_ ride with confidence that i am not going to get stuck with a flat twenty miles out. the softness of the blue stuff adds some comfort to the ride. I will consider getting something different for winter, but I am not sure. Winter riding is basically the same as summer believe it or not, just watch out for the slick patches ( which no tire except studs will handle ). I pinched a tube while changing out a spoke, but that’s no biggie, I am a five star expert at patches…HEHE
looking at getting more schwalbe tires AND tubes. I can’t notice the weight or any rolling resistance issues.
o

I rode 5,400 miles this summer on my Marathon Plus tires without one flat! I rotate my tires every 1,000 miles and they show very little wear. These are terrific tires, and handle all conditions well. Thank you Schwalbe

I bought two sets of marathon plus tires. My first of tires is 700x32 and is being used on a Bianchi Cross Concept cyclocross bike, however I’m using road tires. With the Bianchi even in the begining it was hard to notice any difference between these tires and the wolf creek tires.

I’ve pulled some interesting things out of my tires but so far haven’t had any punctures. After four months I am completely satisfied with the marathon plus tires and haven’t had a puncture yet.

The other set of bianchi tires is on a Dahon Jetstream Xp folding bike, 1.75X20. When I first mounted these things on the Dahon this thing felt like a pig! I was riding one gear lower than usual. Of course this comparison isn’t fair since the dahon was equipped with a slightly smaller 1.5x20 tire so this may have something to do with it as well.

So far after my second ride I’m a little more winded with the new tires on the Dahon but they’re not that much more effort. I’ve also been a bit lazier of late so that may explain my fatigue.

Another advantage that the Marathon Plus has on the folder is more stability. The marathon plus feels far more stable and isn’t nearly as “twitchy” as the marathon supremes that it replaced.

Overall I am extremely happy with the marathon plus on the cyclocross bike. I am 100% satisfied.

I am mostly satisfied with the marathon plus on the folder. It feels slightly heavier but I think I’ll adapt.

I would to conclude that if you’re buying this tire for a thin road bike wheel,performance hits should be minimal and may not even be noticeable without a timer. However for small wheels its easier to notice the difference in mass compared to stock tires and the marathon plus may affect handling.

There are two very strong points to my tires. One is that you can ride with confidence when it comes to glass,nails and metal causing a flat. Two is that you can re-enter the highway after dropping off the side with ease. These tires also handle well when running over sticks and gravel on the highway. They soften the impact very well. I switch back to a less heavyweight tire when riding my touring bike for short rides. I think these tire are actually made to handle better on a fully loaded touring bike. I haven’t used these tires on an unloaded touring bike enough to give a true opinion on their performance in that respect.I run them at 90 psi. 700x32.

This tire is the best tire that I’ve ever toured on and won’t let you down. Here in Kentucky some of the roads look like they are used as a trash dump. Nails,glass and potholes await the loaded touring bike. Another thing I’ve noticed is the ride and control you get with this tire. Some roads have no sholders at all and when a passing car forces you all the way to the right and off the blacktop re-entering the pavement is easier with this tire.Instead of riding the edge it rolls right back up on the pavement. Will buy again when these wear out.

received a gouge on my way to work today on my marathon +. I have gone about 2,600 miles with no problems and I don’t want to have to put new tires on, but if they are not safe then they may need to be replaced.

I searched and many think that you can either fill a hole when deflated with super glue and it will hold the tire together, or fill it with shoe goo. But, I thought if I included a picture you could let me know if this is a doable option. It appears that it did not go through the casing, it just pierced to the blue lining. So, is it worth attempting to fix?