Marathon XR for extreme journeys

New Aramid Puncture Protection belt.

The extreme expedition tire is now better protected against thorns - the most frequent destroyers of tires on long journeys: A new, extremely densely woven Aramid protection belt protects the Marathon XR in particular from penetration punctures.

Hardly any other fabric can handle as much as Aramid. The fiber strengthens bullet-proof vests and is also used in space exploration. The gold-yellow organic material has extreme resistance to loads and high tear strength.

In the Marathon XR Aramid protects particularly against long, pointed foreign bodies, like thorns. “The outstanding thing about the new Travelguard protection belt is its extremely dense weaving”, describes Holger Jahn, director of Bohle, Reichshof Wehnrath, the producer of Schwalbe, European market leader in bicycle tires. The patented weaving technology makes it almost impossible for pointed articles to penetrate the protection belt. In particular at the first contact with a thorn, where the penetration forces act at their highest, the protection belt is strongest. If a thorn is ridden over, it usually breaks rather than puncture the tire. Schwalbe developed Travelguard together with the U.S. manufacturer Warwick Mills, which supplies among other things materials to NASA. “No textile, puncture protection belt is as impenetrable as that made by Warwick the Mills”, said Holger Jahn.

The modern, versatile tread of the Marathon XR ensures riders’ safety both on and off road. Additional safety feature: Reflex lines make the folding tires highly visible in bad light conditions. The Schwalbe developers derived the rubber compound from a mixture used for motorcycle tires. It is extremely abrasion resistant and the most robust compound of the entire Schwalbe range.

Schwalbe classifies the new Marathon XR as part of its exclusive ‘Evolution Line’. Like all tires in this series it has distinctive, large white letters on the sidewall. From 2005 the XR is available in the wider size of 700 x 50C, 50-622. Apart from the increased comfort that the broader version offers, it has better load bearing capabilities than narrower tires and so is ideally suited for tandems and bikes with heavy luggage. With these uses in mind Schwalbe added protection around the bead, so that the sidewall is not scrubbed by the rim under extreme load.

Different target groups for Marathon XR and Marathon Plus
“The folding Marathon XR tire is not to be confused with the everyday Marathon Plus tire”, explains Holger Jahn. The Marathon Plus is designed for a completely different user group: Its puncture protection belt Smart Guard made from flexible india rubber protects particularly against sharp edged foreign bodies, which remain in the rubber, to be rolled over again and again and thereby bore into the tire. The Marathon XR expedition tire was developed particularly for extreme touring riders who have completely different requirements. Travelguard is designed to protect particularly against thorns. And the 590 gram folding tires fit more easily into luggage.

The Marathon XR is available from independent bicycle dealers.

Further Information:

MARATHON XR