new tyres?

[patpalloon]

When should you change you tyres for a touring bike, ie how many miles should they last before changing?
I've done c2c (England) and two E2Es on it, (about 2,500 miles altogether) but they still look ok. Schwalbe Marathon 32mm.

[jezer]

They should last more than that in normal use. As a mean old git I carry on until I start getting too many punctures

[b1ke]

Talk to this guy, he'll tell you



Brilliant book by the way.

We got 2,500 miles out of our Marathons going to Africa. They were fairly worn after that - the tread was getting low, which I think is the time to be changing them because they don't stick to the road. Marathon Plus are normally good for about 4000 miles from my experience.

[simonhill]

Distance ridden is pretty irrelevant, it is the amount of wear. A good visual inspection should tell you if there is enough tread left.

The back will wear much more than the front. I reckon on 2 or 3 rears before I change the front.

There are lots of things that affect tyre wear: load, pressure; road surface; etc which is why mileage can only be a very rough guide.

As I go on long tours I replace before the tyre is too worn as I would rather have 2 good tyres to start on. If you are only doing shortish tours then you can probably happily ride on older tyres.

[Sweep]

They should last more than that in normal use. As a mean old git I carry on until I start getting too many punctures

Me too, though on a ride London to Brighton I was leading once that led to my sidewall exploding

So check the sidewalls.

(luckily we were passing quite close to where I live so I jumped on a bike from another rider and came back with a new tyre I had - then on to the coast

[patpalloon]

Distance ridden is pretty irrelevant, it is the amount of wear. A good visual inspection should tell you if there is enough tread left.

The back will wear much more than the front. I reckon on 2 or 3 rears before I change the front.

There are lots of things that affect tyre wear: load, pressure; road surface; etc which is why mileage can only be a very rough guide.

As I go on long tours I replace before the tyre is too worn as I would rather have 2 good tyres to start on. If you are only doing shortish tours then you can probably happily ride on older tyres.

I think I will change the rear one at least then. It's looking slightly worn and in less than a month I'm going to be racking up some serious mileage in Spain and France fully loaded. Better to do it at my leisure at home than during the tour. They are Marathons not Marathon plus BTW.

[rualexander]

I would expect Marathons to last a lot longer than 2500 miles, I'm sure I've read of them lasting 10,000 miles plus, they are called Marathons for a reason.
Remember that unless you are riding in muddy conditions or on unsealed roads then the tread is not really doing anything in terms of grip.
If I were you I would just swap the front and rear tyres over and get another 2500 miles out of them at least, assuming the sidewalls and bead etc are still ok.

[vinyl_theif]

On my tour to Cape Town I used Schwalbe's ' Marathon Plus' as far as The Gambia, (6500 miles) and then fitted 'Marathon Plus Tour' (better for rougher roads such as Congo!!) for the remainder (7500 miles), only had 1 flat on the tour - in Morocco. Agreed, swap tyres front-back after a few thousand.

On last years London-Athens-London tour again I got 6500 on using the Marathon Plus, and likewise again - just one flat! Needless to say this years choice

[simonhill]

Firstly I don't agree with putting your part worn tyre on the front. I think you should always have your best tyre on the front. Any blowout on the front will almost certainly result in a fall not so with the rear.

Secondly, it surprises me that people want to scrimp on their tyres. A new set of Marathon HS308s (the so called Marathon original) is only 40 quid much less on the net (£22). To me tyres are a fundamental part of being safe on my bike. I don't want to be going down hill at 60kph on a loaded touring bike smug in the knowledge I have saved a few quid but wondering if I was about to have a blow out.

Admittedly I go places where good tyres are not always available so want to be well shod before I go, but even if I was only pedalling around the UK, if I had the slightest doubt about my tyres I would replace.

For info, my last rear Marathon HS308 did about 8000 kms before I replaced it. There was still plenty of tread left, but below my limits for starting a tour. The front had done about 12000 kms, plenty of tread but a nasty cut that could have opened up. Better safe than sorry.

By the way, I am not proflegate with my money. My cycling shirt is a long sleeved gents from the charity shop at £ 2:50, no over priced cycling apparel for me.

[foxyrider]

Just had to dump my rear Marathon as it was down to the canvas! It had 'only' done about 5000kms - the front, fitted at the same time, still looks good for another 5000kms!

I always try to start a tour with new tyres, i do sometimes consider it pertinent to swap them round about mid distance to ensure i have a saftey margin on the rear tyre.

[PJ520]

Firstly I don't agree with putting your part worn tyre on the front. I think you should always have your best tyre on the front. Any blowout on the front will almost certainly result in a fall not so with the rear.

+1 Sheldon sums it up nicely http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html FWIW I got about 2500 miles out of my rear Marathon (not Plus) doing the Transam, all of it on good roads before starting to get frequent flats.

[Aushiker]

There are new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres coming out in 2014 according to the latest press release from Schwalbe.

Now Schwalbe is presenting a new version of its Marathon Plus. Despite its thick protective layer, the tyre rolls surprisingly lightly. “Our laboratory test have shown that among tyres with thick puncture protection belts, the Marathon Plus has by far the lightest rolling characteristics", says René Marks.

The side walls have also been optimised. Since the tyre is so substantial, it has often been ridden with too low air pressure. These years of "mishandling" would sometimes lead to cracks in the side walls. Now a special anti-aging technology works to protect the side walls of the Marathon Plus from premature cracking as well as adverse weather conditions. The rubber compound also makes the Marathon worthy of its name: The Endurance Compound rolls for thousands of kilometres with excellent performance characteristics and low abrasion.

The patented ‘Plus’ of the Marathon is still the heart of the tyre: Smart Guard, the protective belt consisting of five millimetre thick natural rubber. The tyre is now partly made from recycled rubber and is therefore resource-friendly.

Press release can be found at http://www.schwalbe.com/en/pressereader ... -less.html

Andrew

[vinyl_theif]

Firstly I don't agree with putting your part worn tyre on the front. I think you should always have your best tyre on the front. Any blowout on the front will almost certainly result in a fall not so with the rear.

Preferring to ‘balance’ the amount of wear from both tyres I swap them around still with a perfectly adequate amount of tread remaining on the rear, with the rear tyre thereafter on the front there was certainly no cause for concern over safety.

If one is touring around Europe then you’re spoilt for availability upon where to buy [decent] new tyres, but this is not so easy when on extended tours within African or Asian countries.

How much wear would you allow on the front tyre before you deem it as ‘part worn’, and therefore [from what you say] as dangerous and in need of replacing?

[patpalloon]

Marathon or Marathon Plus. Dawes Galaxies all come with plain Marathon. Also the tyres on it now are Kevlar guard, whereas newer ones are 'Greenguard'. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[vinyl_theif]

Marathon or Marathon Plus. Dawes Galaxies all come with plain Marathon. Also the tyres on it now are Kevlar guard, whereas newer ones are 'Greenguard'. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Patpalloon, the 'Green' refers to the use of recycled latex in production. I - as no doubt with most on here - am keen on lowering emissions so am intrigued to see how they fare. For my up-n-coming tour I've already bought the Marathon 'Plus Tour'. Previously covering 32500 km, using just 3 sets of tyres I only had two (2!) flats!

A full list of the Marathon range is listed here: http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/tour/marathon/