touring tyres help

[salsafargo]

im after a new pair of touring tyres my frame has clearence for 2.3 inch front and rear,my rims are 30mm wide,i weigh 110kg and i just ride on the road,i have the big ortlieb back roller classic pannier and a pair of smaller ones on the front,i have a pair of marathon dureme in a 700x40c but they seem a bit narrow what do you suggest.matt

[Bicycler]

if wanting wide touring tyres, they do a 2 inch (50mm) standard Marathon and Marathon Supreme which is a good road touring tyre. For the full on balloon tyre experience you can get the fast rolling and comfortable Big Apples in 2" (50mm) 2.15 (55mm) and 2.35 (60mm).

If you are heavy and also carrying a lot of extra weight in luggage (as in fully laden with camping gear) then a Marathon Mondial is a tough expedition touring tyre and I might be tempted to use one of those on the rear (they come in 1.75, 2 and 2.15) for the extra reliability. They are a fair bit slower though, so I'd stick with ordinary touring tyres unless I was heavily loaded on tour.

[al_yrpal]

I have 37mm Panaracer Pasela TGs on my Salsa Vaya. Lovely tyres for the road.

Al

[khain]

I've just done a tour on 700x35 Duremes and they were excellent. 5000 miles with only 1 puncture and they still have plenty of tread. 40c is pretty wide and I'd have thought that was near the limit for 700c wheels. Unless you're carrying an awful lot of gear I'd stick with the Duremes.

[bikes4two]

Just finished a 450 mile fully laden tour. I had 700 x 35 Marathon Supremes & companion had 26" x 2" Big Apples and I rolled down the hills faster every time by a noticeable margin. Read what you want into that.

[Bicycler]

Going downhill is a bit atypical of the ride as a whole; you spend much less time doing it than you do riding on the flat or going uphill. It is normally stated that the better rolling benefits of supple wide tyres are more important than the aero advantages of thinner ones. This situation is reversed when going quickly downhill where losses due to aerodynamic drag will massively exceed those caused by rolling resistance. With touring bikes I would have thought that other factors would play a bigger role in determining how much drag you create going downhill. Chief amongst these might be the way the luggage is carried and rider positioning; one rider in the drops and the other with a flat bar would be so different aerodynamically as to make any tyre comparison meaningless.

I think what your example does highlight is that it doesn't really matter what people choose if they are happy with it. You enjoyed a touring holiday with somebody who had a completely different choice of touring bike and tyres.

The OP is a fairly heavy rider, carrying a fair amount of luggage on a Salsa Fargo which is a stiff MTB-based off-road touring bike with (probably) wide MTB rims. With that combination I can understand why it may be worth experimenting with wider tyres for better comfort. As for the whole Big Apple-type 'balloon' tyres, it really does seem to be a love it or hate it thing but some people swear by them so they may be worth a try.

On that note, I have a 26x 2"/50mm pair on order. I'll post my thoughts on them when I've had chance to test them.

[bikes4two]

As you say Bicycler, there are many factors involved here and I don't disagree with anything you say. We both rode with drops, had virtually identical loads" packed in the same way and deliberately adopted similar riding position by way of experiment. The most significant difference was me at 95kg versus 65kg. The comfort factor of The Big Apples is undeniable but suffice it to say he's gone & bought a pair of Supremes to try.

[Erudin]

The op could try a tyre that's not wider but has a higher tpi, like the Vittoria Voyager Hyper Folding Tyre that gets good reviews, they should be more supple even at max pressure than a lower tpi tyre.

I was finding the 26x2.0 Big Apple tyres on my LHT draggy, I decided to try some lighter/slicker tyres, Vittoria Randonneur Pro II's 26 x 1.5 (they measure 39mm wide and 39mm high on the rim). They still feel comfortable at max pressure and roll with much less resistance, so I can clock up the miles with less effort.

[Dudley Manlove]

Hrmmm 30mm for a rim is very fat already? - so you'll be looking at something wide whatever?

Big Apples are a great all round slick. Not too bad off-road as long as it's dry. They come up to 700 x 60mm. You should be able to get Marathons or Marathon Deluxe's in 700 x 50mm.

I'm a fan of the fat tyres - nice plush ride, can take on some rough stuff (and bump up curbs fully loaded). They don't accelerate well tho.

[Christiian]

On my 26" surly disc trucker I've done long-weekend touring (2x full back rollers plus bar bag) involving road and some gravel with:

1.75" conti travel contact
1.75" marathon plus
1.5" pasela tour guard (folding)

The contis were nicely balanced, good on gravel and rolled well. Did pick up a couple of punctures, however.
The marathon+ felt quite leaden and I once lost the back wheel on some fairly innocuous gravel which somewhat dented my confidence in them. No punctures at all though.
Just done my first long weekend on the pasela TGs and they feel wonderful. Relatively easy to fit, no punctures, rolled nicely and were pretty adept on the loose stuff, so I'm potentially a convert, although only time will tell re punctures. Not cheap though!

Christiian

[salsafargo]

thanks for the replys everyone

[gplhl]

I can vouch for the marathon Supremes on the road over 7,500 miles and still going strong.
Good and bad really as I've carried spares that far without needing them. Quite a bit of weight to not be used for so long!

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk