Need New Commuting Tires....Schwalbe Marathon Plus vs. Supreme?

I was just wondering if I can get some feedback from shop folk or owners regarding the Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Supreme.  I want to get some new commuter tires for year round use and as far as I have read, these are nearly overkill.  Can anyone tell me the difference between the two.  

It appears from the Schwalbe website that the plus has great puncture resistance while the supreme has lower rolling resistance, traction, and cornering abilities.  If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free to chime in.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 4, 2012 at 5:15am

Our tandem came with gatorskins (700x28c). They seemed like nice tire, but they did not last very long.

We are not a lightweight couple by any means, so a loaded tandem may weigh 450lb. The Gatosrskin were not built for that weight.

We replaced them with Supremes (700x35c) and they are holding up a lot better.

Cameron Puetz said:

Does anyone have any experience with how Gatorskins compare to Marathons?
Permalink Reply by Dave Grossman on August 4, 2012 at 6:24am

I had a pair of Gatorskins a while back. They do not have a huge tread and roll with very little resistance.  

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on August 4, 2012 at 6:37am

Apples and oranges.

The Gatorskin, while a great tire, is not even close to the Marathon Plus when it comes to puncture resistance or longevity.

Cameron Puetz said:

Does anyone have any experience with how Gatorskins compare to Marathons?
Permalink Reply by ilter on August 6, 2012 at 1:34pm

Well, Anne says she got very few flats at similar tire pressures. I guess I was just curious when asking, cannot really say the pressures you use are ideal or not.


Gerry G said:

Recommended is 80 PSI?  I bounce along just above that, 85 front, 90 back.

Permalink Reply by Dave Grossman on August 6, 2012 at 4:09pm

Thanks for all of your feedback everyone.  I decided to go with the plus as I think it meets my commuting needs.  I hope to have the same positive results with it that most of you have.

Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on August 7, 2012 at 2:14am

James,

Have you had any trouble with the RibMo's?  I had 2 sets that the sidewalls came apart on really quick, and never could reach anyone at Panaracer.  Same thing happened with a set of pasela TG's I put on my touring bike

I switched to schwalbe's marathon supreme's and really like them.

James BlackHeron said:

I like the Panaracer RiBMo (Ride Bicycle More) aramid bead folding tire with P...

My road bike has been wearing a pair of these all this year and they are not showing any noticable wear after a couple thousand miles of sometimes torturous gravel paths and nasty areas like along RR tracks and such.  I run them at 80psi and they handle very well in the wet or dry.  No flats.  None so far at least.  I've run through a few patches of glass that got pointed out to me way too late in a group and maybe my reaction times were a bit...inhibited...but not only did I not get a flat I have NEVER even found a shard of glass or other debris embedded in these tires and I tend to check often as I'm a bit paranoid about this.  I've caught this in time before with other tires but never these.  Maybe I've just been lucky or these tires just are not the type to pick up and hold debris like that.   A quick tire check at a rest stop is worth it if you find something working its way through the puncture-resistant tire carcass.   It's a good habit to get into in any case.

At $30/each the RiBMos  are a pretty good bargain for a more puncture-resistant tire.  They aren't Schwalbes but I'm cheap with my money.  I don't mind the silly name. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 7, 2012 at 2:21am

No problems, no flats.  None of the sidewall issues you spoke of.   I've only been using them for this season and only on my road bike (used for road riding mostly on longer rides out of the city)  

They are only starting to show any tread wear at 1500 miles on the rear.  I'm a fat-ass and I've skid the rear a few times because I'm silly like that.   They pretty much laugh at glass. 

For a $30 folding tire, I really can't ask for much more.

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on August 7, 2012 at 2:52am

Do you have experience with the Vittoria Randonneurs?  I was very close to picking them up, switching from Conti TourRides 42's, which seem slow.  I've had a flat already at 1500 miles, but it was a thorn of some type on N Mil.  I'd like something faster, perhaps lighter, and good in the snow for winter. I don'5t want to give up too much of the comfort I have now, it is such a nice ride. I think the puncture protection on the Tour Ride's was sufficient, the thorn was just a fluke.

Duppie said:

You are comparing apples and oranges here.

The Plus at $48 MSRP (Mrs. Duppie has a pair one one of her bikes)  has been the standard flat resistant for well over a decade. I will defer to other posters on the advantages of the Plus.

The Supreme at $73 MSRP is an entirely different tire. It is a (lot) lower weight, rolls very smooth and corners well, when compared to Vittoria Randonneurs and Nimbus Armadillos. I have 3 bikes with Supreme tires: My summer commuter (700c), my winter commuter (26") and our high-end touring tandem (700c). I love them a lot. I get maybe one flat a year on them on 4K miles or so. When that happens I throw my bike on the bus, so it is not a big deal. I also ride it all winter long on Chicago streets, except for when there is a lot of fresh snow on the ground. I never feel insecure when riding them on slushy streets.

According to Schwalbe you should expect to get more miles out of a Plus, but even the tires that I have been riding for a numerous winters now still appear to be in good shape and I expect to ride them a few more winters.

It comes down to what is important to you. Cost or durability? Then you may want to stick with the Plus. A faster tire that corners well? You may want to go with the Supreme.

The Plus is readily available at better bike shops in Chicago; the Supreme almost always needs to be special ordered. (I have always ordered them directly from Schwalbe)

Also, Schwalbe is a great company to deal with. I had one sidewall failure on the Supreme. The sidewall tore apart after only a few thousand miles. I filled out an online warranty form and had a new tire at my frontstep within a week. No questions asked.

Permalink Reply by magomawe on August 7, 2012 at 3:12am

I would avoid getting Schwalbe Marathon tires at all costs.  I ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathons with Kevlar Guard 700 X 34 about 2 years ago for my wife's commuter.  I first put one on and within 50 miles it was flat.  The wire bead on the inside broke free and punctured the tube.  I figured it had to be a defect and I would contact the company.  In the meantime I replaced the punctured tire with the other purchased tire.  The same thing happened.  I got two replacements and again within 50 miles (even with a different rim and bike), the wire bead broke free and punctured the tube.  I requested one more replacement and it did the same thing.  That's 5 tires all with the wire in the bead breaking free and puncturing the tube within 50 miles.  Needless to say that was an enormous waste of time and $90.  Go with Continentals - I've always been happy with Gatorskins and you can wear them down to the bone.

Permalink Reply by Kevin on August 7, 2012 at 5:37am

I just put on my 2nd set of Marathon Plus on my commuter, the first lasted over 2 years of daily commuting without a flat (and another 6 months with a couple). Glad to hear the previous post about how they will stretch out a bit, they were quite difficult to install. I've been inflating them closer to the max of 95 psi, I might try going down 10-15 psi based on what I saw here and see how they feel.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 7, 2012 at 6:00am

Since these tires are stiff and challenging to install, is it possible that the tires could have been damaged by installation errors? I'm not insulting your mechanical abilities, but stuff like this can happen.

I'm on my second set of Marathon or Marathon Plus tires on two different bikes and first set on a third bike and have never had an issue with the wire bead breaking free on any of those 10 tires (20" and 26") over the last 8 years.

magomawe said:

I would avoid getting Schwalbe Marathon tires at all costs.  I ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathons with Kevlar Guard 700 X 34 about 2 years ago for my wife's commuter.  I first put one on and within 50 miles it was flat.  The wire bead on the inside broke free and punctured the tube.  I figured it had to be a defect and I would contact the company.  In the meantime I replaced the punctured tire with the other purchased tire.  The same thing happened.  I got two replacements and again within 50 miles (even with a different rim and bike), the wire bead broke free and punctured the tube.  I requested one more replacement and it did the same thing.  That's 5 tires all with the wire in the bead breaking free and puncturing the tube within 50 miles.  Needless to say that was an enormous waste of time and $90.  Go with Continentals - I've always been happy with Gatorskins and you can wear them down to the bone.

Permalink Reply by magomawe on August 7, 2012 at 6:14am

It could be, but I don't think they were hard to install from my memory.  I used tire levers as always and have never had the same problem with another tire.  Apparently my story is not the norm, but I'll never send them another dollar.  Here is how the bead looked by the way.  

Anne Alt said:

Since these tires are stiff and challenging to install, is it possible that the tires could have been damaged by installation errors? I'm not insulting your mechanical abilities, but stuff like this can happen.

I'm on my second set of Marathon or Marathon Plus tires on two different bikes and first set on a third bike and have never had an issue with the wire bead breaking free on any of those 10 tires (20" and 26") over the last 8 years.

magomawe said:

I would avoid getting Schwalbe Marathon tires at all costs.  I ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathons with Kevlar Guard 700 X 34 about 2 years ago for my wife's commuter.  I first put one on and within 50 miles it was flat.  The wire bead on the inside broke free and punctured the tube.  I figured it had to be a defect and I would contact the company.  In the meantime I replaced the punctured tire with the other purchased tire.  The same thing happened.  I got two replacements and again within 50 miles (even with a different rim and bike), the wire bead broke free and punctured the tube.  I requested one more replacement and it did the same thing.  That's 5 tires all with the wire in the bead breaking free and puncturing the tube within 50 miles.  Needless to say that was an enormous waste of time and $90.  Go with Continentals - I've always been happy with Gatorskins and you can wear them down to the bone.

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