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Schwalbe Marathon Plus | $42.99
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Schwalbe Marathon Plus

BikeRadar verdict

45 out of 5 stars

"Virtually impregnable street tyres that roll reasonably well"

By Dan Joyce, Cycling Plus

Rather than using a breaker strip of Kevlar under the tread, the Marathon Plus has a thick layer of springy SmartGuard rubber. Because of this, any embedded objects tend to get forced outwards rather than being pushed in, and it takes something special – a police stinger, maybe? – to cause a puncture.

Even the sidewalls are pretty tough. While it’s heavy and quite awkward to fit, rolling performance is fair. The sidewalls have a reflective strip – handy for winter commuting – and feature a dynamo track.

As well as 700c and 26in sizes, it also comes in 24in, 20in and 18in and 16in too: great news for Birdy and Brompton owners. 

A Brompton rear wheel is tricky to remove so the ability to ignore thorns and bits of glass is handy. The thick, springy SmartGuard rubber sub-tread adds some weight – around 200g over a Kevlar-lined Brompton tyre – and the tyre doesn’t roll as quick, but it’s tough and grips well in the wet.

User Reviews

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  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Just put these tyres on my all purpose MTB with child seat fitted and kids buggy. Mostly for road and cycle route/fire road riding. Quite heavy but great traction and a really nice fixed feel on the road. Does pull up quite a lot of muck when going through puddles so mud guards recommended. Feels indestructable. Very well made, very comfy ride. Should last forever.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    I have had the Marathon Plus 700x25s for 3 months. Not a single puncture after 2200km. There is a hole on the rear where something took a bite out of it that would have caused a flat on any other tyre. I cannot remember going 3 months commuting in London without a puncture. The weight increase is not as great as I imagined. The ride was a little weird at first but now I'm very happy with it. No problem getting them on (didn't even need levers!). Great grip in the wet. These are really great commuting tyres particularly if you live in an area with poor road conditions and a lot of debris (ie London). I was going to use them just in the Autumn / Winter but I think I'll stick with them year round now. Highly recommended.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Fitted these tyres 18 months ago (ish). Never had to change take the wheels off since, and I've hit some pretty nasty shards of broken bottles on my travels. Always maintained a high pressure 60psi to reduce rolling resistance and can't complain

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    i have some a pair of 37 mm on my commuting bike, they are heavy but they sturdy i carry some heavy loads, and i haven't had a problem since fitting the tires. i kept pinch flattening the tires, even at 100 PSI before.

    the tires grip well, even make a good effort on wet grass/mud. they define bombproof.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Not able to find quickly a standard Marathon to replace rear tire (26x1.75) of my moutain bike used as commuter, I switch to a Marathon Plus (keeping a standard Marathon at the front).

    Because of the thick anti-puncture belt, Marathon Plus is more rigid than standard one and provides harsher rides; traction on wet road is slightly inferior.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Swapped these tyres to different rims at the weekend...In the process I was shocked at the amount of glass shards buried in the rubber and I've not pciked up a puncture. Truly amazing tyres...I've also got Marathon Supreme on my commuter bike which I use to commute 24miles a day, again, I've had no punctures in the 6 months they've been fitted. I would recommend Schwalbe everyday

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Never had a puncture in thousands of miles of commuting.

    Superb tyres.

    These can often be purchased with a good discount on the web (I think I got a pair for around £42 700x35).

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Good for commuting

    I've used them for about a year (8000km) with no punctures

    Very very heavy and difficult to get on and off the rims

    I have them in the 28mm flavour

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    I have these tyres on my bikes for a good while now. They are still prone to puntures as I had two, one was a piece of glass that went through the blue band and recently I had a one inch nail through the back tyre. So nothing is indestructable.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Now onto my second set, and I can not remember ever getting a puncture, 700x 25mm bought off a well known auction site, for around £20 per tyre.

    Recently purchased a Specialized Rockhopper fitted with Specialized Fast Trak control tyres 26 x 2.0 (supplied with the bike) tried to use the new bike for my daily commute 11 miles each way, mostly tarmac cycle track, two punctures, one morning, one evening.

    I can not recommend the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres highly enough, well worth the money..

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Fantastic tire. Great for commuting. Given the UK weather in Feb - snow and ice, even performed well there too. Also seem impervious to punctures - and I've ridden over a few chunks of broken bottle without any problems.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Great tyres. After getting on average one puncture a week with my Pro race 3s I changed for these in the thinnest 700x25c size for my singlespeed. Not a single puncture in 6 months during my commute of 10 miles a day 5 days a week across SW London in all conditions. I now revel in gliding across rubble and shards of glass where other commuters dare to lay their tread. They take getting used to as give strarnge feedback when going along painted lines on the road and were a pain to get on the rim at first. Don't get me wrong, these weigh twice (approx 500g) that of a normal race tyre and take a bit of effort to get up to speed but when you never puncture, that's a good price to pay. Who cares about the extra half kilo when we commute with all that work gear in our rucksacks? Thoroughly recommended as a fast, grippy, hassle free commuter tyre.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Punctured on ride home from the bike shop! Not a good start considering that I had wanted Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elitres but the bike shop couldn't get them.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    I bought a pair of these tyres last Friday from a local bike shop. The next day I rode my bike for 15 minutes (on a fairly clean road) and I then discovered a puncture in the front tyre. Just bad luck?????

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    I went from an average of 1 puncture per ride with my old Specialized tyres to 0 punctures ever with these Schwalbe bad boys. They are as tough as old boots but by jaysus if they don't half slow down rolling performance. They can be pretty tricky to fit but there's a nack to it and it becomes easier after the first time.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    I've had the 28mm Marathon Plus tires on my cyclocross bike for over 3 months, riding mostly on the road. So far I've logged nearly 1600 miles without a flat -- previously I averaged one every 2 or 3 weeks. While this tire will certainly not appeal to weight weenies, there are those of us who are willing to trade that for the satisfaction of being able to roll through broken glass, piles of leaves and any other debris without worry of a puncture -- fun! Also I no longer have the need to carry a spare tube, which has compensated somewhat for the weight factor. Another note: the Marathon Plus is not the easiest tire to mount, but this is also mitigated by the fact you will probably not have to do it again until your next set. The only thing I truly dislike about the tire is the reflective strip -- I could do without that.

    0.3
  • User review of Schwalbe Marathon Plus

    Changed to a pair of these on my singlespeed from the factory fitted much more grip, but at a heavy (literally) price.

    These have deadened the ride completely I feel like I am riding a different bike, in a bad way, and I am now looking into what should go on next.

    I wanted grip and punture resistance but I am not prepared to ride on these tires when there are other options on the market, having said all that though to their credit they do feel bomb proof.

    0.3

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Specification

Name:
Marathon Plus
Built by:
Schwalbe
Price:
$42.99

Tyre Sizes Available:
25-622, 28-622, 32-559, 32-622, 37-590, 37-622, 40-622, 40-635, 42-590, 42-622, 47-406, 47-507, 47-559
Description:
weight for 26in 47mm - 972
Weight (g):
708 g
Diameter:
662 mm
Max PSI:
115 psi

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