Schwalbe Marathon Plus vs Conti Gatorskins

secretsam

Here's the choice: the SMPs at £20 a pop and 3 tonnes, and the Gators at £15 and 300g or so

I've got a SMP which has been great, but rolling resistance a little fierce...mind you, I'm running a 32c version at the moment and will switch to 28s...

So: 700*28c - which to go for?

Underscore

Co-incidentally, I've just put Gatorskins (700x28c) on my Sirrus, replacing the stock Nimbus Armadillos. They roll a lot better than the Armadillos but I haven't done enough miles to give an opinion on the p******e resistance; however, a friend at work has slicked up his FS MTB with them and has done a 22 mile (each way including some bridleway) getting on for 10 times now and the only problem that he's had is when a drawing pin embedded itself right in the centre of the tread. Personally, I'm willing to accept the very occasional bit of roadside maintenance for the more enjoyable ride but YMMV. Also, I have no experience of the M+.

HTH,

_

markybhoy67

I have just went from conti sport contact 1.6 to smp's 1.9 and there is a big difference in downhill speed, it also feels as though you have to put more effort in even just on normal cycling.

Where the schwalbes come out on top for me is in the grip department, they just feel so much more secure on the road, this could be down to the wider tyre though.

I am still a bike novice so could be talking crap when trying to explain thing :oops:

secretsam

Hmmmm...am tempted by Gatorskins, not least due to the financial advantage, but also the rolling resistance thing...am getting 'faster' wheels so am hoping new tyres will also help (!)

2wheelzgood

I have 700c 28 smp

I used to use my bike every day and the £40 seemed worth it compared to the bus. Only ever got 2 pinch flats in a few years.

I used to run big fat specialised x-roads armadilos (I'm a fan of protective belts) as I use dto cut up the woods.

I can only compare my smp to those or the semi slicks the bike came on, Schwalbe marathon something elses. so it's not much use.

They turn way better than the 35 wide croassroads for sure, but rolling speed I'd say is only a little better. It's overrated IMHO. if you have knobblies on, you'll work ever so slightly harder but on a commute the wind, traffic hills have more of an effect.. I'd prob notice it more if I were timing serious countryside rides or racing.

p*ncture prevention is ace though. recently got home to find a huge cut the front, loads of the blu ebelt showing but it was not sliced through.. any other tyre, would have been a gonner. I bought a new one and kept old as a spare.

£20 is a lot though per tyre. I may try a lighter one next time.. it's hard to know if you havent ever tried anything else.. eg weigh saving and resistance..

meanwhile

markybhoy67 wrote:

I have just went from conti sport contact 1.6 to smp's 1.9 and there is a big difference in downhill speed, it also feels as though you have to put more effort in even just on normal cycling.

Where the schwalbes come out on top for me is in the grip department, they just feel so much more secure on the road, this could be down to the wider tyre though.

I am still a bike novice so could be talking crap when trying to explain thing :oops:

No, that's nicely clear. I agree that Sport's are fast rolling. The grip seems on the high side, so the difference you've noticed might be down to width, but it could be a bit of both.

meanwhile

2wheelzgood wrote:

£20 is a lot though per tyre. I may try a lighter one next time.. it's hard to know if you havent ever tried anything else.. eg weigh saving and resistance..

£20 per tyre seems like a lot, but amortised over thousands of miles the cost is trivial - less than 1p per mile for even quite a fast burning commuter tyre. What you're buying with a good tyre is not having to fix punctures in the rain and arrive late and dirty at work, and grip and performance that make riding safer and more fun. (I value the second more than the first, which is why I'm riding Conti Sports Contacts rather the Marathon Pluses; I'd probably pay the even higher cost of Marathon Supremes if they came in 28 or 32mm, as they have a rep for maxing both, and being highly durable.)

People worry an awful lot about components when buying a bike, but few (saddles and brakepads, possibly?) make more difference than the rubber on your wheels.

OrbitRider

I bought a Gatorskin when my Marathon front finally wore out. I found that the slick wall caused my bottle dynamo to skid, so I switched the Gatorskin to the back wheel. Now I have a traction problem: break hard and the back end slides all over the place. In terms of p******e resistance, not much to choose between Marathons & Gatorskins.
Personally, I shall go back to Marathons when the current tyre wears out.

2wheelzgood

Hmm not much in it then.

I do get what you're saying meanwhile.. if they last and do their job (not get holes) then it's worth it.

I hated having a puncture every week, know exactly what you mean. (they were pinches though from needing levers to fit inners..)

I ride on bridleways on the NCN somtimes and bumpy roads so I don't want to go to 23, but 25 on a smp may be the best solution?

meanwhile

2wheelzgood wrote:

Hmm not much in it then.

I do get what you're saying meanwhile.. if they last and do their job (not get holes) then it's worth it.

An expensive tyre is cheaper than a bike or limb mangled by a skid, yes. Or a life wasted fixing punctures.

I ride on bridleways on the NCN somtimes and bumpy roads so I don't want to go to 23, but 25 on a smp may be the best solution?

Probably not, I'm afraid. Dropping tyre size often has no effect on contact patch size and rolling resistance - rr can go *up* if you drop too small. Racers drop down to 23s on smooth roads more for the aero benefit than anything else, as I understand it. If 28 smp's seem too slow, maybe try the Marathon Sports in the same size, or even 32s, or Conti Sports Contacts? The confusing thing about rolling resistance is that it doesn't come from friction between the tyre and ground, but the energy needed to bend the rubber flat to make the contact patch. Push a tyre past its limits, and this energy goes up.

Oh, and the second thing to understand (if this isn't physics overload) is that its energy used in overcoming rr varies with the square of bicycle speed. That means that you have to reduce rr by a factor of 4 to double your speed. Neglecting air resistance, obviously. So even if dropping from a 28 to a 23 reduced rr in proportion to width (which it won't) you'd only see sqrt(28/23) increase in speed - i.e. 10%. Not much of a trade off for reduced cornering, braking, comfort, and rim life.

Oh well - back to trying decide whether to buy a torque wrench, or pay cash some muppet who half knows what he's doing...

PS If check Marathon and Conti's sites they have pretty realistic info about the relative benefits of their tyres; I think that Marathon do rate the Plus as a slow roller.

secretsam

meanwhile wrote:

if this isn't physics overload

Too late, it was, am now baffled

Have ordered the Contis 'cos they look cooler, and were £6 less each at Ribble, how scientific is that?

meanwhile

SecretSam wrote:

meanwhile wrote:

if this isn't physics overload

Too late, it was, am now baffled

Have ordered the Contis 'cos they look cooler, and were £6 less each at Ribble, how scientific is that?

The energy need to overcome air resistance goes with the cube of speed of velocity, if that's any help...

The Contis are a great choice.

head wind

Hard to beat the Gatorskins, i commute 20 mile round trip and nearly gave up due to punctures (A13 cycle path sponsored by the broken glass collective)

Got a set of Gators, 23's and 3 months not 1 puncture worth there weight in gold. The ride is ok and they seem to grip ok I’m a bit fat to test them to there limit but perfect for a commute

MattHybrid

I've got 700cc Sport Contact Conti's on my bike, and I got a puncture the other day. I found our about Conti's guarantee a few days later, and e-mailed them to ask for a new innertube. Great, they e-mailed back a day later, I sent them pics and my address and they said they'd get an innertube our to me in the post. Nearly a month later and still no innertube, and now they won't reply to me e-mails. Cheers Conti!!

...otherwise a good tyre though!

secretsam

meanwhile wrote:

The energy need to overcome air resistance goes with the cube of speed of velocity, if that's any help...

No, not really.

(GCE 'O' level Physics 1985, Grade B :oops: )

m0scs

I have tried the Conti sport contact ,which punctured on the second use (very unimpressed) so I have switched back to using the spec nimbus armadillo's, which have been on the bike for some months without incident.

Ive been thinking about getting a faster tyre for sometime and reading all the forums for info and have now placed an order for a pair of Conti Gators for by MTB.

Hopefully this will improve my performance in The Game!