Which of these tyres would you choose?

CyclepathToHell

Narrowed my choice down to these two. I'm going to be doing 3 thousand miles in OZ on sealed roads pretty much the whole time.

I know of the good rep of the marathon pluses but the contacts are half the weight.

Thoughts?


http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... tyre-34012

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... tact-33554

Michael Falk

I've used Conti Travel-Contacts, nearly always on paved roads. On my last tour of about 5,000km, not 1 puncture. Friend using Schwalbe Marathons (NOT XR though) had about 5 punctures.
Travel-Contacts don't have the very thick puncture protection of the new Conti Top Contact you've mentioned or the Marathon Plus's, but still tough. Trav-Contacts pump upto 80psi & I thought, quick enough & hardy enough. Happy with my use of Marathon XR's too.

Michael

andymiller

It depends on what your priorities are.

If you are one of those people who is obsessed with never getting a puncture at all costs, then the Marathon Pluses are probably the ones to go for. On the other hand if you can live with fixing the occasional puncture then go for the lighter tyre.

I'd have thought that on sealed roads punctures aren't going to be a particular problem.

psmiffy

Ive always been a fan of the conti top touring - never had many punctures - changed to ordinary marathons becauce I wanted the retro reflective strip

Ive never toured in Australia but I have lived in places wher the terain and more to the point the vegatation is similar - nasty thorn bushes - carelesly parked my bike for call of nature where there was such a plant last year in southern france and spent the next 2hours removing 50odd thorns from kevler belt and repairing 9 holes in tubes - plus another go later in the day (and when I got home to UK)

My preference for where it is along way between places and not a lot of shade would be to go for reliability - I am conteplating Marathon +s for my next long tour - my only worry is getting them on and off should I need to

Crapaud

Depending on the tyre size, I'd happily recommend Vittoria Randonneurs. I crossed Canada, 5000 miles, on a pair and had no pun***res at all. I don't know how much they weigh, but they rolled nicely and were very comfortable. I was riding 28 mms.

xilios

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... tyre-34012

For all the reasons mentioned.

exmoor explorer

Hi - I cycled across Australia last summer and used Schwalbe Evolution Marathon Supreme 700c x 35 tyres. They were excellent, both in terms of wear, puncture resistance and smoothness of ride. It's also a folding tyre which is useful. I used the same tyres for most of my training and then the whole ride (4,500 miles or so). I took one spare which I didn't use. Schwalbe informed me that this is exactly the sort of ride that they were designed for. See www.riscombe.co.uk/cycleride08.htm for more details of my ride and equipment if you are interested.

dilemna

exmoor explorer wrote:

Hi - I cycled across Australia last summer and used Schwalbe Evolution Marathon Supreme 700c x 35 tyres. They were excellent, both in terms of wear, puncture resistance and smoothness of ride. It's also a folding tyre which is useful. I used the same tyres for most of my training and then the whole ride (4,500 miles or so). I took one spare which I didn't use. Schwalbe informed me that this is exactly the sort of ride that they were designed for. See www.riscombe.co.uk/cycleride08.htm for more details of my ride and equipment if you are interested.

Thanks for posting your link to your Aussie adventure. I have read through it quickly but will need to read again more slowly later. You have my admiration cycling across the Nullabor. I have only traversed it by bus and that took all day and night. Not a place I would like to dwell for too long in the Aussie heat...... I see your route went through Renmark in the Riverland. I spent a few months working there in the early 1990s during my 13 months in Oz. I liked it, the Riverland that is. The reast of Oz as well too. So know the scenery you were most likely seeing.

One question which I'm sure you addressed in your write up but as I have only just skipped through it so far don't yet know how you dealt with them. How did you deal with passing road trains as they are huge and can travel at up to 130kph? Was it a case of getting off the road and out of their way as soon as you saw, heard or felt the road shake as they approached? And snakes at night sleeping in the desert? I was always advised where possible to sleep off the ground such as on a picnic table if poss as during the night sleeping on the ground snakes slide alongside your body even if you're in a tent because it is warmth they seek and can easily slip into sleeping bags, you then move around.................

Alex

exmoor explorer

Hi - just a quick response to Alex. I know it's not about tyres (I've already addressd that earlier). As far as road trains in Oz - firstly, you MUST have a rear view mirror on your handlebars or , as I did, on your helmet. You must look out for traffic from behind and particularly road trains. You might hear them coming, but not if the wind is whistling in your ears! (which it did for me for the first 1100 miles!). Secondly, I got off the road if thought two road trains or a road train and another vehicle were going to pass each other anywhere near me. They can't stop quickly and they can't change direction quickly. Most move over to avoid you if there is room, but some don't for some reason, even if nothing is coming on the other direction. The other thing to watch out for are the wide loads, of which there were many. They sometimes cover the whole hard shoulder as well as two thirds of the road, so you need to get off the road (and take a photo of the amazing variety of things carried across Australia!). Just be careful that when you take the bike off the road as some parts of Australia have huge numbers of 'bindi eyes' - tiny seed pods with very sharp prongs (I think this is what one of the other posts is referring to). Some riders have had 10 or more punctures in a day. Luckily the tyres I recommnded in my earlier post have very good puncture resistance.

Brian

marksteven

hi ive done a couple of thousand miles on top cont 700/28 this year only 2 puntures & they were big thorns , i live in kent where its very flinty they burrow into your tyres no flats from them at all use mich krylions on other bikes & reg get flint flats

CyclepathToHell

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone . All your replies were helpful and I read them all with interest.

I have ordered the Marathon pluses as I think I probably do hate fixing flats more than most cycle tourists - I am prone to over-reacting on the road