Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon Racer Raceguard Folding Tyre

littleprawn

Evening all....

Need some advice on tyres....currently use my Cyclocross as my main bike for commute to work (usually two/ three times a week) - round trip of 27 ish miles as well as doing weekend rides of 30miles plus. My first year of commuting I did about 1800 - 2000 miles of commute and current tyres have covered ~ about

Currently, I am still running my original tyres - Continental Cyclocross Speed 700×35c which need replacing and I am thinking of these tyres....

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/TYSCMRCRF/schwalbe_marathon_racer_raceguard_folding_tyre Schwalbe Marathon Racer Raceguard Folding Tyre.

With sportive on Sunday week coming up....will these tyres be adequate (thinking of the 30mm) and the price is competitive (£18.49 each). Does anyone have experience of these or should I bite the bullet and invest an extra £10 per tyre and get an alternative? If so, which one should I buy and why?

My aims for the rest of the year are to have a tyre for the commute as well as well as increase my speeds at weekend with my other mates who are on roadies running 23/ 25mm tyres.

Thanks for reading!

littleprawn

Should I just go for the Continental Grand Prix 4000S Road Tyre http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-grand-prix-4000s-road-tyre/ instead...25mm instead of the 35mm I have been using

veronese68

I'm running 28mm Gatorskins on my crosser and am very happy with them. I get confused about which ones people like and which they don't. I think the GP 400o and 4Seasons get generally favourable comments, the 4Seasons having better grip in the wet I guess.
What did you think of the old tyres? I was thinking of getting some and doing a bit more off road on gravel paths and such like.

DrLex

Whilst I have a soft spot for Schwalbe (running Kojaks and Winters), I bought GP4000s from ze Germans last year in advance of needs, based on the recommendations here. Save a £5 and probably delivered in 2-3 days, rather than Wiggle's 1-2 days.

rubertoe

Veronese68 wrote:

I'm running 28mm Gatorskins on my crosser and am very happy with them. I get confused about which ones people like and which they don't. I think the GP 400o and 4Seasons get generally favourable comments, the 4Seasons having better grip in the wet I guess.
What did you think of the old tyres? I was thinking of getting some and doing a bit more off road on gravel paths and such like.

I got some new Racing Ralphs kicking about of your interested?

veronese68

rubertoe wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

I'm running 28mm Gatorskins on my crosser and am very happy with them. I get confused about which ones people like and which they don't. I think the GP 400o and 4Seasons get generally favourable comments, the 4Seasons having better grip in the wet I guess.
What did you think of the old tyres? I was thinking of getting some and doing a bit more off road on gravel paths and such like.

I got some new Racing Ralphs kicking about of your interested?

Thanks, I'm not sure. I think the Racing Ralphs are a bit like the Conti Speed Kings that I have kicking about and are knobbly all over. I liked the look of the Cyclocross Speed as they have a thin file tread in the middle so should be faster on tarmac.
But quite happy to be corrected by anyone that knows.

littleprawn

DrLex wrote:

Whilst I have a soft spot for Schwalbe (running Kojaks and Winters), I bought GP4000s from ze Germans last year in advance of needs, based on the recommendations here. Save a £5 and probably delivered in 2-3 days, rather than Wiggle's 1-2 days.

Thanks for the link!

Veronese68 wrote:

I'm running 28mm Gatorskins on my crosser and am very happy with them. I get confused about which ones people like and which they don't. I think the GP 400o and 4Seasons get generally favourable comments, the 4Seasons having better grip in the wet I guess.
What did you think of the old tyres? I was thinking of getting some and doing a bit more off road on gravel paths and such like.

The old tyres are still going strong. I do mainly road cycling and hardly any off road but what I do like them is that the ride is comfortable and reasonably grippy in rain. I have done up to 2,500miles in them and had 3 P's in the whole time (touch wood etc). Think I can get another 500miles from one of them (swapped them round over Xmas because the rear tyre had more wear and looking quite bare at front. I managed to scalp a fellow roadie on a Specialised up North End Road (Golders Green to Hampstead Heath) the other day and the tyres...well the 35mm width gives me confidence going round roundabouts and descending hills.

Want to get 28mm or 25mm hoping I can increase my average speeds and still in 2 minds on which one to go for.
Thinking that my average speeds should be increased by at least 1mph if I get 28mm or 25mm.

Other thing is to change my brakes too to KoolStops (been meaning to do that for months!)

rubertoe wrote:

I got some new Racing Ralphs kicking about of your interested?

Do not know alot about these tyres!

veronese68

Ta, sounds like they are pretty good on road for a tyre that works off road.
I'd go 28mm on more roady tyres. You've got plenty of room, they are bit comfier and little difference, if any, in speed. Sketchley posts a link to do with tyres and optimum pressures and riders weights every now and then. Worth looking at.

littleprawn

Veronese68 wrote:

Ta, sounds like they are pretty good on road for a tyre that works off road.
I'd go 28mm on more roady tyres. You've got plenty of room, they are bit comfier and little difference, if any, in speed. Sketchley posts a link to do with tyres and optimum pressures and riders weights every now and then. Worth looking at.

Thinking would rather stick with 28mm. If so...what choices are out there?

Which post from Sketchley? Do you have the link?

bushu

I have some 28mm GP4S on the new wheelset, love them after coming from chunky 2.3" mtb tyres
gradually to 32mm & now 28mm on the ss commuter.

Bought a road bike recently & some 25mm lithion 2's, after seeing how narrow the original 23mm were :shock:
I did notice a slight speed increase but, have probably never ran such a high pressure and prefer the comfort of 28+mm tbh

veronese68

littleprawn wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Ta, sounds like they are pretty good on road for a tyre that works off road.
I'd go 28mm on more roady tyres. You've got plenty of room, they are bit comfier and little difference, if any, in speed. Sketchley posts a link to do with tyres and optimum pressures and riders weights every now and then. Worth looking at.

Thinking would rather stick with 28mm. If so...what choices are out there?

Which post from Sketchley? Do you have the link?

Link is in this thread. Worth reading the thread for tyre recommendations too.
I keep forgetting about it, having read it I'm overinflating my tyres.

littleprawn

Veronese68 wrote:

littleprawn wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Ta, sounds like they are pretty good on road for a tyre that works off road.
I'd go 28mm on more roady tyres. You've got plenty of room, they are bit comfier and little difference, if any, in speed. Sketchley posts a link to do with tyres and optimum pressures and riders weights every now and then. Worth looking at.

Thinking would rather stick with 28mm. If so...what choices are out there?

Which post from Sketchley? Do you have the link?

Link is in this thread. Worth reading the thread for tyre recommendations too.
I keep forgetting about it, having read it I'm overinflating my tyres.

Cheers for link and an interesting read....

Just been on Wiggle (all wiggle's fault) and saw the Vittoria Zaffiro Clincher Tyre for only £8 a tyre! If the reviews are to be believered, would be happy to get 1500 miles out of these if I get these..

littleprawn

Just an update and thanks for the advice.

Eventually managed to put the 28mm Gatorskins on Saturday night (what an ordeal that was!) and rode my first Sportive yesterday in Dorking. Clocked over 85 miles of cycling and just a over 500ft of climbing!

The tyres did the business and probably helped on the steep climbs and the nerve-wacking descents. Just glad the roads were dry! Pumped the tyres for 100 Psi.