Schwalbe Marathon Plus Road Tyre

PeterHeath

Has anyone had puncture problems with Schwalbe Marathon Plus Road Tyre - Smart Guard tyres?
I've had a puncture on my first 3 rides and they're supposed to be super puncture resistant.
I think it might be pinch punctures, is the pressure really important?
I was told to inflate to max (115) psi but I'm really not sure it should be that high as everyone else is talking about 70/80 psi.
Any ideas/thoughts anyone?
thanks

exlaser

Hi, I used them on the bike I commuted to work on for five years and only ever had one puncture and that was when I let the tyre pressure drop. If you keep the pressure up to 100 psi you shouldn't have a problem. They will ride rather " hard " but on my urban commute I was willing to put up with that to be puncture free.

mercia_man

Is the rim tape worn or has it been dislodged during fitting? Have you examined the tyre to see if something has pierced the tread to cause your puncture? Check it's not still there. Those Marathon Plus tyres are really puncture-proof. My wife has some on her e-bike. She's never had a puncture with them. I don't think your pressure sounds too low. As long as you are within the range recommended on the sidewall you should be OK.

PeterHeath

thanks Exlaser, yes, they're on my commuter bike but I've had 3 punctures in the last 3 rides and it's not tacks or glass so I'm not sure what's happening. I inflate to 115 psi but i'm still getting them. maybe I'm not fitting them correctly but as far as I can see I can't do the same wrong fit 3 times in a row surely.

PeterHeath

yep mercia man, I've checked all those things (I'll check again though) and all seems to be fine. tbh i thought it was all to do with pressure and pinching so I guess i'll check other areas too. Those suckers are seriously hard to get on, every time I get blisters so it's really annoying me. Thanks for your comments though

JackPozzi

I've been using 25mm marathon+ over the winter without any punctures, agree about them being hard and found they aren't the best at gripping, but will live with that to avoid flats!

Out of interest are the 3 punctures you've had in different places around the tube?

PeterHeath

I'm not sure Jackpozzi, I've had to inflate them every 100 yards to get home so god only knows what's happened to my tubes during that time. The tyres are sooooo hard to get on it's difficult to know if they're on properly because it's just such a relief to hear the pop when the tyre finally does pop in and they're so tight I can't really 'manoeuvre' them. I'm gonna try again today and ride tomorrow so i'll feedback. Thanks everyone.

Bobbinogs

I would stop pointing the finger at the tyres and concentrate on why you have punctured since you don't seem to know. If you have something stuck in the tyre then you will puncture on every ride irrespective of tyre and pressure.

A good tip is to align the tyre logo with the valve then when you puncture just find the hole in the tube, line the valve up against the tyre and you have a 50/50 chance of knowing the exact place in tge tyre.

Pressures quoted here are high for me but this is very dependent on weight. My wife rides Marathons at about 70/80 but she rides 28mm...not sure of her weight (probaby 75kg as a wild guess) but I do know she rides nearly every day and has not punctured in years.

ben-----

3900 miles and no puncture yet. I have the rear at about 100psi, front a bit softer. 25mm ones.

When you get the puncture, do you examine the wheel/tyre corresponding to where the puncture is in the tube?

PeterHeath

yeah, i wasn't pointing the finger at the tyre, just wandering if my problem was relating to something i wasn't checking. My commute involves me driving for 25 miles and then riding for the last 15. I pump the tyres up the night before, load up the car, drive, park, unload, ride into work....all cool. THEN, when I come to ride home i've got a flat. Maybe someone's letting down my tyres!!! I don't think I've pissed anyone off at work ha ha...(they don't inflate again after i get home)
thanks everyone, i guess I'll just have to look a little deeper. The general consensus is that these babies don't puncture so it must be me. thanks for the help

jgsi

Dont take this worng way but sounds as though you struggle to fit the tyres in the first place.
I am ready to risk a quid that you are pinching the tube somewhere as you fit.
If you dont use high pressures then the tube will not burst at home... but probably take its time when you are out riding.
Butyl tubes dont need constant pumping up by the way, they lose very little pressure.
I have had a Schwalbe One tub pumped up to over 7 bar on a rim to stretch it for over a month and is still rock hard.. this has a butyl inner.

Bobbinogs

PeterHeath wrote:

(they don't inflate again after i get home)

OK, so try and pump up and either locate the hissing sound or if they inflate but then deflate go old school. Remove the tube, inflate to a safe level (just until sausage shape) and then immerse in a bucket/sink of water. Find the cause of the deflation. This may insult you but don't overlook the fact that you may not be tightening the valve stop correctly. If you have a single hole then this suggests something stuck in the tyre so remove the offending tyre and check carefully. If the hole is on the wheel side (inner edge of the tube, as in rotate the tube until it is the same as when in the wheel with the valve inner) then this could be a spoke or rim issue. A double hole would indicate pinch flat or snakebite but I don't think this sounds likely on every ride.

The tip above about pinching the tyre when fitting also sounds very plausible and can be determined by simply leaving the bike pumped up for a day or so without riding and see if the tyres deflate on their own. Don't forget to add a few psi to the tube before fitting to help with this issue.

This really does sound to be a relatively straightforward problem but you need to be a bit more logical in your investigation or get some assistance with basic techniques.

dj58

Don't know whether you have seen this video, however it usually gets recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

glenwatt

I have some on an old Trek used for various duties.

700cx 28mm 100 psi. Nothing has got through yet, although I have pinched a couple of tubes as they are a tight fit.

fenix

The tyres are pretty much bullet proof.
Take out the tube and find out where you punctured and then check the tyre or rim.

I'll bet you've pinched the tube.

Cousin Nick

I have Marathons on my commuter (Brompton) and have never punctured with them.
As others have suggested, check the inside of the tyre for trapped foreign objects, even small shards of grit can cause punctures at high pressures over multiple wheel rotations.
Another item to check is the performance of your rim tape - if it is past its best, the tape may be deforming over spoke holes in the rim at 115psi, causing a puncture from any spoke ends. I had this problem a few years ago. If you can see marks on the rim side of the inner tube corresponding to one or more rim holes (or punctures in this location), then the chances are that the rim tape is not working as it should.
HTH,
N

awavey

I have encountered punctures with Marathon Pluses, but its then been very hard to prove it was actually the tyre at fault as I never found any obvious cause sticking into or through the tyre, fortunately it happened just as I parked the bike in my hallway, and all I can think was it might have been a pinch flat as I hit a bump quite hard (but no harder than normal Id thought) just outside my house.

but so I replaced the inner tube, and it held air for suitably long enough, all seemed good, but next time I went out about 10 miles in, it punctured again,though again with no obvious sign of anything sticking out of the tyre.

so could have been the rim tape had moved, or even a loose spoke as my LBS informed me during a service a week later that one of them had come loose, or I did notice when feeling around the inside of the tyre there was a tiny deflection of the reinforced tyre section, possibly again caused by hitting that bump too hard, that might have caused a rough spot in contact with the tube I dont know.

whatever I just swapped the tyre out for another Marathon Plus, put on some new rim tape and fingers crossed all has held up well since...and I avoid the bump now (well actually the council filled it in eventually)

jawooga

700c x 32mm on my commuter. 80psi. I'm about 78kg and find that quite firm. Never had a puncture BUT they're a pain in the arse to fit. Have fitted on mine and my wife's and each time I crossed all fingers and toes that i didn't pinch the inner tube.