Schwalbe Marathon Plus Road Tyre

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.