1800 miles later…Conti vs. Schwalbe?
(EDIT: the tires are Continental Touring PLUS…not Pros)
After almost four months on the road carrying about 85 lbs of gear, we’ve seen quite a few things excel and a few things fail on the road. One of the most problematic consumables we’ve had are tires. Early in our tour, we swapped out our Panaracer Paselas because of splitting sidewalls. We changed our tires at the same time.
I swapped my tires out for Schwalbe Marathons and Laura swapped hers out for Continental Touring Plus. She would have done Schwalbe tires at the time, but the store we were in didn’t have them for 700c wheels.
So after 3 months and 2000 miles of loaded touring carrying 85lbs of gear, which one came out on top?
Since I’ve swapped to the Schwalbe Marathons, I’ve had zero flats - a vast improvement over the 4 flats I had in a week with the Panaracers. Laura had one flat on the Conti’s. Not all that conclusive, since there are so many variables in play.
Perhaps more telling is the wear on the tires. My Marathons still look like they are in great condition! No splitting sidewall and the tread is still sharp and defined. Laura’s Contis, however, are a different story. We were at Rivendell, when the guys hovered around her rear tire and noticed a mysterious yellow stripe. I had seen it, but thought it was just some paint or debris she had picked up.
It was Grant who noticed that it wasn’t paint, but the tire wearing through! I took a closer look and sure enough, the black rubber had rubbed off all around the tire and was wearing down to the casing. While it was still rideable, it didn’t inspire much confidence. So only after 1800 miles of primarily road riding (and a little gravel thrown in), the Conti Touring Plus were looking pretty abused. NOT a good deal for a pair of tires that cost $80-$90.
Needless to say, Laura got some Schwalbe Marathons from the next decent bike shop that carried them.
So that’s our verdict. After replacing our tires at nearly the same time and riding the same number of miles with similar loads, the Schwable Marathons reign supreme!
Subscribe to Epicurean Cyclist
Thanks for the comparison. I have 3500km on my Marathons and they still look nearly new despite some hard riding with heavy loads on some very rough roads. In all that time I have only had one flat and that was my fault for letting the pressure get way too low and pinch flatting. I also tried Panracers and had the same problems as you after only a few hundred kms. I thought it was the salt and winter riding I was doing at the time, but I see I am not the only one now.
Thanks for sharing that, I’m in the market for some new tyres after getting rid of my panaracer pasela TG’s after just several hundred Kms!!! I hit 2 punctures (both through the side-wall) within 400km before the bead came away from the tyre rendering it completely useless… these are by far the poorest quality tyres I’ve ever ridden. I quickly put back the slickasaurus tyres the bike came with and have had no flats since.
I’m willing to compromise a little for a traditional ‘gum-walled’ look, but not that much! It will be schwalbe marathons for me soon too! I’d be interested to hear how they ride on the road, I’ve heard they are somewhat heavy and cop a lot of rolling resistance (bulletproof tyres that run like racing slicks is maybe a bit much to ask :P)…
Yup! Like Rob, I appreciate the info. I’m new to the Schwalbe game, with only a thousand miles on one pair, and about 700 on another. But zero flats.
I hear folks say they ride slow, etc. No worries. Not racing.
Safe travels to you, folks.
That Continental looks defective. My Duraskins and Contacts always wear evenly and are extremely reliable.
You can’t argue with those findings. Thanks for the comparison. I am running Continental Contacts which came on my LHT and have had no trouble after 2000 miles.
I just finished a tour of just over 5,000 miles. I wanted to get Schwalbe Marathons, but my bike shop didn’t carry them. I went with Continental touring tires. They were solid for 2,000 miles. After that, it’s like clockwork, the rear tire went out at 2,000 miles and 4,000 miles. I carried about 80 pounds of gear on average. 2,000 miles on the rear is the most you can expect out of them. The front tire lasted me 4500 miles.
The Panaracer Passella folding tire was a great spare and I would recommend it for that use. It saved my bacon at least three times in very rural areas. I changed it out as soon as I got to a bike shop that had a tire I could use on a more permanent basis. I don’t think I put more than 800 miles on that one and it held up just fine.
I am going to order Schwalbe Marathons this winter so that I have the tire I want for next year. Thanks for your review.
Yo Russ, what size schwalbe’s are you running? I’m running the 700c x 41 marathons that rivendell sells, and they are awesome for in town, but I wonder if they would feel a little big when out on the open road. They do roll nicely though and no flats so far (knock knock knock).
Also, I’m a big fan of the look and functionality of the reflective stripe on these tires.
I had a set of 700 x 32 Schwalbe Marathon Plus on my fixed gear commuter for a year and had one flat from a staple. The tread on the back tire was almost gone after an estimated 4,000 miles. Other than that one flat absolutely no problems. However the weight has kept me from getting another set. On a fixed gear bike the weight of the tire is very noticeable and I am now investigating other options.
Any suggestions anyone? I would like a tire closer to 300 grams with good puncture protection in a 700 x 28.
Jose…im running 26×1.75,,,about 43mm. I wouldn’t call the ride nimble but great for loaded touring. If I wasn’t touring I’d probably run 1.25….
Friend suggested Conti Touring Plus, 700×32, to replace worn XRs. Priced right($30), lighter, with narrow footprint. No flats after 1500 miles and they do roll nice. Back tire has too much wear and lots of fine cracks. Bad choice. Saving up for another pair of Schwables.
Currently running the Schwalbe Marathons in 3 sizes and couldn’t be happier with the performance. I need to get a set ordered for my city bike, but being the cheap person I am, I am waiting for the OEM tires to wear out first.
Aaron
I have about 1500 miles on a pair of Conti Touring Plus tires. While the front tire looks fine, the rear tire has lost all tread and the yellow puncture resist layer is starting to show. From the Conti diagrams, the yellow layer is pretty thick so I could probably keep the tire until much more yellow is showing.
I have had two flats on these tires. Both were from big nails (~4 inch) that looked like they would have taken out a car tire. No flats from the glass or metal shavings which plagued my commute on my bikes original tires. Overall, I have been satisfied with the Touring Plus, but I will probably replace the rear tire soon.
Clearly the consensus here is that the Schwalbe tires are superior, but they also cost more. Assuming about equal flat protection as Touring Plus, does the longer lifetime for the Marathon tires justify the extra cost?
Paul: Seems to me the answer to your question depends on how often you ride. You may be able to live with outer lining break down, but it is probably a compromise. Spending a bit more for significant improvement in longevity is worth it if you ride a lot.
@Isolation Helmet (and anyone else!
) :
the Schwalbe Marathon Racer is a good bet for a tire with Marathon genes but quite light and fast. does quite well in wear and speed tests over here in Germany. in 622 it comes in 30, 35 and 40 widths, all foldable. And the new Marathon Dureme promises to be a fast tire (37-622 and 42-622, folding). Stay away from the Marathon Plus and Marathon Plus Tour: they are the ones with the big fat blue rubber puncture protection (deeper than a thumbtack).
Don’t forget there are TEN different Marathon models (versions, not sizes) to choose from, and they all of course have different characteristics.
the Conti Touring Plus is the Conti equivalent of the Marathon Plus: it has a massive fat yellow rubber thingy in it, so heavy and slow. the yellow layer is so thick that you can ride a good many miles with it showing.
The Conti TopContact (28-622 , 32-622, 37-622, 42-622 all folding, top rated tire in Germany) and the Conti TravelContact (37-622 folding) are also great. I sound like a salesman: but i love German tires! and if you really want a fast tire: the Contact Reflex Extralight, at 42-622 it weighs an amazing 500g. The equivalent Touring Plus weighs almost twice as much! i think tires are the easiest way to transform your bike’s performance, and today’s tires, like today’s lighting systems, are SO much better than the tires of 15 yrs ago.
Thanks for your website and your insight, Russ.
Of course, as others have said, it depends on where you ride and what your needs are.
Told ya so. I ride the Marathon Plus here in Rome on some awful streets. Only had one flat in a year of commuting, and that was a huge shard of glass. Big gash in the Marathons, but I continue to ride it, no problemo. The pics are here…
http://pastatrails.blogspot.com/2009/09/ppppssssssssssssssssssss.html
The only drawbacks are that they are heavy and a pain in the buttocks to mount. Beyond that, they are mount and forget tires. No maintenance, no nothing. They just keep on going.
They do give you a GREAT workout… I always feel like I am flying when I get on my race bike after a week of commuting!
Thanks for the info.
FWIW - I have had really great luck with my Vittoria Randonneur Pro’s. These are great tires, very puncture resistant and weigh about half as much as the comprable Schwalbe’s. I am no weight weenie, but an extra pound of rotational weight is good news for any one. I have about 400 miles of touring miles on these tires, and the front tire still has its molding strip in the middle, and no flats. I was getting flats almost every week on my Slickasaurus - as they were nearing the end of their life.
I wanted a 26×1.5 tire - and I wanted reflective - the Panaracer T-Serv was the other option I looked at, but they didn’t come with a reflective side wall. I might try those once I wear these out.
Not a fair comparison; but I had Gatorskins on b4, often punctured, now i ride Panaracer tourguard, no flats or probs, But he latter are much fatter…just for the record…
I am a rather low mileage cyclist, with 700 x 35 Pasela TG’s on my current ride. So far , so good, but having read all the bad news about them, I will be inspecting the sidewalls regularly.
I worked several years in rubber chemistry and testing. UV eats rubber faster than anything except perhaps ozone, and the two are usually found together because UV begets ozone. There are various chemical choices that can be made to protect against UV and ozone. It’s too complex a subject to go into here, but the simplest thing is easy. The simplest, cheapest way to protect rubber from UV is carbon black blended into the rubber. Even if you use other UV protective additives, carbon black is still a powerful help.
Gum colored sidewalls, by definition, contain no carbon black. No matter what else the rubber chemist does to try to protect the gum sidewall, there is no way to protect it from UV as well as can be done with carbon black added to the mix. Also, carbon black, in the amounts needed to protect from UV, doesn’t hurt the physical properties in any noticeable way. With the correct choices, carbon black actually improves some properties, such as abrasion resistance, tear strength, etc. Tread compounds may have rather large amounts of carbon black to take advantage of those property improvements.