Schwalbe Marathon racers in 700x30C. Yay or nay?

[BrianI]

Looking forward to nice long day rides on my Dawes Horizon once it gets  back from the LBS with a shiny new headset I'm looking
for ideas for tyres for the summer.

Last year I used Panaracer Paselas in 700x32C width.  Nice tyres, but the beige sidewalls looked horrible with all the ingrained road grime...

I'm currently running Continental City Contacts in 700X32C size.  Good tyres for the winter, but somewhat heavy and sluggish at 550g  in 700x32C size.

Looking at the Schwalbe website, Marathon Racers look interesing.  700x30C  @ 325g, however a bit "tready".

Anyone used marathon racers and would they recommend them?

The other tyres i've been looking at are Schwalbe Durano - 700x28C @ 290g folding

Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech  700x28c @ 280g folding.

Suggestions / recommendations welcome!

[Biggsy]

I'm a fan of Rubino Pro - pretty light and fast for the type, and I've never had a you-know-what with one.  The Tech version should be good too.

[Ivo]

I used Marathon Racers for a short while and discarded them. Way too slippery on wet stone surfaces (like cobbles). And I didn't like the rumble of the tyres. I'd suggest you stick with the Pasela's, a far better tyre.

[BrianI]

I used Marathon Racers for a short while and discarded them. Way too slippery on wet stone surfaces (like cobbles). And I didn't like the rumble of the tyres. I'd suggest you stick with the Pasela's, a far better tyre.

Interesting to hear that the Marathon Racers are slippery in the wet...  I think I'll discard them as an option since Scotland isn't famed for it's dry summers!

The Panaracer T-Serv look interesting tyres, don't seem to be particularly easy to buy though, Vitoria Rubino Pro Techs  look promising, but no stock available until late april on wriggle......

Just  a shame there isn't much choice for lightish fastish 700x28 - 700x32c tyres.  Paselas, nice, apart from the beige easily crackable sidewalls. 

Further google-fu required I think!

[arvid]

I used 40-559 Marathon Racers on my recumbent in 2009. I had one problem with slipperyness, on the Tour of Flanders, on a wet, muddy, cobbled ascent of 15%+ (Koppenberg iirc).
I also did LEL, and had no problems in Alston.

I am using different tyres now, but that's only because some people claim the Marathon Racer is slow or p*nct*re prone, both of which I didn't experience. My first p*nct*re was after 8000km, and I can't say I'm significantly faster now on Kojaks or Perfect Moirees.

[PH]

I have a pair on my most used bike, not noticed any lack of grip, then I haven't done any riding over cobbles.  I like them at least as much as Paselas and they're lasting longer and have been lucky with the fairies.
Next on my list of tyres to try in this size are the 32mm Vittoria Randonneur Hyper, which look like they tick all the boxes.
City Trekking « Categories «  Vittoria

[Ivo]

I used them during a trip along the Adriatic coast. Plenty of very scenic old town centres with either cobbled or other types of skitty stone surfaces there. I crashed once and had some traction problems on wet stones. Since cobbles are a quite normal surface in a serious part of my riding territory I ditched the racers. Interesting to see that both my problems and Arvid's on the Koppenberg were on wet cobbles.

[Ivo]

BTW, I now use Vittorio's on my tourer and am quite satisfied about them for heavy duty touring.

[arvid]

Hrm, my memory is cheating on me. Checking the picture it wasn't wet, just foggy.

[clarion]

I'm currently commuting on Durano Plus, and they seem very good.

[DrMekon]

I've had a 700x30 racer on the front of my aravis for 9000km, in which time I've had 1 puncture, and fell off on diesel once. I don't get any rumble, or grip problems in the wet. When the 700x28 standard marathon on the back wears out, I'll put the 700x30 racer that Schwalbe gave me when glas cut right through the one I bought after 500km.

[BrianI]

Google-fu suggests you can get Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tyres in 700x28C size, ~380 grams.
I remember using these tyres (in 25mm width) on my Lemond Etape road bike a couple of years ago, and they were quite reasonable, good P protection and sidewall resistant to cuts / pinch flats.

I think these might be an option as you can get them for ~£15 each. At that price they might be worth a punt!   Either that or another pair of paselas, but in 28mm size.

[MacB]

I don't like the tan sidewalls either but there's the option of the Panaracer Ribmo in 700x32 or you could go with the Marathon Supreme in 700x32.

[Somnolent]

Google-fu suggests you can get Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tyres in 700x28C size, ~380 grams.
I remember using these tyres (in 25mm width) on my Lemond Etape road bike a couple of years ago, and they were quite reasonable, good P protection and sidewall resistant to cuts / pinch flats.

I think these might be an option as you can get them for ~£15 each. At that price they might be worth a punt!   Either that or another pair of paselas, but in 28mm size.

LBS gave us a bunch of Hardcase Racelites on a sale or return basis to take as spares on our group JoGLE last year (all different widths).   Never needed one myself, but those we did fit stood up very well, so I hung on to the last two 28s to fit on the tandem.    Excellent tyre on a budget IMO.

[Nonsteeler]

I am also strongly considering this tyre for my geared Audax bike (which is not built yet). Has someone made a measurement for the effective width of the Marathon Racers 700x30?

[BrianI]

Hmm, I've seen you can get Schwalbe Kojaks 700x35C @ 330 grams for £9.99 on Planet-X. Possibly a bit too slick  & lightweight for full on touring with tent and panniers front and rear, however I'm planning on doing a bit of B&B touring so the most I'll be carrying is a Camper longflap, so these might be ideal tyres.

Certainly at a tenner each I think they are worth a punt!   

[PH]

Has someone made a measurement for the effective width of the Marathon Racers 700x30?

I have now
On my 622 x 19mm rims they measure just a bit undersized at 29.2mm.

EDIT typo

[Biggsy]

I've been pleased with the 16" Kojaks on my Brompton.  The rubber is thicker than you might fear, so there's a reasonable amount of natural puncture resistance.

[EdinburghFixed]

Hmm, I've seen you can get Schwalbe Kojaks 700x35C @ 330 grams for £9.99 on Planet-X. Possibly a bit too slick  & lightweight for full on touring with tent and panniers front and rear, however I'm planning on doing a bit of B&B touring so the most I'll be carrying is a Camper longflap, so these might be ideal tyres.

Certainly at a tenner each I think they are worth a punt!   

I can recommend Kojaks - comfortable and fast and my only punture on one was just before the sidewall wore through (!) so quite good in that respect also. This is mainly on the roads of Mogadishu central Edinburgh although including a fair bit of far-ranging audax.

Given that they're a healthy size, I can't think of a reason you wouldn't tour on them providing you plan to stick to surfaced... surfaces. 

[BrianI]

Thanks for all the replies. In the end I opted for a pair of Bontrager Racelite Hardcase tyres in 700x32C size seeing as they were sitting on the display shelf on my LBS while collecting my dawes horizon after it getting a new headset fitted.

Interestingly comparing size of the tyres to the current 700x32C continental city contacts, on my Rigida Zack 2000 rims the cony city contacts measure up as being 30mm wide and 26mm tall, where the Bont racelight hardcase tyres measure 32mm wide and 31mm tall.

A bit heavier than paselas or schwalbe kojaks at 440gms, however they do look quite fast tyres, 110psi max pressure, but I'll probably run em at 90psi or so.  It'll probably be the weekend before I test ride them as I've still the components to refit to the Horizon...

[Nonsteeler]

Has someone made a measurement for the effective width of the Marathon Racers 700x30?

I have now
On my 622 x 19mm rims they measure just a bit undersized at 29.2mm.

Thanks, that's indeed very helpful