SCHWALBE Marathon Plus HS 348 Road Bike Tire

Look at the photo - notice how the blue layer is shifted cattywampus way off center? That causes various problems. First of all, Schwalbe advertises the blue layer as a puncture resistant feature. But guess what, when it is not in the center of the tread, that puncture resistance is reduced. Also, the blue layer is actually softer than the black rubber used for the rest of the tire. So the puncture resistance comes from the thickness, not because the blue is more difficult for a thorn to push through! The blue layer actually does two things the black rubber can't do. The softer and therefore more flexible blue layer makes the tire easier to mount. Have you read reviews of people who said the tire was difficult to mount? That is likely due to the softer blue layer being off center and the stiffer black rubber in the center, causing added rigidity. My tire was so difficult to mount, I took it to the bike shop. They also struggled and trashed one inner tube in the process of getting it mounted. Now I know it was due to the haphazard manufacturing that allowed this defective tire to be sold. Another thing the blue layer does is soften the ride. When the blue layer is off center, the ride is harsher since more weight is on the denser black rubber. Unfortunately, it is difficult to confirm if you have a defective tire without cutting it apart. Schwalbe knows that which is why they are to able keep selling the defective tires along with those that by hook or by crook get put together properly. They know very few customers will catch them doing their dirty work of selling some very poor quality tires. So buyer beware.

I got a pair of these for my husband's hybrid bike (700x35c) and my road bike (700x25c), both of which we use daily for commuting over some of the most glass-littered roads in existence (maybe an exaggeration, but it certainly feels that way sometimes). My husband's I installed at the beginning of the summer and mine about a month later and (now in September) we have had only one flat between the two of us, and it was on the rim side not the tire side. Some other reviewers have mentioned problems with the extra layer being off-center, but I did not see any such problem with any of the 4 tires I installed. Once they're fitted on the wheel and ready to go, they ride really nice and I'm excited to see the difference in number of flats with them going forward.So about fitting them...yeah, it's going to be rough, especially with the narrower tires. They are pretty stiff tires so it takes a lot of maneuvering to get enough slack to get the last few inches over the rim. For mine, I actually put them down and came back to them the next day...and the next day...before I finally rigged up a method for getting them fitted on the rim. Now, I'm only working with an hour or so of spare time after work, dinner, and putting the kiddo to bed, and my hands were very sore from day 1's effort so on day 2 I was really just half-heartedly playing with the tire while watching TV, and I am by no means an expert when it comes to fitting up bike tires, but you get the point - it's going to be tricky. To help, I would suggest looking up GCN's YouTube video titled "How To Fit Any Difficult-To-Fit Bike Tyre", where they give you some helpful pointers (albeit while demonstrating with the easiest-to-fit tire I've ever seen).

study how to mount ...don't get frustrated1 See the excellent British guy in the red shirt on You Tube.2 Be sure wire rib on scound side is so far down in the wheel that the refective line is almost to the rim.3 use tie wraps to keep it there4 work excess play created in step 2 to the last section to be pushed on5 very often tube is pinched between wire and edge of the wheel. push tire away from the edge of the wheel being sure you can see the rim tape all the way around on both sides....SEE ALL OF THIS PROCESS IN THE VIDEOLEARN how to install them....dont blame the tires. They are FANTASTIC

I went through several different tires until I found these. I will be using them for a very long time and when they are worn out I will buy another set. I bought a bike for commuting to work several years ago. I burned through the stock tires of the bike withing the first year. I bought a set of Kendra's that looked nice but they couldn't stand up to the road debris. Even with my puncture resistant tubes small shards of glass made their way through on more then one occasion. I bought another set of Kendra's that were advertised as puncture resistant but the side walls were way too thin. I blew the side walls out on 2 sets of them. That is what brought me to the Schwalbe tires. This tire takes my rough commute in stride and asks for more. If Amazon allowed me to post the picture of the tire with the review you would be looking at a 16 penny nail that was driven through my tire from the tread and out the side wall. The puncture guard did its job and deflected the nail away from the tube. The nail was in so hard that it tore my fender off before I got the bike stopped. After removing the damaged fender and pulling the nail from the tire I finished my ride home with no problem. As far as I am concerned they have already paid for themselves. I will try and post the picture as a customer picture and see what happens.

I bought a swalbe marathon plus tire for my rear wheel several years ago. Within the first month, I was surprised that on my way to work, I did get a puncture during my 28 mile daily commute. It was dark and I couldn't see what I was riding over. In fact I got three punctures at the same time, because I ran over freshly cut thorny hedge clippings. The tyre didn't go down quickly though, so I was able to make it to work on time without having to repair it there and then. After pumping up, I cycled home too.The thorns were rather vicious, and very difficult to get out even with pliers, they weren't going anywhere! At home, I fixed the punctues, and continued my daily commute, and I bought another marathon plus tyre to go on my front wheel too. Since the thorny incident, I've had no issues at all.My commute had me cycling over broken glass daily over the next year. Much of the route is rough cycle tracks. Most other tyres would have been ripped to shreds or produced numerous punctures. I've had over 5000 miles of puncture and bother free cycling since then. There's possibly another 1000 miles tread left in my rear tyre, more on my front.If you are trying to get these tyres off your wheel, they will snap plastic tyre levers, so make sure that you use strong steel tyre levers! These tyres are also very tight to get back on.I also bought 2 swalbe marathon plus tyres for my son's road bike. Again they have been brilliant and he's has no punctures in 2 years since fitting them.In summary. Totally brilliant and pretty much tough indestructible tyres, but they are not totally thorn proof.

Good tyre that looks and feels comfortable to ride on. Fitted 32 mms to a Carrara Crossfire 2 which previously had 44mms tyres. I wanted less drag and more protection against punctures.Only done 50 miles on them so far but they were exactly what I wanted but as yet can't report on wear. They were difficult to fit and try as I may in the end I had to use tyre levers after trying all the Utube dodges. Service from the supplier was first class and on time. I am very happy to pay extra for a very good product that I hope will live up to it's good reputation.

I bought a pair of these back in November 2015 and they're still on the bike to this day. I've had zero punctures during that time.I commute on my bike (8 miles per day, all weathers) and remember going through a phase where I was getting a lot of punctures with my stock tyres. As I was primarily using the bike for commuting, I wasn't too fussed about the additional weight that came with these tyres. There is a noticeable heaviness even compared to my stock tyres, which to be honest probably weren't anything special, but the additional weight wasn't enough to be a concern when you consider how effective these are at preventing punctures.The tyres were a pain in the - tricky to fit. I'm not a particularly good mechanic by any stretch, but I'd been taking my old tyres off on the side of the road with no issue. These however took me a good 10-20 minutes to get on in the comfort of a kitchen, claiming the lives of one or two tyre levers in the process. My local bike shop have had the tyres off multiple times when fitting new wheels and they've always made it look annoyingly easy. Just something to bear in mind, as I think it could be tricky for the average joe - armed with cold fingers and fragile plastic tyre levers accumulated from various Christmas gift sets - to remove roadside were a puncture to occur mid-ride.But the whole point of these tyres is that you shouldn't have to worry about punctures, and in my experience they've performed admirably. Excellent value too. Would fully recommend.

Fitted front and rear on my bike in February 2014. Just over 6200 miles later (Oct.16) I'm having to replace the rear tyre as it has minimal tread left on it, due to taking the bulk of the braking friction. So that I can praise these tyres enough only large caps will do it....NO PUNCTURES in all those miles! (Pressure in these tyres I keep at around 90 psi)Commuting to work and for pleasure on road, road cycle paths and local cycle paths strewn with glass, grit and all the cr*p that falls off the rest of the traffic. I once pulled a 2 inch blackthorn thorn attached to it's small branch out of the tyre which had pierced the tread,had been deflected by the inner armour and exited through the side wall! The tyre I am replacing has over a hundred cuts,nicks and slashes in it! (There are more but I got bored after the hundred)Buy these tyres. They have, at the very least, saved me a hundred plus punctures at what, £3.50 per new inner tube? (I've found repairing high pressure tubes not very successful) plus all that stress on the side of the road at an average of 20 minutes per puncture.Absolutely definitely positively worth every penny ( and a utube video showing you how to fit them without any hassle).

Fed up with punctures? Get these Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres instead. I had a puncture on my Giant Anyroad gravel bike and couldn't find an equivalent from Giant (they love to to discontinue parts). I've used Schwalbe before when everything else failed. The tyre is heavy but you get excellent puncture protection. I admit they're fiddly to fit (I got the 700 x 32c variant) so it is worth investing in some Gorilla tyre levels available on Amazon - they're indestructible. In action, the tyre has been impeccable. In wet conditions, they're better than the Giant tyre I had offering reassuring grip. Just be careful with tyre pressure as the thick layer of protection the tyre has intrudes on the available space. Highly recommended.