Best puncture resistant tyres?

[WheezyRider]

AS I said in another place, I had a thorn puncture thru Tannus inserts (3/4 of the away from the rim, so not the thickest part) from a hawthorn that would double as a gramophone needle (78 rpm only) .. that was Big Apple rather than MP+, but still Schwalbe and supposedly good puncture protection. Annoying thing with thorn puncture is finding the damn thing .. need a magnifying glass if you don't have a bucket of water, deep puddle, or A1 hearing for the hiss..

Big Apple only have a protection rating of 3 or 4 depending on the guard type:

Big Apple Road Bike Tire - HS 430 | Schwalbe Tires

The Big Apple commuter or e-bike tire started off the Balloonbike trend ten years ago: Comfortable cycling without using complicated technology!

www.schwalbetires.com

Whereas Marathon Plus are a rating of 7:

Marathon Plus Road Bike Tire - HS 440 | Schwalbe Tires

The Marathon Plus is Schwalbe's best selling tire. This flattless e-bike ready tire has low rolling resistance, contains recycled material and our famour anti-aging sidewall.

www.schwalbetires.com

Marathon E-Plus E-Bike Road Tire | Schwalbe Tires North America

The Marathon E-Plus e-bike road tire provides maximum safety on long touring rides with maximum puncture protection.

www.schwalbetires.com

A rating of 3 will not give a lot of protection. Better than a standard tyre, but can still be punctured by long sharp objects. I had a piece of flint go through a Schwalbe City Jet with a rating of 3.

 

[mt247]

Big Apple only have a protection rating of 3 or 4 depending on the guard type:

View attachment 39348

Big Apple Road Bike Tire - HS 430 | Schwalbe Tires

The Big Apple commuter or e-bike tire started off the Balloonbike trend ten years ago: Comfortable cycling without using complicated technology!

www.schwalbetires.com

Whereas Marathon Plus are a rating of 7:

Marathon Plus Road Bike Tire - HS 440 | Schwalbe Tires

The Marathon Plus is Schwalbe's best selling tire. This flattless e-bike ready tire has low rolling resistance, contains recycled material and our famour anti-aging sidewall.

www.schwalbetires.com

Marathon E-Plus E-Bike Road Tire | Schwalbe Tires North America

The Marathon E-Plus e-bike road tire provides maximum safety on long touring rides with maximum puncture protection.

www.schwalbetires.com

A rating of 3 will not give a lot of protection. Better than a standard tyre, but can still be punctured by long sharp objects. I had a piece of flint go through a Schwalbe City Jet with a rating of 3.

Marathon E-plus seems like better choice to overall. It has better off-road and road grip and also rolls better.

 

[GSV3MiaC]

Neither Marathos Plus nor (afaik) M-EP, are available in the size require for the Tern Vektron (only the studded winter ones).

 

[GLJoe]

Big Apple only have a protection rating of 3 or 4 depending on the guard type:

Whereas Marathon Plus are a rating of 7:

On one of my ebikes, I run Big Apple in the summer, and Marathon Plus MTB in the winter.
There is a big difference!

Pretty much no punctures with the MP, not so with the Big Apples.
So why do I bother running the Apples at all?
Because everything is a compromise, and putting Marathon Plus tyres gives hideous ride quality in comparison!
Most people here never seem to mention this though. There is a reason you'll often hear people talking about 'good' tyres and the benefits of 'supple' ones - well a marathon plus is about as anti-supple as you can get!

I still use them because often, getting a puncture is the last thing I want to have, but they are hideous in oh so many ways!

 

[WheezyRider]

On one of my ebikes, I run Big Apple in the summer, and Marathon Plus MTB in the winter.
There is a big difference!

Pretty much no punctures with the MP, not so with the Big Apples.
So why do I bother running the Apples at all?
Because everything is a compromise, and putting Marathon Plus tyres gives hideous ride quality in comparison!
Most people here never seem to mention this though. There is a reason you'll often here people talking about 'good' tyres and the benefits of 'supple' ones - well a marathon plus is about as anti-supple as you can get!

I still use them because often, getting a puncture is the last thing I want to have, but they are hideous in oh so many ways!

I completely understand

On my hybrid bike I am limited by the frame width to no more than a 40mm wide tyre, so I run a 40mm wide Marathon e-Plus on the back and a 40 mm wide Marathon Almotion (older design HS453) on the front. The Almotion tyre has a low rolling resistance and is lighter, while still having quite good puncture resistance. Not fantastic for comfort, but so much better than the 28 mm wide Durano Plus I used to run on. Ouch! They used to give me bruises where you shouldn't get them

On my other bike with 26 inch wheels, I run 50 mm wide Marathon Supreme front and back, which give a much more comfortable ride, with good rolling resistance and puncture protection:

Marathon Supreme Road Bike Tire - HS 469 | Schwalbe Tires

The Marathon Supreme semi-slick road tire was the first Evolution line Marathon and now in its second generation it not only looks good, but also rolls more nimbly than ever before.

www.schwalbetires.com

As an alternative to Big Apple tyres, could you run Big Ben plus instead?

Big Ben Plus HS 439 | Schwalbe Tires North America

www.schwalbetires.com

 

[vfr400]

On one of my ebikes, I run Big Apple in the summer, and Marathon Plus MTB in the winter.
There is a big difference!

Pretty much no punctures with the MP, not so with the Big Apples.
So why do I bother running the Apples at all?
Because everything is a compromise, and putting Marathon Plus tyres gives hideous ride quality in comparison!
Most people here never seem to mention this though. There is a reason you'll often here people talking about 'good' tyres and the benefits of 'supple' ones - well a marathon plus is about as anti-supple as you can get!

I still use them because often, getting a puncture is the last thing I want to have, but they are hideous in oh so many ways!

Good points well presented. Each tyre has it's own characteristics. you have to choose one with the characteristics you want, and that choice means inevitable compromises.

 

[GLJoe]

Good points well presented. Each tyre has it's own characteristics. you have to choose one with the characteristics you want, and that choice means inevitable compromises.

Indeed. What we really want is a super supple tyre with great flexibility, low weight, low rolling resistance and fantastic puncture protection.
And preferably one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

But you can't have it all! Bugger.

And like you, where I live, this time of year means hawthorn hedges being trimmed! Marathon Plus tyres are I think the only ones I've used that have let me avoid punctures on country lanes - although I have had to manually pull out a couple of really long spikes and I suspect that if I'd have left them in the tyre, they would have eventually worked their way through the protection!

But I dislike them with a passion! they kill the ride quality. The rotating mass is noticeable, even on an e-bike; changing them can be difficult, and lets not even mention how cruddy the grip in the wet!
But if you don't want punctures ... I've yet to use a tyre that's better than them. And I have tried other brands, including the tough Conti's that are supposed to be ok as well.
I suspect its mainly the incredibly deep band of extra protection rubber they put on the plus models.
Roll on spring time though when I can put some far nicer tyres back on my bike

 

[GLJoe]

As an alternative to Big Apple tyres, could you run Big Ben plus instead?

I seem to recall Big Ben are pretty good protection wise, the plus even more, but even these aren't quite as good as the Marathon plus.

I had a set of Little Big Ben in I think a 38mm on a non electric hybrid. Not a bad compromise to be honest - was fairly comfy, decent grip, and FAIRLY puncture proof - I think I did get one or two punctures though. Before that I had a set of 47mm marathon plus road tyres. Again, awesome puncture protection, but I just had to take them off on a non electric bike as it was a step too far weight wise. Hang on ... I think I made a note of the weight ....
1.145Kg !!! OMG
Per tyre !!! (can that even be right ??)
I weighed some 28mm GP4000 tyres at the same time and they were 260g each!
Ok, not like for like, but in my list, I also have some fairly chunky 50mm Giant Sycamore gravel tyres, and those are only 730g.
Those marathon plus tyres are monsters weight wise

 

[science.raven]

I had a previous version of continental "travel contact plus" and I found them the have better punture resistance than regular tyres and very durable. I do get punctures with the marathon plus and the continental occaisonally.

The reason why i went for marathon plus in the end is because the have tougher sidewalls, whereas the travel contact had literally bare rubberized nilon on the sides, so a thorn could get through if I went through a hedge or a fence which sent something sharp to the side of the tyre.

Then I got marathon plus and they are awesome except I had quality control defects on them too, the nylon underlayer on the side became a bit detatched from the rubber in small lines which are all parallel to the nylon weave and eventually a 15 x 3mm hold has appeared on the side of the marathon plus, and 10 other little cracks all at the same angle where the nylon flexes.

Either way, I get more than 5000 from either tyre, good call from this thread i'll probably try to mend the marathon plus defect today. I'd say they are 5 -8 times less puncture prone than an ordinary tyre, so i have a flat every 1000km going through hedges and fences

 

[Michael Price]

I have had a continental on the rear for about 2 years - I got it when the tyres that came with the bike started getting worn out
Once I got rid of an old inner tube I have had no punctures at all
Until last week when a thorn got through.
When I looked the thread is getting quite think on the contact patch and that was where the hold was.
I have a Marathon on the front and I have had no problems with that - I should swap them really!

 

[science.raven]

I have a Marathon on the front and I have had no problems with that - I should swap them really!

TIL that the front wheel can flick up spikes to just the right angle so that they can pierce the rear wheel. I thought that the front can collect things that would otherwise go in the back wheel, and no.