Marathon Plus disappointment
- Thread starter bode
- Start date
No need to take the wheel out to repair a puncture Barry. Just release the brake cable to give room alongside the brake pads and remove one side of the tyre (non-chain side with the rear) and you'll find you can take out the tube and feed it around within the frame/fork during a puncture repair operation. As a junior in the trade I had to do all the punctures that came in and only ever removed a wheel if replacing the tube, and not always even then, but that's another story.
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When lightweight steel frames were far more common than now, the springy quality of steel was exploited by using an expander tool in the rear frame. After taking off the left hand wheel nut the expander was used to stretch the frame enough to slip tubes in and out. I've even changed tyres that way, including the thick Marathon Plus on an alloy frame bike without taking out the rear wheel.
On the road it can also be done with a shoe against the rear hub centre using arm strength, here's me doing it on a Giant Lafree. Of course you do this at your own risk, I've had loads of experience of what a frame can take:
thanks for the tip Flec
in fact I did try this techn ique this morning, managing to get the tyre out on the one side, but probably managed to puncture it (again) in the process...the bead is just so tight on the American rim that the EWC fitted with the Tongxin, and although the rim has 36 holes to match the motor, it doesnt have a 'well' to allow the bead to stretch down into...
and I am basically just not strong enough in the hand dept even using a Var tyre remover..
bike shop tomorrow!
thanks barryc
in fact I did try this techn ique this morning, managing to get the tyre out on the one side, but probably managed to puncture it (again) in the process...the bead is just so tight on the American rim that the EWC fitted with the Tongxin, and although the rim has 36 holes to match the motor, it doesnt have a 'well' to allow the bead to stretch down into...
and I am basically just not strong enough in the hand dept even using a Var tyre remover..
bike shop tomorrow!
thanks barryc
Yes, thanks for that. I'll bear it in mind, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough!
Is it not possible to undo both wheelnuts and drop the wheel out an inch or so to enable a tube to be wangled round — without mucking up the chain, gears, etc., of course?
Is it not possible to undo both wheelnuts and drop the wheel out an inch or so to enable a tube to be wangled round — without mucking up the chain, gears, etc., of course?
Yes it's possible, but it can need more hands than we've got and means setting up things again, chain tension, and brake pad alignment with the rim even. The expander method is lightning quick and means no setting up, but of course it won't suit all cases. If the spindle extension is long or if the frame tubes are alloy, short and rigid, expansion is unsuitable. There's times when it's very handy though.
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Some more M+ experiences
Hi,
Saw this thread, and thought I'd add my own reports on the Marathon plus, Kojak, and Marathon tyres.
First of all, the M+. is very puncture resistant. At times in the spring, I used to think myself 'lucky' to get a few miles without a blackthorn puncture, after farmers had been murdering the local hedges, but the M+, has reduced this to almost non-existent. However, nothing is perfect. I have had masonry nails go through them, and wire strands, from a lorry tire blowout. One blackthorn did make it through, but I think this got through, _as the tyre was deflating from the masonry nail_. I call this a 'half puncture'. Fairly sure it would not have got through if the pressure had been higher.
However have noticed a 'pattern' to my puctures on the M+. You actually seem to be slightly more likely to get one in the first perhaps hundred miles, than in the next few hundred. I suspect it is the slightly sharper edges on the treads, make it more likely for things like blackthorn to get started, and also possibly the old suggestion on tyres that they do harden if kept for some months, before use, may apply.
Have seen a couple of cuts from flint/glass, which I am sure would have got through 90% of tyres, which the M+ survived. Hve put about 1400 miles on four M+ tyres, on two bikes over the summer.
The Marathon is still 'good', but not in the same class. However it has a slightly nicer ride, and possibly rolls a little quicker (on a Brompton). Almost represents the 'minimum' that tyres ought to now be aiming for in terms of durability. Used this for quite a while before the + became available, ad was generally quite impressed.
The Kojak, is quite surprising. I suspect because it has little tread, it seems less prone to picking up sharp objects, and quite resistant to things like glass cuts, but in conditions wih thin mud 'over' a hard surface, grip is poor. It works quite well on simply 'wet' surfaces, and does roll easier. Touch wood, yet to see a puncture in about 500 miles, _but_ have tended to only use these in the dry, which makes punctures less likely anyway....
Best Wishes
Hi,
Saw this thread, and thought I'd add my own reports on the Marathon plus, Kojak, and Marathon tyres.
First of all, the M+. is very puncture resistant. At times in the spring, I used to think myself 'lucky' to get a few miles without a blackthorn puncture, after farmers had been murdering the local hedges, but the M+, has reduced this to almost non-existent. However, nothing is perfect. I have had masonry nails go through them, and wire strands, from a lorry tire blowout. One blackthorn did make it through, but I think this got through, _as the tyre was deflating from the masonry nail_. I call this a 'half puncture'. Fairly sure it would not have got through if the pressure had been higher.
However have noticed a 'pattern' to my puctures on the M+. You actually seem to be slightly more likely to get one in the first perhaps hundred miles, than in the next few hundred. I suspect it is the slightly sharper edges on the treads, make it more likely for things like blackthorn to get started, and also possibly the old suggestion on tyres that they do harden if kept for some months, before use, may apply.
Have seen a couple of cuts from flint/glass, which I am sure would have got through 90% of tyres, which the M+ survived. Hve put about 1400 miles on four M+ tyres, on two bikes over the summer.
The Marathon is still 'good', but not in the same class. However it has a slightly nicer ride, and possibly rolls a little quicker (on a Brompton). Almost represents the 'minimum' that tyres ought to now be aiming for in terms of durability. Used this for quite a while before the + became available, ad was generally quite impressed.
The Kojak, is quite surprising. I suspect because it has little tread, it seems less prone to picking up sharp objects, and quite resistant to things like glass cuts, but in conditions wih thin mud 'over' a hard surface, grip is poor. It works quite well on simply 'wet' surfaces, and does roll easier. Touch wood, yet to see a puncture in about 500 miles, _but_ have tended to only use these in the dry, which makes punctures less likely anyway....
Best Wishes
D'oh!
A third Marathon Plus puncture, and not long since the last one in mileage terms (what with having a nasty accident, followed by the long cold winter).
I think it must have been a thorn from all the hedge-cutting we get round these parts, although I do always try to avoid the clippings.
A third Marathon Plus puncture, and not long since the last one in mileage terms (what with having a nasty accident, followed by the long cold winter).
I think it must have been a thorn from all the hedge-cutting we get round these parts, although I do always try to avoid the clippings.
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