Tyre Experts

karl101

Pedelecer
Aug 2, 2011
87
7
Fair bit of wear on the tyre, so rubber perishing may have played a part.

Keeping the tyres well inflated is a good plan, but I would run 10-15psi under maximum.
The tyres were less than a year old, so was rather annoyed when it happened, no I idea how long they'd been in the shop though.
 

Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,346
842
Northampton
A couple of thoughts !
Having spent the day with nothing better to do than surf the net for a pr of tyres for my Agattu to use off road (suffering from man flu lol)
I've read a lot of reviews and puncture protection tubes don't do well.
In the end I decided, the extra I would have spent on tubes can go towards tyres with better protection.
Schwalbe tyres with GreenGuard puncture protection have the best reviews and I found buying from Germany has saved me around £20 for a pr of SCHWALBE Smart Sam Plus Performance tyres (£34 vs UK price £53)
 

RobF

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 22, 2012
4,732
2,312
The tyres were less than a year old, so was rather annoyed when it happened, no I idea how long they'd been in the shop though.
I would be annoyed, too.

They look like tyres designed for road/cycle paths.

Some ebikes are supplied with mountain bike tyres which do not like road use - the sidewall near the rim is where they tend to fail.
 

peerjay56

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 24, 2013
745
201
Nr Ingleton, N. Yorkshire
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
I also had Continentals that split on the side-wall. They were Continental Top Contact. It was a shame because they were less than a year old and the main tread was like new. The grip was far superior to anything else I've tried. The sides started splitting after a couple of months, which I thought was just the surface perishing, until one day I noticed the wheel wobbling. When I checked, I found the tube bulging out in at least three places much worse than Karls. The back was a lot worse than the front, so I put it down to the torque from my 500w hub-motor. I now see that Continental are advertising their Top Contact Winter II as Ebike compatible, so they must have recognised the problem and done something to strengthen the side-walls.

Just in case anybody gets the idea: Whatever you do, don't install those puncture-proof strips that go inside the tube unless you like repairing big splits in your tubes.
 
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Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,346
842
Northampton
Sorry folks I forgot the £5.40 postage ! Still cheaper than the UK :cool:
 
C

Cyclezee

Guest
I decided a couple of weeks ago to replace the Kenda balloon tyres on my recently acquired eZee Cadence.

The sidewall of the rear tyre was starting to split.

So I started the hunt for a pair of Schwalbe Big Apple Plus, 26" by 2.15.

Basically, I couldn't find any in the UK.

The Cycle Division, a trade supplier based in Huddersfield said they were not available and had been discontinued by Schwalbe.

I pointed out that they were listed in both the Schwalbe 2013 and 2014 catalogues.

The 'gentleman' then quoted me for a pair of the standard Big Apples which are less puncture resistant but I said no thanks, it was the Plus version that I wanted.

He then became rather rude, I am not going to repeat his actual words, but basically he told me to go elsewhere...........so I took his advice and bought these from Ebay Germany NEU Schwalbe Big Apple Plus Green Guard 26 / 28 Zoll Reifen Performance Line | eBay at a lower price including delivery than I was quoted trade for the standard tyres.

They arrived today and are now fitted.
 

Chris the Sheep

Pedelecer
Apr 7, 2013
54
11
To add to the list - I too have had trouble with Continentals, this time Sport Contacts - though I had my doubts about them from the start, suspect they were old stock.

Marathon Plus is now my tyre of choice, except on the front of my rigid MTB/Hybrid, where I use a Schwalbe Big Apple.

I've had two M+ punctures, both big pieces of glass in wet weather. That's in around 8000 miles over three bikes.
 

awol

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 4, 2013
1,216
374
How about widths?
My hybrid commuter was supplied with 35c tyres, I get the impression because the MP's weigh 3x more than my current tyres they are a bit larger. Should I stick to the 35 widths or maybe drop to 32's ? My rims will go down to 25.
Whats the usual road commuting width recommended?
 

Streethawk

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 12, 2011
634
16
If you go for Schwalbe, get them from bike24.de in Germany, even including shipping it's much cheaper than here. I've had lots of punctures on Conti travel contacts, just like any other tyres, they do offer great grip and good rolling resistance though. I've never punctured a Marathon Plus yet though... People who do round the world trips on them talk about 2-3 punctures in the whole trip.
 
C

Cyclezee

Guest
It seems broken glass is the biggest challenge for Marathon Plus:(

P1070186.jpg
P1070182.jpg
 

MikeyBikey

Pedelecer
Mar 5, 2013
237
23
Yep, its got extra deep rubber, but it's as soft as butter! :(
 

MikeyBikey

Pedelecer
Mar 5, 2013
237
23
It can be as soft and grippy as can be, but if it's *flat* it's of no use :(
You're left with a tyre that would have a thousand miles left in it but for the lack of the no1 performance enhancing tyre ingredient - Air! Try some aramid fibre in there pls Schwalbe, ta.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,260
30,648
Marathon Plus used on three bikes over nine years, result, one slow puncture from a long thorn which I could ride home on with a single pump top-up. And that was my fault anyway, riding over heaps of cut blackthorn on a country cyclepath.

During that time I've had countless punctures on my trailer tyres which aren't MPs, showing what I could have suffered and indeed used to suffer. My record long ago was three punctures in a just under six mile trip, bike front wheel (non-MP) and both trailer tyres, each at different points in the trip. It was a long six miles.

So for me Marathon Plus are fine as they are. Their stiffness is already a bit too high for comfort, especially with the narrow section ones, so I wouldn't want any added layer or harder rubber as that would make them like solids and too harsh on the roads.
.
 
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awol

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 4, 2013
1,216
374
I will probably go for the Marathon Plus's early next year before the farmers start trimming the bushes. The roads do seem ok for the moment. Thanks for the replies and info.
 

KirstinS

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2011
3,224
899
Brighton
As aficionado of the conti travel contacts I would point out that the Conti failures noted above are all with other models - sport contact etc

I only mean to point out that it's not really fair to compare apples with oranges. Same brand but not same model