Schwalbe’s Marathon XR tire has become the tire of choice for expedition tourers in recent years. The tires have an incredible reputation for durability and, best of all, they’re practically puncture proof!
We’ve gone through two sets of Marathon XRs so far and we liked them enough to order a third set but despite our enthusiasm for them, we’re not yet convinced that the Marathon XRs are the perfect tire.
Our switch to Marathon XR tires came after cycling 11,000km on Vredestein tires. We were actually very happy with the Vredestein tires but couldn’t find any more for sale when we needed to replace them so we swapped to the Marathon XRs.
We decided on 26 x 2.00 tires - quite wide and relatively slow but good if you plan to do any offroad or dirt road riding. Otherwise, you could go for one of the thinner models. They are relatively expensive, starting at about €30 each, depending on where you buy them and if you go for the folding model or not. Unless you plan to carry a spare around (necessary for long expeditions), it’s not necessary to pay more for the folding version.
The first thing you notice about the Marathon XRs is that they’re quite heavy, around 800g each, depending on if you choose the folding or wire bead. They also have a sturdy construction, which helps to prevent flat tires but can equally make them tough to get on the rim the first time around. If you haven’t got strong hands, you may need to enlist professional help!
SIDEWALL PROBLEMS
For the first 5,000km we were very pleased with our tires. We felt they performed well on all kinds of surfaces and in wet as well as dry weather. The first hint of doubt came in Greece. We glanced down at our tires and noticed several large slashes in both of our back tires, deep enough that the cord was showing through. To us, it appeared to be a manufacturing fault. Our bikes had not been left anywhere unattended where it was likely someone could have sabotaged our tires and the marks were too regular and placed equally around the tire sidewall to have been caused accidentally by scratching our bikes against something.
With nowhere to buy replacements until Istanbul, we carried on with the damaged tires, hoping they would last the distance to the Turkish capital. In the meantime we emailed Schwalbe and asked for their advice but they weren’t able to offer any possible causes for the slashes. We did not find them particularly helpful or sympathetic. They suggested we always carry a replacement set of tires with us - quite a heavy option, we thought, and one that shouldn’t be necessary for a tire with such a reputation for lasting long distances!
Our tires lasted until Istanbul, where we bought two replacements and put them in our panniers. We were able to cycle a further 4,500km until we needed to swap our old back tires for the new ones because the sidewall slashes had widened and the exposed cord was starting to break and cause punctures. Had it not been for the broken cord putting holes in our inner tubes, we felt we could have gotten at least a few thousand more kilometers out of our back tires.
We’ve covered another 10,000km since we replaced our back tires in Iran. The fronts continue to hold up well - 20,000km and counting! - but when we had to fix a rare flat in Friedel’s back tire in Thailand we noticed signs of wear on the inside of the back tire this time. The cord was starting to show through again and we suspect this may have caused the flat. This is annoying because there’s still plenty of tread on the tires but we feel we have to replace the backs once more because the tire structure is breaking down.
Because we can’t find any other viable options, we’ve decided to give the Marathon XRs one more try and we’ve ordered new ones to pick up in Australia. We’ll see how the third set hold up for the next leg of our trip through the southern hemisphere and North America.
