Need New Commuting Tires....Schwalbe Marathon Plus vs. Supreme?

I was just wondering if I can get some feedback from shop folk or owners regarding the Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Supreme. I want to get some new commuter tires for year round use and as far as I have read, these are nearly overkill. Can anyone tell me the difference between the two.

It appears from the Schwalbe website that the plus has great puncture resistance while the supreme has lower rolling resistance, traction, and cornering abilities. If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free to chime in.

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Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on August 13, 2012 at 2:23pm

Hey Doug, thanks for the tip to use a ziptie to hold the bead in! Even with a ziptie and a bead jack, it still took me almost an hour to mount the Marathons on both of my wheels. I'm hoping they're as awesome as most folks have said they are, cause there's no way I'd be able to change that tire on the side of the road.

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Permalink Reply by notoriousDUG on August 13, 2012 at 3:41pm

Glad it worked for you!

You will be surprised how much easier they are to change after the initial install.

Jamais716 said:

Hey Doug, thanks for the tip to use a ziptie to hold the bead in! Even with a ziptie and a bead jack, it still took me almost an hour to mount the Marathons on both of my wheels. I'm hoping they're as awesome as most folks have said they are, cause there's no way I'd be able to change that tire on the side of the road.

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Permalink Reply by magomawe on August 13, 2012 at 4:49pm

I've never before heard anywhere that you shouldn't use a tire lever to install a tire - unless you are worried about pinching a tube. They are extra wide tire levers and they've never torn the bead from another tire before. (And I've tried a lot of tires over the years). If the levers did tear the bead, it's still because its a weak bead/poor design. But like I said, I think they discontinued that model.

notoriousDUG said:

The tire levers are where you are damaging the bead.

I saw the picture of the failure and I think that you were breaking the bead wire trying to lever the bead onto the rim.

You should never use a tire lever to get the tire onto the rim.

magomawe said:

I mount them probably the same as anyone else. I stick half the tire on the rim with a lever, put the tube in (half inflated) and work the other half of the tire on with a tire lever or two (if need be). I sometimes use baby powder on the tube to prevent snakebites. The tires were big 700 X35 which made them relatively easy to mount.

Marathons are hard to distinguish in their exact model, and I don't think they sell this particular Marathon anymore. (likely for this reason). The side reads Marathon 37-622.

notoriousDUG said:

No offense but I would like to know your mounting procedure for the tires. I install tons and tons of Marathon and Marathon plus tires and while I have seen the occasional manufacturing defect, mostly a deformation in the tread when inflated, I would say that well over 95% of the tires I install have no problems.

magomawe said:

I would avoid getting Schwalbe Marathon tires at all costs. I ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathons with Kevlar Guard 700 X 34 about 2 years ago for my wife's commuter. I first put one on and within 50 miles it was flat. The wire bead on the inside broke free and punctured the tube. I figured it had to be a defect and I would contact the company. In the meantime I replaced the punctured tire with the other purchased tire. The same thing happened. I got two replacements and again within 50 miles (even with a different rim and bike), the wire bead broke free and punctured the tube. I requested one more replacement and it did the same thing. That's 5 tires all with the wire in the bead breaking free and puncturing the tube within 50 miles. Needless to say that was an enormous waste of time and $90. Go with Continentals - I've always been happy with Gatorskins and you can wear them down to the bone.