Schwalbe Marathon GT 365

[JimK]

I guess I am a real sucker for the Schwalbe marketing strategy, where they're constantly introducing new and improved this and that. Probably it's the same old stuff getting recycled with a new name. But how can I know if I don't try it?

Well the advertising copy behind the new GT 365 sounded good - a winter tire without studs! Mostly I am on dry pavement and I don't like how skittish studs are on dry pavement! So some kind of magic rubber compound should suit my needs very well!

I took them out today on a rather tough test. 4300 N between 900 W and 1100 W is not paved. It's the road to a quarry so lots of heavy trucks go back and forth. We had maybe six inches of snow over the past week. Probably they plowed that road a bit but there is a nice compact layer of frozen stuff, solid underneath and powdery on top. Today the temperature was around 35F so things were nice and slick.

Result - well, I didn't keel over, but those tires didn't hold very well at all. I think studs would have been much more secure. Fortunately there was a bare strip along the edge of the road so I got off the ice in the middle and just stuck to the bare packed dirt. The tires do have a bit of traction on the slippery stuff but I wouldn't want to be riding over miles of ice or anything like that.

Today was a short ride, sort of a roundabout loop to get groceries: https://www.strava.com/activities/1328478884

[mickeg]

I was unaware of these tires so I looked them up.
https://www.schwalbetires.com/node/3008

They are also listed in a couple other sizes.

[JimK]

My first impression of the GT365 tires was not so positive but with more experience I am liking them more. On yesterday's canal road ride I hit several snowy/icy patches but since I was heading north they were all on the downhill slopes & so not much of a test. Today I hit some big patches on the spiral ramp of a pedestrian overpass crossing I-15. Pretty steep, pretty icy, and the tires didn't slip at all!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1338199419

[energyman]

My big question is are they better than Marathon Plus Tour tyres/tires ?

[JimK]

Right now I am liking them better... but they're a bit wider (my Plus Tours are 47mm and the GT 365 are 50mm) and I am running them at a bit lower pressure, like 45ish vs 55ish psi... somehow I run those Plus tires at a bit higher pressure, because of stiffer sidewalls? I get all these vague ideas in my head that wreck any kind of scientific evaluation!