2” tyres?

[Inbred]

I currently have Schwalbe Supreme 1.6” tyres on my Raven Tour.
I was considering swapping them for some 2” tyres.
Would there really be a noticeable change in comfort and grip with an increase in width?
Any recommendations for tyre types?
(They’ll be used for mainly cycle paths and tracks)
Many thanks for the help 🙂👍

[mickeg]

On my Sherpa, for bike touring that is mostly on pavement I use the Marathons (with Greenguard) in 40mm width.  But for more gravelly routes I use the 50mm Duremes.  I have also used 50mm Marathon Dureme on front and 50mm Marathon Extreme on rear.

I have never ridden Supremes, but it is my understanding that the Supremes roll better (less resistance) than the tires I use, so consider rolling resistance besides comfort and grip.

[RonS]

I've got Continental Top Contact 2, size 26X2 on my Raven and I'm very pleased with them. I think they're as fast and smooth as the Compass tires they replaced, which were great tires until they wore to 50% and began to be very puncture prone. I have 4000km on the Conti's puncture free and very little wear. I probably ride about 25% off tarmac.

[martinf]

My favourite tyre for touring with luggage or local utility use (both mainly on roads) is the 2" (50 x 559) Supreme, which I currently have on my Raven Tour touring bike and my "new" Raven Tour utility bike. 50 x 559 Supremes coped OK on my old bike riding with a touring load on the tracks in the photos, but I may have been lucky.

When first I got my "touring" Raven Tour I started with 2" (50 x 559) Duremes. IMO these tyres are well suited for a mix of road and unsurfaced tracks, tougher than the Supremes but with slightly more rolling resistance on good surfaces. I haven't used them much for touring, but have used them extensively for survey work involving a lot of riding on paths and tracks, they are now on one of my visitor bikes that gets used frequently for mild off-road rides. I'd put Duremes back on my tourer if I ever planned to use it extensively off tarmac roads.

On my old utility bike with 650B rims I noticed a significant increase in comfort, durability and a decrease in rolling resistance when going from old 44X584 Michelin tyres to modern 44X584 Schwalbe Marathons. With the revival in 650B tyres I then changed to 42X584 Schwalbe Supremes, which gave a further increase in comfort together with a decrease in rolling resistance, but probably at the expense of durability. Finally, after passing the 42x584 Supremes on to my wife's old bike, I changed to 50x584 Supremes, even more comfort, but perhaps a very slight increase in rolling resistance over the 42x584. With the 50x584 Supremes performance on sandy tracks was noticeably better than with any of the smaller section tyres.

[Inbred]

Thanks for the replies so far.
To be honest, I was just about to get some Duremes from SJS.
Then I thought I’d pick your brains first.
They seem pretty popular and Thorn/SJS seem almost evangelical abut them.
It’s just the £40.00 price tag that’s putting me off.

[julk]

2” Duremes are my favourite tyre.
I run them at 30+ psi front and 40+ psi rear.
They are very comfy on rough tarmac and roll easily.
Julian.

[mickeg]

There were two different Duremes, one was a much stiffer casing and the tire was labeled Tandem Ready in red text, and the other less stiff Dureme that was not labeled as Tandem Ready.  I bought a Dureme at a very good sale price on line but when it arrived I found it was the tandem version, it has more rolling resistance than the other Duremes and I would recommend against the tandem version.  I assume that the SJS ones are not the Tandem version.

[onmybike]

I'm not a rider who gets massive mileage from my rear tyres and am always amused at the tourers who claim tens of thousands of trouble free km. In it's first 5 years and 30,000km (19,000km touring) no rear tyre on my Nomad lasted much past about 3,500km and I'm including here the ghastly XRs supplied with the bike (one premature tyre wall failure, the other tossed after its rough internal casing had shredded a number of inner tubes). The Conti Travel Contacts won my prize for the most sublime ride quality but, ugh, the sidewalls all gave up near that magic 3,500km mark. Along the way a few other Schwalbes were tried, all died prematurely, but I can't recall the exact flavours of Marathon involved. I also added a Kenda Kwest of some flavour in Laos; it died of tread delamination at about 4,000km - not to mention its concrete like ride Kwality.

Will the jump from 1.6" to 2" make much difference? Maybe a little, but as someone who has toured over a period of 30 years on the famous (in Aus) dirt Barry Way ( https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=491941&v=5E ) on a road bike with 25mm tyres, a 700C mid 80s tourer with 35mm tyres, and on a Nomad numerous times with tyres ranging from 1.6" to 2.0" (50mm) all I can say is tyres have surprisingly little to contribute to the rideability of any road - UNLESS THE CONDITIONS ARE EXTREME - for example long, long stretches of snow, sand or mud. I'd settle for the tyre with the best ride/durability compromise that suits you and that's more likely to come down to an individual tyre model's design than its specific width.

After a decade or more of expensive Conti & Schwalbe sidewall and manufacturing failures I ended up settling on cheap Maxxis Overdrive Maxxprotect 1.75s. In five years there has been not a single puncture or sidewall failure. For me the tyres have proven more durable, they are fast rolling and have a comfy ride and are sure footed on sealed and dirt. I get about 5,500km out of a rear which most years includes about 1200km loaded touring on a mix of dirt and sealed road. As an all-round touring tyre I can't fault them and at about 1/3 to 1/4 the Australian price of Schwalbe and Conti's offerings. I can usually pick them up for about $25AUD vs $70 - $100AUD for the german touring tyre offerings. UK prices on the Maxxis look a bit higher, Schwalbes and Contis a fair bit cheaper so you may not see the cost advantage that I do.

[John Saxby]

I currently used Marathon Supremes 26 x 1,6 on my Raven, and have found them to be an excellent all-around tire.  I probably ride 90-95% on tarmac, but they work well on gravel too.

Someone who posts here from time to time (Tom777) visited me two summers ago on his cross-Canada ride, and both he and his wife were very pleased with their 26 x 2.00 Supremes.

In 2017, I tried a pair of Maxxis Overdrive Elite tires, sold as 26 x 1.75.  I was looking for a little more volume, but something that would still fit under my 52mm mudguards.  Turned out that they were exactly 40mm inflated, so I gain virtually no volume over the 1.6's (about 39.7 mm inflated).

The Elites would make a good multi-surface touring or commuting tire however -- they have a more aggressive tread than the Supremes.  They're a little heavier (540 gms v 440 for the Supremes) and perhaps a little slower on tarmac. I used them for a day ride and an overnight, maybe 250 kms in all.

Mine are available for sale -- I've listed them at Cdn$50 for the pair, but no buyers just now, as it's -15 and we've had 40 cms of snow in the past few days.  Send me a PM if you're interested.

Cheers,  John

[Thomas777]

Yep! We have been quite happy with the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes.
Planning a 3 month tour in Europe this year and will most likely put new tires on.
My dilemma is I like to start major tours with brand new tires even though previous ones are still in good condition. So I end up with extra tires in the basement!

[spoof]

Hi Inbred,

The dureme tyres are very light and a strong tyre - a great tyre to accompany your Raven. I got 3 of them in fact in my garage that I be keen to sell to someone that would put them to use. I replaced them not long after buying with a pair of schwalbe marathon plus for the bike. I commute in the winter and the plus marathon for me give the least chance of gaining and having to struggle with a puncture repair in the early morning and evening darkness of the country lanes.

All three are size 50-559 so 26" x 2.0. They are all the standard evolution double defence model of the dureme tyre but are the wire bead type unlike the folding ones that SJScycles sell. Two have covered approx only 20 miles a tyre and the third still has the original tag attached.
The tandem model dureme tyres mentioned earlier came with a reinforced side wall I think to aid with the weight of such a bike frame.

If you are UK based and they be of interest to you then send me a PM and maybe we can go from there. I be asking a little less than SJS for them say how does £30 each sound? Let me know as I can get some pictures for you this week and hopefully find a suitable box for them in work to ship them in.

Happy Cycling & Best
Kyle

[martinf]

I replaced them not long after buying with a pair of schwalbe marathon plus for the bike. I commute in the winter and the plus marathon for me give the least chance of gaining and having to struggle with a puncture repair in the early morning and evening darkness of the country lanes.

I have had very few punctures with Supremes/Duremes, IIRC just one or two in 14,000 kms of use. So I haven't felt the need to go for Marathon Plus on my own bikes. But I don't ride in areas with goathead thorns or large amounts of broken glass.

[Thomas777]

For those of you who have used both Supremes and Duremes which did you prefer? And why?
Thanks!

[martinf]

For those of you who have used both Supremes and Duremes which did you prefer? And why?
Thanks!

Supremes for mainly road use, as the sidewall seems lighter and more flexible than that of the Dureme. The lack of relief on the tread hasn't made any difference on the kind of off-road riding I do, mainly paths and tracks linking to proper roads. The Supreme weighs slightly less, but I didn't notice this.

However, the light and flexible sidewall on the Supreme does look fragile, and although I haven't yet had any problems with this I would expect to damage/destroy a Supreme quicker than a Dureme on rocky tracks or with urban debris.

The tread on both Supremes and Duremes is quite thick and seems to last for a long time, longest serving Supreme has 9400 km on it so far.

I prefer 50 mm width rather than 42 mm on my touring/utility bikes as the wider tyres can be run at lower, more comfortable pressures without any significant increase in rolling resistance. 50 mm tyres also work much better on sandy tracks. Wider would probably work even better on sand, but that would mean getting different frames.

Compared to a "proper" expedition tyre, I reckon there is more risk of destroying a Supreme or Dureme from sidewall damage. If touring in a remote area, it would probably be sensible to carry a spare, easy to do as these tyres fold.

[Thomas777]

Thanks for your reply!
We have been using Supremes for a number of years but I keep hearing about the Duremes. Time to order a few pair!