Sun CR18 rims...if I decide to go weight weenie, what could I get?

[JWestland]

I can second the Marathons being "sons of female dogs" to put on, they are on bike #1 Which means the Marathon Plus, which are the cycling equivalent of tank threads, must be that cubed

Bike nr1 has a bike shop built re-inforced DT Swiss rim and now happily carries 20KG of toddler, bags of grain and other assorted heavies. It's a bit of a bother to start and get it up the hills though

Schwalbe just doesn't seem to make bad stuff, the Hurricanes sound good for when I need to leave the roads. I found the slicks are fine on many roads...in the dry however. Wet mud...hm...not so sure...

[jags]

just going to take my flying machine look kx light out for a good jaunt around the boyne valley ,
she's wearing mechelin slicks pro race 3  great tyres in all weather.

[JWestland]

On my way to work on the XTC this morning I found out that wet roads due reduce the rolling resistance by about 3 cogs on the back...to the detriment of my socks however there's a silver lining to getting soaked it seems

[malcon]

Some years ago I put marathon plus tyres on my XTC and they proved extremely puncture proof. However I had become increasingly disappointed in the performance of the bike compared with my other road bikes which i had aquired after the tyre change, finding it slower and noticeably heavier to ride than the weight difference should warrant.
After reading this thread I dug out the original 1.5 inch Panaracer High Road tyres the bike came with and put them back on. The bike is transformed and is a pleasure to ride again, accelerating with greater ease and averaging at least a mile an hour faster for the same effort.
In conclusion there seems less of a penalty to smaller wheels than I thought and tyre choice has greater relevance. Tyre width is perhaps less of an impediment than the tyre design and weight , the Marathons were narrower at 1.35 inches and a lot heavier. 
My rims incidentally are also CR 18's.

[jags]

basically if you want to go faster put slicks on at max pressure simples

[triaesthete]

Mr Jags you are a scoundrel . The high pressure approach only works for a little while until you are worn out from the poor ride or crash because of the reduced grip It also only works with cheap tyres because it stops their energy absorbing casing materials from absorbing as much energy by reducing the amount of flexing they do as the contact patch deforms. Try it on a top quality tyre and it just loses comfort immediately for no speed gain.

Malcon it's good to hear from someone who has experimented just now and proved the point of efficiency gains. It seems to me Marathon plus is only for those pathologically afraid of punctures. Metaphorically speaking it is the steel toe capped hobnail boot of tyres. (By comparison a folding bead Marathon Supreme Evolution is Spiderman's hiking socks. I think the Schwalbe marketing people have shot themselves in the foot by calling such a broad range of tyres Marathon something or other. A lot of what I read on t'interweb never makes it clear which exact Marathon tyre the writer is refering to and confusion is the result because they are SO different).

Best wishes
Ian

[jags]

Ah Ian not able for high speed anymore,i do have slicks on my sherpa. did have marathon plus hated them bought the supreams much better , i'm now thinking of buying (when funds allow ) the  Grand Bios tires good reviews on them .
ah but so much to buy i want to get a new front wheel with son dynamo 28 and good headlight.
if i can sell my look kx light i;ll treat myself.
but speed nah forget it happy enough  dodling along listening to some sounds.

[Andre Jute]

The irony of the uncomfortable Marathon Plus is that there are several groups of tyres in the Schwalbe lineup that are, for practical purposes, equally puncture proof but ride so much more comfortably. I went straight from Marathon Plus to Big Apple Liteskins on wide rims... — Andre Jute

[il padrone]

When it comes to puncture-resistant tyres I'd strongly recommend Vittoria Randonneur Cross. I have them in 26x1.75. They are 2/3 the weight of the Marathon Plus, and equally puncture-resistant in my experience.

Been using these tyres for 5-6 years now. Now on my second pair, cumulative mileage of ~24,000kms, with zero punctures. And this has included riding through thorn country on rough farm tracks, and one incident where I rolled the bike off a train and soon discovered I had 11 bindiis* in the tyre. No leaks!  



* Bindiis look like this:

[JWestland]

Vittoria Randonneur come recommended by the manfriend also. Time for some new tubes on the fixie...can't take it/her out (definitely not a him, glittery red paint on a mixte frame) out anymore...

So far so good on the XTC, spin, spin, spin and he/it is on first set of rims by looks of it ^_^ Now if only I had a ton of holidays to go tour

[jags]

heard lough neigh is nice for a  couple days touring

[JWestland]

If you can find the start of route 94 that is 

It's not very big you can do it in a day if so inclined, or take it easy, spend time near the lake and camp over