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For Schwalbe Marathon, 1112 customer reviews collected from 4 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.5.

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16.8.2014

The first thing to understand is that these tires are puncture resistant, but not completely puncture proof. I use these tires on four separate bicycles, two using the 28 mm width, one using the 40 mm width, and one using the 47 mm width, all of which I use for commuting and recreational rides. There is a lot of broken glass on the route to work, as well as thorns and goathead stickers seasonally.On one of the bikes wearing the 28 mm tires, I've had two flats. Once I had the misfortune to run over something, perhaps a large piece of broken glass or sharp metal, in the early morning darkness and it was sharp enough to cut (not puncture) through the tire, and the tube on the rear wheel.I didn't see the object, but it made a loud "ping" sound as it came out of the tire and bounced on the road. It left a slash more than 1/2 inch wide in the tire. Whatever this object was, I suspect any bicycle tire would have been similarly damaged, perhaps a motorcycle or car tire also. I also had another flat on the front tire of the same bicycle. While repairing this time, I noticed that the tube was a racing tube, made of very thin lightweight rubber and sized for a 20mm tire, not a 28mm. So when installed in the 28mm tire, that tube was expanded considerably larger than it should have been, and it's thin walls were stretched even thinner...no wonder a tiny thorn managed to puncture it. I ended up buying new, standard weight tubes in the correct size.One the bike with the 40 mm Marathons, I rode through a patch of grass perhaps 10 feet long along the edge of the path, and instantly picked up a number of goathead stickers. I stopped a short distance further when I saw them rotating in the tire, and pulled them out, but both front and rear tire were already punctured, and leaking slowly. I managed to ride home before both went flat, and got to spend a while putting patches on both tubes.Marathons are lighter weight and more supple than the common thick walled "puncture resistant" tubes, although not quite so light as a standard tire without the puncture resistant belt. I have had very good success with the thick tubes resisting flats, but they really change the way a bicycle rides, as the thick tube adds a lot of weight where it doesn't do any good, making the wheel very heavy. So, Marathons are not a racing tire, but a very good commuting or touring tire. My personal best commute time was on 28 mm Marathons (8 miles in 28:45)...on a 35 year old 12 speed lightweight bicycle. If you want to go faster, Schwalbe makes other tires with lighter, more exotic and more expensive materials under the tread (there is a Marathon Racer, and a Kojack slick, among others). And it's not completely invulnerable, but very tough nonetheless. The "Greenguard" belt appears to be merely an extra thickness of rubber under the tread area, and helps prevent punctures simply by virtue of it's extra thickness. It's offers the benefits of a thick tube under the tread where you need it, without the weight of extra rubber on the sidewalls and in the area of the spoke nipples. It doesn't appear to be particularly difficult for a sharp thorn to penetrate, and if the thorn is long enough, it can reach your tube. The "Greenguard" belt isn't kevlar, although Schwalbe offers a kevlar belt in the Marathon Plus, their more expensive tire. However, the extra puncture resistance of the Marathon Plus does come at a cost, that tire weighs more and doesn't roll quite so well as this tire. So, you decide how much puncture protection you need, and choose the tire which seems to fit your needs best.One thing to be aware of is that the belt adds slightly, 3 to 5 mm to the height of the tire, so be sure you have clearance at your front fork and at your rear brake bridge. If you don't have significant clearance with your existing tires, consider downsizing the width when using Marathons.In addition to reducing the instances of flats from punctures, these tires have a reflective band which is highly visible in the lights of cars. I've had coworkers tell me that they could see me several hundred feet away in the darkness, lit only by their own headlights. I do have battery powered lights as well, but the first thing they reported seeing was two bright white reflective circles moving in the darkness. This feature added to the reduced frequency of punctures makes these my favorite commuting tire.
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10.12.2014

These just came into the mail today, and I thought I'd share my thoughts.I bought these to replace the Bontrager tires that came on my Trek Verve 1. Size 700x35. I've gotten a few flats recently (I ride my bike around college as cars are expensive), and was recommended to replace the stock tires with something nicer. Specifically, I was recommended Schwalbes, and these are pretty much the only ones I could find that come in 700x35, so I ordered 2. They seem pretty competitively priced, but what do I know. It's $70 of tires for a $400 bike -.-First off, I know nothing about bicycle repair other than how to adjust the brakes. That being said, I had these tires on my bike in an hour and a half.I basically used only my bare hands. I deflated the old tubes, took off the old tires and tubes, placed the mostly deflated tubes into the new tires, and placed the new tires on the wheel. The hardest part was getting the tires on the wheel, requiring a good amount of elbow grease. I recommend starting at the air nozzle, and securing it. Then, I held that on my lag so it wouldn't fall out and started tucking in the tire. About 80% of the way through, this becomes impossible, requiring you to fold one side of the lining into the tube and once one side is done getting the other side in. I then inflated the tires halfway, and made sure they were inflating properly, and then inflated them to about halfway between their range. My old tires were rated 60-80psi, these are rated 55-85. I went to about 70. I then put the wheels back on the bike and tested em out.Upon riding on them... All I have to say is that they felt really weird. Turns just felt very different from what I was used to, and I didn't completely feel like I was in control of the bike. However, after about ten minutes of riding this went away somewhat, and I feel like I will get used to the new feeling as I ride the bike more. Everything seemed to go fine, but they definitely handle on road better than off road (although, so did my old tires). They also seem like they're build to withstand just about anything, as the rubber was very hard and they didn't seem to like any kind of manhandling, where as my old bontragers seemed like a dull butterknife could get past them. There's no real way to tell though, until I have more time riding in them.In all, these tires didn't seem 'that' hard to install, and if I knew what I was doing (or had a tire lever, apparently those help) I could have probably gotten them on in half an hour. They seem a little weird to ride on, but I think that's something I will get used to and is just a function of riding on different tires. They seem like they'll last a long time, and that's exactly what I bought them for. I'm going to keep the old tires around though, just to be safe.
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2.2.2013

Can't actually remember who I bought these off online (I thought it was amazon) however since there are not many reviews of these I thought this might help as I have found them to be a very good tyre so far.I replaced my Conti Sport Contact with these as the conti's picked up every single piece of glass they ran over and finally one shard just destroyed my back tyre in a second. I kind of expected it to happen sooner or later. I never really had confidence in the sport contact as they seemed to delicate but otherwise they are an awesome tyre for speed and feedback so I still have a set to use as a backup.The Swalbe are a little strange.The road feedback is a lot vaguer I think due to block tread flex than the slick conti but that also makes them more comfortable over bumps. The Swalbe sort of feel like a wider tyre than the conti even thought the conti is physically wider.The Swalbe at high pressure arounf 90-100psi role very well indeed but being a bit heavier tyre than the conti they have a little less acceleration and it's a little more effort to get up hills.Were the Swalbe really win is the feeling that they are very sturdy compared to the conti. There is not that feeling of needing to check every ride and pick out bits of glass as with the conti.They also have a reflective edge band which looks good and hopefully will also be usefull at night.So to sum up. Not as sprightly as the Sport Contact but a much more reasuring durabilty feeling and a bit more ride comfort. For my general old round town and a bit further bike these are excellent. For speed I prefer the Sport Contact but for peace of mind the Swalbe is much better and not far off the performance of the Sport contact.I like them and must recommend. Think I would like to try the Marathon racer some day also but thats probably another delicate like the Sport Contact so unless you want to constantly buy and repair slicks get these Swalbe Marathon or possibly the plus version but I think that's heavier again and probably even more vague as reguards feedback. This Greenguard version seems to be a happy medium.
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17.4.2012

I had the Marathon 32's on a cyclocross that I purchased about 4-5 years ago. The tires rolled well and I kept them on for about a year, around 2000 miles. I got into racing and switched to some light 25c tires and put the Schwalbes in storage. I got other bikes and started riding and burning through tires last year at a decent rate, 3 sets of tires, 6000 miles last year, wearing each set to the thinnest layer before buying new ones. I finally put the Marathons on my new cyclocross after 2500 on my knobby 32 c Richie tires.The old Marathons lasted another 1500 miles and then I went to L A with the bike weighing 53 lbs total. I weigh 208 and had the marathons pumped to 100 lbs.They worked great and made the ride comfortable, smooth, and actually fast. We averaged 16-18 miles per hour the whole ride of 500 miles. My friend had new Pasela's and he had the only flat on the whole ride.Love these tires and decided to buy the smaller 28c size for less rolling resistance this time around. I have about 500 miles on them and no flats, no problems yet.Also, I have read reviews about them falling off or coming off of other bike rims. I don't know what older rim that these people have them on, but I never had this problem and I don't mind pumping them to full capacity. They have been on Mavic open pro and aksium rims without the slightest problem. Don't know about the mechanics and the owners who had problems getting them on their rims. I just put them on twice, having removed the 28's and put the 32's back on for the LA bike trip. No pinch flat, no problem. They're tight but not that bad. When removing them, after deflating, pinch the tire in with your hand all the way around to get the wire bead off the sidewall and in the center of the rim. It makes removing them easier.They are pretty bomb proof. I'm sure that you can get a flat. I just haven't had one with the older or newer Marathons. I've had plenty with my Gatorskins and other light weight tires.My only wish is that they made them a little lighter.
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12.1.2018

I'm going into my 3rd winter season with this tire now. I can't recommend it enough. I ride throughout the winter, often in some of the worst weather conditions. I used to take a lot more falls on my bike before I had these tires. I've hit some slippery patches, but I don't think I've actually fallen off my bike at all since I started using these tires.As far as flats go: I've had these tires on my bike for more than 2 years now (which is a pretty dang long time for a single set of tires), and I've gotten 2 flats. One was from glass. I could tell when I changed it that the piece of glass had taken a while to work its way through.I also found a lot of other pieces of glass in the rubber that never made it through the liner (spent some time picking them all out with tweezers, just in case). The second time was a nice sized staple in the road. You can have all the liners you want, but something like that is definitely getting through if you hit it at the wrong angle. I fixed it both times, and the tire has gone strong since then. Other tires I had in the past would get flats all the time. I even tried adding a liner between the tire and the tube in an older set of tires. Glass still got through, and it just made the tires heavy. These are pretty lightweight. They won't protect you against every flat (if you start riding over nails, they're gonna make it through), but it can protect better than most.So, in summary, I've gotten very good traction with these tires in slippery conditions (still gotta watch out for that black ice, but I've been surviving so far!), and have had pretty good protection against flats. After more than 2 years, they're starting to show some wear, so I'll probably be buying the same ones again! :-)
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11.4.2020

I have a 29" mountain bike that I mostly use for street riding these days. Because of this, I've been buying smoother tires but still like tires that are close to 2 inches wide. I selected the Schwalbe Marathon because of tread pattern and how I felt it would perform on asphalt that sometimes has fine sand on it (I live near the beach in FL so this is of particular concern). However I've never seen a tire size of "29 x 2/3". I found a reviewer who said he looked up the product number and it matched what I was seeking so I bought two of them even though I was doubtful the tires would be the right size. When the tires arrived, they were clearly labelled with the following sizes: "700 x 50c" (50-622)" as well as "50-622 28 x 2.00".I almost returned them straight away but decided to at least see how close they were to what I needed. As it turns out, they actually fit my 29" wheel! Both old and new tires bear the 50-622 text but the other sizes are clearly not the same. Evidently, I don't know enough about bike tire sizing... The width of the tire, when inflated, is exactly 1 7/8" (1.875") or 47.6mm. This is 1/8" narrower than my old tires but not so much that they look too thin to be on a mountain bike.Overall, and now that they're mounted, I really like the Marathons. They're smooth and fast-rolling and are easier to seat on the rim than my Surfas tires so they're much easier to balance. I've only gone on two 15-mile rides so far but I like them already. If they last, I'll keep buying these - time will tell.UPDATE: (Dec 2020 - after 8 months of use) These are my new favorite tires. They perform very well on wet, dry, and sandy roads as well as dry dirt trails. These are my new go-to tires!
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26.1.2020

I've been using these tyres for some time, until they wore off. They are very difficult to puncture, and the riding is very comfortable.Just a couple tips for the installation if you've never used this type of reinforced tyres:First, you'll need steel levers for installing them. The plastic ones are simply not able to take them in or out of the rimAlso, when you install it, be careful on the valve area, because as the internal rings are very tight, is easy to pinch the tube bit around the valve with this tyre, which will drive you mad if you are not able to figure the issue. So simply, when you are bringing the tyre into the rim, push the valve to make sure that is completely inside the tyreI don't give it 5 stars because of the packaging,very poorly done. I ordered one 700x35 and a 700x32, they came from different suppliers. One from bikes4life and other from amazon. You'd expect they to come in a square thin box, but one came in a long box, bent like an 8, and the other one came in a plastic bag, bent in 3 loops. So both were very deformed and much more difficult to install than if they had come perfectly round. This, of course disapears when you fill the tube, but is more difficult to install it.In terms of width, I recomend a little wider than what you see on the streets for urban use. You can go with 25 mm wide and you'll have better performance, but you'll feel each single imperfection of the ground. Also, I recommend a little wider on the rear than on the front, as it receives most of the person's weight. For urban use I recomend 35 mm on rear and 32 mm on front, or if you weight 60 kg or less, maybe 32mm on the back and 28 mmon the front, but never less than that
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18.5.2018

This is what I would call a medium range standard road tyre for general use.. There are plenty of other reviews that reflect upon it's service use. This review simply focuses on it's ease of fit, which was the main reason for buying it, and it was simply brilliant. It went on first time with no problems at all. See below for longer explanation. Clearly different manufacturers have a range of tolerances, but this Schwalbe was a perfect fit for me.I needed to replace a worn out tyre/inner tube combination and initially went for my normal brand (Continental touring plus). This was the first time I had needed to change a tyre on this particular rim and it turned into a nightmare,with constantly pinching the inner tube no matter what I did - and yes I do know what I'm doing having been changing tyres for nearly 40 years of cycling!. I went through three inner tubes and the tyre was on and off the wheel like a yo-yo. The tyre was nominally the correct size but was extremely tight. Eventually in my frustration I damaged the beading on the perfectly new tyre and needed to purchace yet another replacement. Upon investigation it became apparent that this particular rim had a lower upstand than others so that may have caused some seating problems for the tyre. Never the less I needed an alternative and opted to try he Schwalbe. Absolutely fantastic. A perfect fit and no seating worries on the rim. Within 10 mins of opening the package the tyre was fitted and ready to roll.Also fantastic service from Baldwins who supplied the tyre. Immediately re-ordered for further replacements for future use.
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26.1.2020

I've been using this tyres for some times until they wear off. They are very difficult to puncture, the riding is very comfortableJust a couple tips for the installation if you've never used this type of reinforced tyres: you'll need steel levers for installing them. The plastic ones are simply not able to take them in or out of the rimAlso, when you install it, be careful on the valve area, because as the internal rings are very tight, is easy to pinch the tube bit around the valve with this tyre, which will drive you mad if you are not able to figure the issue. So simply, when you are bringing the tyre into the rim, push the valve to make sure that is completely inside the tyreI don't give 5 stars because of the packaging,very poorly done. I ordered ona 700x35 and a 700x32, they came from different suppliers. One from bikes4life and other from amazon. You'd expect they to come in a square thin box, but one came in a long box, bent like an 8, and the other one came in a plastic bag, that came bent in 3 loops. So both were very deformed and mucho difficult to installthan if they had come perfectly round. This, of course disapears when you fill the tube, but is more difficult to install it.In terms of width, I recomend a little wider than what you see on the streets for urban use. You can go with 25 mm wide and you'll have better performance, but you'll feel each single imperfection of the ground. Also, I recommend a little wider on the rear than on the front, as it receives most of the person's weight. As said, I went for 35 mm on rear and 32 mm on front
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13.9.2015

Love how they have it in 27" so I can put nice puncture-resistant tires on my vintage road bike (Raleigh Grand Prix made in the 1970s) after the old gumwall ones started cracking. Most varieties of tires are only available in 700C so the best tires I can find for my 27" are these.My only gripe is that they only come in 1 1/4" which seems a bit too wide. They're heavier than other tires I've seen and I do notice an increase in rolling resistance but I'm a commuting cyclist, so I'd rather sacrifice speed for reliability and confidence. These give a good grip on the road under most conditions and offer puncture resistance to ensure that I won't get a flat and become stranded in the middle of nowhere.They're not as quiet and smooth as the Serfas Survivors I've had before but they're more cushiony.The reflective siding makes me feel better when I ride home at dusk. The tyres are very tight, hard to install but I think they're worth the effort. These feel durable and I think I won't have to take them off for a long long time. Wish the other Schwalbe puncture resistant tires come in the same size.3 month update: I haven't repumped them since installation and I'm happy to report that I haven't had a single flat! Granted, most trips I make are <3 miles and on well-paved surfaces but I think being able to survive for that long with no mishaps is a testament on its own. I love these tyres!
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2.11.2012

I looked a long time before buying these. Everyone says they're the perfect touring tire...and they are. But I learned a few things very quickly. 1) They are a much smoother ride than my previous thinner tread tire. 2) They are a much surer handling tire with absolutely no loss of traction no matter how deep you lean into a turn or what the road conditions are, and 3) on rough surfaced roads, these tires require a LOT of extra leg strength compared to the same size tire with a thinner tread!!! They are a phenomenally good tire, and contrary to other reviews, there's NOTHING hard about getting these tires on the rim. Read the recommendations in the other reviews and it's no problem at all.I have no clue what the other reviewers are talking about when they talk about breaking tools and needing walls to hold the wheel. Just make sure that if you're replacing a more traditional road tire, even a 35, keep the other tires and trade them back onto the rims if you're just going out for a 1-day, 100 mile organized ride where a blown tube is no big deal. If you don't and you're not used to these, you'll be falling behind your riding buddies by the end of the day. lol But when the organized ride is over and you've got your panniers on and you're riding out on the road in the middle of nowhere and loving the solo time... there is no better tire you could ever hope to have.
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7.12.2019

This review is to educate prospective tire buyers of a confusing situation with tire sizes. First Schwalbe makes top quality tires. What you need to know is that if you use the U S sizing you are very apt to get a tire that won't fit. My trike came with Marathon tires, the rear being a 26 X 1 1/2. I decided to get something a little narrower and have it on hand when it came time to replace. I ordered a 26 by 1 3/8 Marathon and hung it up until needed. Several months later it was time . I removed the rim and tire and when I went to install the new tire it fell over the rim without touching it. What??? Right on the tire it said 26 X 1 3/8. On closer examination it also said 37 X 590 .For a 26 inch tire the 590 should have been 559. If you look at Schwalbe's website the 37 X 590 is listed as equaling a 26 X 1 3/8. There are also other cross references for that same size, in short, a confusing mess. Additionally the original 26 inch tire has a 22 inch ID, the new 26 inch tire has a 23 inch ID hence the falling over the rim without touching incident. Please learn from my error, use the ETRTO (metric) sizing when you order tires. I also ordered too far ahead because the return window was closed by the time I found the problem. Anyone need a tire swing for a small child?
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22.6.2018

I'll be back with a long term report on durability and puncture resistance, but initially...I've ridden Panaracer T-Servs for years, because they're very puncture resistant, light, and should be fast. However, I've been having problems with sidewalls disintegrating, so time to try something new. The T-Serv's thin and flexible sidewalls were a big selling point, as that means little resistance to absorbing road imperfections, for a floating-on-air ride. Unfortunately building them super thin compromises durability.I came to these because they're rated to have very low rolling resistance and should be durable, but boy they certainly are *heavy* duty. I'm carrying around >1.3 pounds of extra rubber,and fitting them *is* difficult but far from the toughest tires I've fitted.These have an odd elliptical profile meaning the contact patch is narrower than you'd expect for their size (~37mm, not far off published 38mm). I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but does seem a bit counter to why I bought wide tires.They're pretty much silent, which the T-servs weren't, but the feel over bumps is more rubbery thud and less bouncy-balloon. Still, initial impressions are good.
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19.4.2019

These tyres have transformed my folding bike. Following 8 years of slithering along slippery canal towpaths on the bike's original 1" smooth road tyres, along with poor advice that chunkier tyres wouldn't fit, I bought just one to try - and what a difference. With this 1.75" tyre on the front wheel and the original 1" on the rear, I immediately noticed how much grippier it was so ordered a second.Both were easy to fit taking just a few minutes per wheel for a complete amateur. Now the bike offers a smoother, grippier ride on all surfaces including wet grass, grit, gravel and light mud. The bike feels more stable,less wobbly and justI've even taken it over finely broken grass and a few small thorns without suffering any punctures - the 5/7 puncture resistance rating seems genuine.For anyone with a folding bike, I highly recommend these tyres. They'll add a little to the bike's weight for carrying but this is more than offset by the improved ride quality and confidence in knowing the tyres will handle a range of surfaces and offer good puncture resistance too. My only regret is that I waited all these years and didn't change them within weeks of buying the bike.
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28.10.2018

Great tyre, riden the last 3 weeks with one on my rear of my Brompton no punctures yet. Able to put 110psi into it (it’s the max) gives good ride and great grip. As it’s only 1.35 you will notice if you haven’t put enough air in it, it will give you a wallowy feel. I would imagine most folk will need to run it at around 100psi which easily obtainable with a track pump, a little more effort with a hand pump. Pretty tough to get on the first time, it stretched a little but still tight, that said hopefully once it’s on you never have to take it off. I had to do mine twice as I didn’t see the ‘Direction of Rotation’ ... doh!!. Overall a great tyre and a perfect addition to any Brompton.Update: Got one for my front wheel now as well,it was soooo hard to fit, I had to do it with a metal tyre levers, Schwalbe 16X1 1/8-1 3/8 Tube presta AV4 (which I would recommend) and swearing!!I have now run with the rear for over 4 months, no punctures and I ride 13miles a day through the parks and roads of London, I'd say that is a good test. I have them at 110psi, it's hard but fast.I would definitely buy again and recommend to anyone with a Brompton needing replacements!!
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