• 20" tyre like the Marathon Mondial

    From Nick Maclaren@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 6 13:45:26 2021
    In case anyone signed up to this can help, I posted the following
    to Bentrideronline. Any help appreciated.

    I am thinking of going electric, but my problem is tyres :-( Even on
    paper, Shimano STEPS is not really man enough for my requirement with a
    26" wheel (mainly torque), even dropping my top gear by 20% (which I
    would rather not do). It's OK on a 20" wheel, though. The problem is
    that I want something for highly unsupported touring, with 90% on-road,
    10% off-road (including wet grass, 2" rough granite lumps, gravel and
    dirt), and capable of handling moderate mud, both on- and off-road. The Marathon Plus Tour and Marathon Mondial, both meet the bill, with the
    latter being preferable, but neither are available for 20".

    https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-rea...thon-plus-tour https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-rea...rathon-mondial

    I can't find anything on Continental's Web site, and I want something
    reliable that is readily available in the UK, both for replacement
    purposes and because I have not had good experiences with ordering such
    things from somewhere I can't return unsatisfactory products to.

    Last time I asked this, I was pointed at several possible tyres, but
    none were more than possible (i.e. the recommenders hadn't tried them,
    or not under similar conditions, and the manufacturers' Web pages were
    not very helpful), a few were tricky to get in the UK, and the rest
    involved importing from the USA.


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.

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  • From Danny Colyer@21:1/5 to Nick Maclaren on Mon Sep 6 17:33:46 2021
    On 06/09/2021 14:45, Nick Maclaren wrote:
    I am thinking of going electric, but my problem is tyres :-( Even on
    paper, Shimano STEPS is not really man enough for my requirement with a
    26" wheel (mainly torque), even dropping my top gear by 20% (which I
    would rather not do). It's OK on a 20" wheel, though. The problem is
    that I want something for highly unsupported touring, with 90% on-road,
    10% off-road (including wet grass, 2" rough granite lumps, gravel and
    dirt), and capable of handling moderate mud, both on- and off-road. The Marathon Plus Tour and Marathon Mondial, both meet the bill, with the
    latter being preferable, but neither are available for 20".

    This might or might not be helpful, but...

    I fitted a pair of Schwalbe Road Cruiser Plus tyres to the Street
    Machine yesterday:
    https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-reader/road-cruiser-plus https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schwalbe-road-cruiser-plus-tyre/rp-prod193348

    So far I've only ridden 14 miles on them. They're slower than I'd
    usually like, but they're so comfortable that I can forgive them for that.

    On road, I think they might be exactly what you're looking for. I'm not
    sure, though, that they'll have the off-road capability that you want.
    I reckon they'll meet my off-road requirements, but I haven't put them
    to that test yet, and of course my requirements aren't the same as yours anyway.

    I'm happy to provide an update when I've taken them through mud, which
    is likely to be within the next few weeks.

    --
    Danny Colyer
    "I'm riding a unicycle with my pants down. This should be every boy's
    dream." - Bartholomew J Simpson

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  • From Nick Maclaren@21:1/5 to news2013@colyer.plus.com on Mon Sep 6 18:01:02 2021
    In article <B_adnVqwdpR236v8nZ2dnUU78evNnZ2d@brightview.co.uk>,
    Danny Colyer <news2013@colyer.plus.com> wrote:

    This might or might not be helpful, but...

    I fitted a pair of Schwalbe Road Cruiser Plus tyres to the Street
    Machine yesterday:
    https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-reader/road-cruiser-plus >https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schwalbe-road-cruiser-plus-tyre/rp-prod193348

    So far I've only ridden 14 miles on them. They're slower than I'd
    usually like, but they're so comfortable that I can forgive them for that.

    Thanks, but they aren't really. They are Schwalbe's cheap and, er,
    cheerful line and nothing like the quality of the Mondial.

    https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-reader/marathon-mondial https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-reader/road-cruiser-plus

    Even discounting that, I have heard that people have had unpredictable
    failures on Schwalbe's cheap lines, which is NOT what I want when on
    tour, miles from the nearest bicycle shop (or even post office).


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.

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