Schwalbe Marathon Plus vs. Vittoria Randonneur vs. ???

hi,

looking for a good tire for my autumn / winter beater.
Rims inner width is 13mm, hoping I´l b able to get 28mm tires on there.

I´m after a tire that grips well when wet, and I also like the thought of reflective sides. I guess I´m after something with a bit of tread but still rolls well.

Been looking at Vittoria Randos 28c. They seem to be everything of the above. Just about to buy em when I was offered a pair of Schwalbe Marathons plus at the same price as the Vittorias. Which is I guess a good deal if the marathons is what you´re after. But are they what I´m after? When reading about them they seem very heavy ?

Anyone who has tried both who want to share their opinion?

Any other tips for good tires that fits my criteria? (grips well, rolls well, reflective sides, not too heavy...) I would prefer not spending more than £40...

Thanks!
/G

I ran Marathon Pluses for over a year - they're fantastic if your main criterion is 'doesn't get punctures ever ever'. However they're probably twice the weight of any other tyre you can find to fit 13mm rims - and you'll feel it, particularly pulling away from a standstill.

I switched to Durano Pluses about a year ago, and the weight difference was incredible. I haven't had a single puncture with them either, and although they're still not the quickest tyres I've had, I think never puncturing makes up for it. Not strictly relevant as not a fat tyre.

^ #IHPBOT. Just for your information. Your mileage may vary. Fuck my life. Cool story brother.

hu? Sorry, but who´s the bot? Please excuse my ignorance, but I don´t understand.

Any ways, General_Strike: Durano Pluses seems not to be in my budget, I´ve got about £40 to spend on the pair... But still, how is the grip of the Duranos, curbs in wet, works alright?

cheers

Just fooling around. It was a new acronym: I have punctured both of those (meaning Durano Plus and Marathon Plus). FYI. YMMV. FML. CSB.

So have I but if you were to take the average distance between punctures then Marathon Plus wins by a mile.

But, I found them very heavy and they roll pretty poorly. They also square off which makes cornering a bit wobbly.

I changed to Durano Plus and these are a decent compromise for very high mileage and low p_nct_re rate. They are also quite heavy compared to training or racing tyres but that just means you go faster on your good bike.

I've also used the Durano which are lighter again without the blue strip but still more durable than your average training/racing tyre by a long way. I've run thousands of miles through most of these tyres and I'd probably not bother with Marathon Plus again but Durano Plus or Durano I would use for the road. Durano Plus probably rear only (even though I have one on the front of the Kinesis now, it's a bit overkill).

figaro_funf
Ah, cool. Acronyms, never get them...
(also think ihpbot is acronym for self-learning irc bot, which made it all more confusing ;))

FYI, got that one. Rest of em wasted on me...

But thanks for input. To be honest the puncture thing is not that important to me, don't get many of them. Mostly want a good tyre for wet and darks conditions, that looks good. And not too expensive... Any favorites?

hippy:
Great, thanks for input! Wosuld you say the normal Duranos has a good grip in the wet?
cheers

I've never had any issues but then I tend to adjust my speed appropriate to the conditions unlike some people who just barrel around corners in the pissing rain and wonder why they just fell off. I've used them mostly on a TT bike so it tends to be fast but in a straight line. Maybe the odd emergency stop when some douche nozzle has pulled out without looking. They're meant to be more on the durable side so the rubber certainly won't be as grippy as what you'd find on race tyres but to me it 'appears' softer than Rubino Pro which I also like (though some others found them slippery). I run them in 25mm version and they suit my long range straight line needs. If I was still racing crits I wouldn't be using them.

So have I but if you were to take the average distance between punctures then Marathon Plus wins by a mile

One mile? Not really worth the extra weight and the hassle getting them on and off in that case (arf).

I've only used Marathon Pluses and Conti Contacts so I can't really help. M+es are really heavy tho, so if you care about weight and don't mind the odd puncture I'd give them the swerve.

Any idea how the Conti Contacts are compared to Gatorskins?

Would second what hippy says about marathon plus, very heavy, but if you never want punctures then that's the tyre for you.
If you want lighter tyres though durano or vittoria rando make decent compromise.

By the way, Sport Contacts, or ordinary Contacts?

Great, thanks for your input, leaning towards Randos. But would still prefer something lighter. Havn´t really had that much trouble with flat tires... Most important is probably good grip in the wet. Lots of wet leaves and slippery tram tracks where I live...

@gabbbahey just in case - you have seen this thread, right?
http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/150619/

Durano Pluses seems not to be in my budget, I´ve got about £40 to spend on the pair..

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/durano-plus-28-mm-wire-77341?currency=3&delivery_country=190&gclid=CJvctdfCl8ECFSXKtAodGCwAOw

Whoops!
No I havn´t, sorry, my bad.
unskilled searching.

I´ll dig there instead!

Sweet, thanks!

Tram tracks will take out all tyres - the key to those is to cross them perpendicular (or a decent angle at least) or to bunnyhop sideways over them if you have to ride parallel. #melbournelad

Yeah, you´re probably right. Crossing in angle is already what I do, when I don´t I get stuck in the track, slippery or not ;)

Guess I´m just after a decent tire for a ok price that isn´t absolutely louse when it´s wet. I´m leaning towards gatorskins at the moment. Would love to try out the GP 4-seasons, but they´re out of my budget... And then maybe something more rigid for the winter... It gets a bit snowy / icey here.

Other people will probably disagree but I think Gators are horrible tyres. Not that puncture proof, and slippy in the wet. Certainly no better than a rubino on either front.

Gators are lovely summer tyre for dry spins out in the countryside. They roll really nicely IMO, but they are bad in the wet and the puncture protection is pretty bad.

For hardcore puncture proof commuting tyre through the post apocalyptic glass strewn streets of London on a Monday morning I swear by Bontranger Racelite Hardcases.
A bit heavy, but they don't roll all sluggish like marathons etc.
They corner well, even in the wet, and they will not puncture.

My experience of both Marathon and Durano tyres is that they're fine in the wet - the Duranos skid marginally more easily than in the dry, the Marathons have almost no change in handling (but then again maybe I just couldn't go fast enough with them on!). Schwalbe seem to have cracked making puncture-resistant tyres without sacrificing grip.

The new commute through the glass recycling plant not working out for you? I did see a picture once on here where someone had destroyed a Marathon Plus by riding over a philips-head drill bit. Still, the Durano Plus are infinitely preferable to the fortnightly punctures I was getting with Luganos.