A new tyre launched yesterday from Schwalbe with a focus on London. The tyre has been released as a celebration of the London Olympics and the city’s ever increasing love of cycling.
As you can see from the picture, I’ve been testing out the Schwalbe Durano Plus ‘London’ tyre (25C) and approve of the reflective design on the label and, more importantly, the added puncture resistance.
The tyre is based on a new Schwalbe tyre design called “Big Ben”. This wasn’t due to be released until Eurobike in September but it’s been pushed ahead just for the UK market.
The different models available include the Marathon Plus, which tends to be a favourite amongst commuters who look for maximum puncture resistance and wider tyres that absorb slightly more of the bumps in the road.
16 x 1.35 35-349- 26 x 1.50 40-559
- 700 X 28C 28-622
- 700 X 35C 37-622
For road bike cyclists there’s the Durano Plus
- 700 X 23C 23-622
- 700 X 25C 25-622
and finally the Marathon Plus ATB
- 26 x 2.00 50-559
A new pair of tyres is one of the easiest upgrades you can make to a bike and the Schwalbe tyres provide good puncture protection and rollability so they’ve always been a popular choice amongst cyclists (and also quite often mispronounced – I used to call them Shh-woble).
See also:
oooooo want! got a Durano Plus on the front at the moment and it doesn’t puncture and rolls really well!
So what’s the correct pronunciation then?
It’s pronounced shhval-beh (with short ‘a’), it is German for the bird swallow
Turns out I was still pronouncing it wrong. Thanks for clarifications Pete!
Where can we get one?
Evans online for a start: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/schwalbe/durano-plus-london-tyre-ec037662 or some bike shops should be stocking it.
I used schwalbe tires for years until my boss advised me to switch to continental gatorskins, I get twice the mileage without getting any punctures.
I have had the same good service as Gordon from Continental Gatorskins.
Aaargh! Wish I’d seen this a few days earlier… have literally just ordered new Marathon Plus. On the track record of the current ones, they’ll last me 18 months or more 🙁
Big question for me is “are they really puncture proof?”
I’ve been let down by Specialised Armadillo and hope my Continental Top Contact Reflex (with Panaracer Flat-Away Kevlar inserts) will keep the puncture fairy permanently at bay.
marathon plus are a good tire, but I’ve had bad experiences any time I’ve used specilized own brand tires they make great bikes but absolutely useless tires.
Mmmmm…. a good looking tyre but the proof will be in the pudding of how well it rides and copes with the wonderful roads we ride on and how puncture resilient it is.
I run the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres on the main commuting bike and on over than 8k miles since they were fitted, not one puncture due to FOD in all that distance, though they are not as fast or smooth running as the normal Continental Sports Contact tyres that I run during the dryer months.
On my other road bikes I run Continental Ultra Gator skins (supplemented with Panaracer Flataway aramid liners) that haven’t suffered a puncture due to FOD yet but have suffered a couple of compression “blowouts” after hitting nasty pot holes – so the jury is still out on these especially when you look at the amount of gashes they now have in them!
How much is the price for tyre size 26 x 1.50?
It costs £26.99:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/schwalbe/marathon-plus-smartguard-london-tyre-ec037660?query=schwalbe%20london
Shame, Cant find the 700 x 28c anywhere for sale.
I’m sure if you speak to your local bike shop they could order you a pair in. Was seeing these are available at CycleLab: http://www.cyclelab.co.uk/index.php?cid=11&title=Whats%20New