The wife and I are off to New Zealand in January for a tour so looking at tyres for the Inbreds. It's basically going to be a road tour but may involve some unsealed roads or dirt tracks if I can find any and work them in, but realistically tarmac is going to be 95% of it.

We are going to be on the road for just over 4 weeks so I want something that rolls well and I wont be dogged with punctures

Any opinions on these? or any other suggestions

Conti Travel Contact (bit expensive as I need 2 pairs)

The classic Land Cruiser (how fast does it roll?)

The road cruiser (be ok on gravelly stuff too I reckon)

Mrs TJ uses th4e travel contact on her commuter.

I have ridden on them as well I rate the tyre highly. It has a little bit of grip for offroad but rolls well and the puncture protection works very well. Sort of 755 road 25% offroad comprimise

You also get an innertube in the price

Unsealed roads will need more volume than tread IMO.

I'd go for a lighter tyre, all those are going to drag I think…on tarmac you can get away with 1.25" tyre, if the unsealed roads aren't too bad you might get away with that.

SCHWALBE Marathon Plus – with Smart Guard

I use the continental's for touring and haven't an a single puncture on the them, (1000's of miles)
so would be happy recommending them,
my other choice was a version of the schwalbe marathon, they have a super reputation for puncture protection

2nd or 3rd or whatever for the Contis I have been using them as a winter trainer tyre on and off road on my Roadrat for 2 years with no punctures at all. They are a bit heavy, but 100% percent reliable.

Mrs stoner and I rode 5000km across Europe on a pair of continental top touring 2000s each with no punctures. my rear was showing cloth by the end though (oooerrrr)

I use contis and did lejog without a puncture fully loaded. But the schwalbe marathons are well regarded as well

Both Mark Beaumont and James Bowthorpe got by with Schwalbe tyres.
http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/1320

Schwalbe Marathon- the plus if you can live with the weight, the normal one if not.

Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to finalise(ish) the route and then decide between the contis or some skinnier marathons

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/ marathons on offer

I can recommend Schwalbe Marathons. They are a little heavy but are completely bombproof. I used them on the Great Divide route in 2008 – just short of 3000 miles on all sorts of surfaces with no punctures at all. The same set are still going strong on a commuting bike 🙂

My Dew arrived with 35mm Road Cruisers – they are comfy but draggy, will be swapping them for 32mm Marathons when they wear a bit

Commuted and toured on Schwalbe marathons for 5 years – never had a pucture.

Land cruisers in 700c are bullet proof and puncture resistant but heavy .dI cant comment on 26inch though but can't imagine them being much different

Conti Travel Contacts (again!). Plenty of volume, smooth rolling and really tough.

I've used Schwalbe Marathon Plus for commuting too- also a great tyre, faster-rolling than the Conti's I think but I reckon the Contis have the slight edge if you are likely to hit some rough stuff as well.

Macavity – Member
Both Mark Beaumont and James Bowthorpe got by with Schwalbe tyres.
http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/1320

Aye – but Mark used the Marathon XRs which are now like hens teeth. I've just bought some Marathon Cross to try out. A bit lighter than the Plus and should be a bit faster rolling too.

Anyone used the Marathon Racers?

Conti Travelcontacts are good tyres for a trip like that, as are Schwalbe Marathons.I would not be too keen on the Marathon Plus as they are very heavy and have a fair bit of rolling resistance. You don't really need that kind of protection when touring (I feel they are more of a city tyre, great for keeping out glass).

Personally I would go for the Schwalbe Big Apple. Nearly slicks so very fast (which offsets their relative weight) but still very strong and great puncture resistance. Plus(and this is the important bit) if you get them in the 2 inch version, you can use relatively little air pressure and have little rolling resistance. This gives you 'air suspension' (promoted by Schwalbe and bike brands on the continent such as Idworkx) and makes the on and off road riding a much more pleasant experience. I would always go with a fat (2" or more) tyre and in fact this is keeping me off the continental travelcontact (which is a skinny 1.9"). From experience I can say Swalbe Big Apples are pretty ok on dirt roads as well. I have one as rear tyre on my mtb (which I also use as tourer)in summer. If you feel more comfortable with continental, try the continental citycontact (don't be fooled by its name!), also an excellent tyre!

People are quite scared of using 'nearly slicks' on touring but it really makes a difference and can save you a couple of miles per day. Schwalbe realized this and now sells the Marathon Supreme, which would fit your tour very good as well, but is way overpriced.

edit: Marathon racers are ok for light trekking, but not really made to sustain heavy loads. For UK trekking they can be excellent though!