New Tyres Please...

I've finally taken the plunge and purchased some new tyres. I've had the yellow labelled brompton tyres on since I purchased my bike what must be a year and a half ago and I've been nothing but impressed with them. But I had a puncture last Thursday (only my second puncture in over 1500 miles) which really brought home how much I need my bike to be on the road and how much I rely on it! It was only a slow puncture so I could get where I needed to be using a series of 'pump stops'. Bit of a nightmare, but at least I could remain mobile!

      So on Saturday morning I once again utilised Velorutions price matching (includes matching against online retailers) and bought a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Pluses. I was going to go for the normal Marathons but I've read nothing but good reviews for the Marathon Plus on the Bromptontalk forum (on Yahoo chat, if you've not been there, check it out). It was a bit expensive, but less expensive than time wasted walking somewhere with a flat or having to take an extra taxi/bus/train/whatever because I have a flat. So I set about putting them on when I got home, now I expected them to be a little difficult as I have an incompetency when it comes to dealing with tyres with a stiff bead, so I set aside a few hours. Well, two broken tyre levers and one self inflicted flat later I'd managed to get them on! They were noticeably heavier than the yellows before I put them on the bike, but now when carrying I can't really tell the difference. I've not done any mileage on them yet, but I will do an updated review as soon as I have got some miles under the rubber...In the meantime, if you're thinking of getting Marathon Pluses then do so, but for the sake of all that is holy, buy some metal tyre levers, take your time and don't pump the tyres up until they are back on the bike...Not that I did that...