Put these on my Ritchey Outback 650b style for a trip to Florida to help with the occasional sandy gravel. Brought my 29" "more-roadworthy" gravel wheels with me to swap out and never needed them. Put ~200 miles on the tires during the trip and found I could keep up with roadies on N/S rides along the gulf (and into the wind). These things are fast. I've yet to test them on chunky gravel but on hardpack and pavement, they rip. I'm all Schwalbe these days across 12 bikes unless there's a unique situation (20" mini velo or 26" resto mod) where they don't make the exact tire type I'd like.
My pocket electric pump warns that if you're using it to top off tires that it should be started before connecting it to a tire or it could prematurely wear out the pump motor. I found it awkward to connect a running pump, and thought of these. These complete the solution if you're planning to use an electric pump to top off tires. But even if you're using a hand pump, these make connecting and disconnecting just a little easier. Even my Luddite brother was impressed.
I purchased these to replace some MSO tires that i was having trouble finding. So far ive put 200+ miles on them. About 50% has been on pavement. Also a bikepacking adventure is about 100 miles of that. They have done great on the gravel and im very happy with them. On the pavement the rear seems to have worn a bit more than the MSO wear in similar conditions. Perhaps it was my rear bags adding to that tread ware.
Overall a good value for the money and i would purchase them again
These tires are a game changer for me. I am a daily rider and had to deal with flats on a pretty regular basis. While that is not a big deal, it can be a problem when you are trying to get in a ride before work, and taking time to fix a flat can be a problem when you don't plan for the additional time. The other problem with getting a flat is that in that short time you might ride before realizing you have a flat, you can break spokes and/or slightly bend a rim, which happened to me. I bought my first set of these Marathon Pluses two years ago and have not had a single flat since.
When I got a new bike, I was afraid of getting a flat and damaging the pristine new rims. I put another set of these on right away to avoid any chance of damage. Its been a few months on the new bike and still no flats!
