This is coming from a relative newbie, so take it for what it’s worth. But:
I have the marathon E-Plus tires on one of my bikes now. They replaced the Smart Sam tires that came on the bike. I ride 90% road/10% improved paths through local parks.
I liked the Smart Sams; I *love* the Marathon E-Plus. Perhaps I simply don’t know enough, but I don’t find them to be like “riding on bricks” in the least. Rather, I find them very comfortable: more so than the Smart Sams and at least as comfortable as the Panaracers on my other bike. They’re also more than quiet enough on the road, and I haven’t noticed any detrimentally high rolling resistance.
Again, perhaps I just don’t have enough of a “discerning palette” - or, I guess, discerning rear end
- yet by virtue of not having tried enough different tires for comparison, and my style of riding could also be quite different from others’ (for example: I’m neither interested in nor have occasion to ride at high sustained speeds for long stretches of time). So, I guess I’d go with what the more experienced folks here recommend. But for me, my primary priorities were (1) safety/grip in varied conditions (2) puncture resistance and (3) road noise. Based on those priorities, the folks at Schwalbe recommended the Marathon E-Plus; and personally, I really have found nothing but good things so far about them.
(I look forward to re-reading this in a couple of years to see if my opinion has changed!)