Who Knew? Switching tires adds 10% range on batteries!

[Alaskan]

My Riese & Muller Homage came with 28"x2" 50-622 Schwalbe Big Ben tires...not at all an aggressive tread. Schwalbe North America is located 10 miles from here in Ferndale, Washington. I spoke with a guy there about tire choices for my bike. After listening to him and the tech at our local Trek store, I decided to give the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 5-622s a try. They are a lighter, folding tire but have similar wear and traction characteristics, much better rolling resistance

Today I did my first decent ride on them and the results were astounding. Aside from a very nice, albeit slightly quieter ride, I got a solid 10% greater range on the Marathon Supremes over the Big Bens. I went on a 35 mile ride that I do regularly. With assist set at tour for the whole loop, I typically get down to 20% remaining which translates to around 43 miles on a battery. After the 35 mile ride I was still showing 31% remaining which would have easily added another 13 or 14 miles to the total. Going from 43 miles to 48 or 49 miles is an easy 10% improvement in range. I did not really notice any appreciable difference in speed but there was a clear jump in assisted range.

 

[rich c]

Yup, simple physics. Less rolling resistance, less watts used.

 

[Alaskan]

Yup, simple physics. Less rolling resistance, less watts used.

I anticipated positive results but 10% was a higher margin than expected

 

[PaD]

My Riese & Muller Homage came with 28"x2" 50-622 Schwalbe Big Ben tires...not at all an aggressive tread. Schwalbe North America is located 10 miles from here in Ferndale, Washington. I spoke with a guy there about tire choices for my bike. After listening to him and the tech at our local Trek store, I decided to give the Schwalbe Marathon Plus 5-622s a try. They are a lighter, folding tire but have similar wear and traction characteristics, much better rolling resistance

Today I did my first decent ride on them and the results were astounding. Aside from a very nice, albeit slightly quieter ride, I got a solid 10% greater range on the Marathon Supremes over the Big Bens. I went on a 35 mile ride that I do regularly. With assist set at tour for the whole loop, I typically get down to 20% remaining which translates to around 43 miles on a battery. After the 35 mile ride I was still showing 31% remaining which would have easily added another 13 or 14 miles to the total. Going from 43 miles to 48 or 49 miles is an easy 10% improvement in range. I did not really notice any appreciable difference in speed but there was a clear jump in assisted range.

You decided to give Marathon Plus a try and then report greater range from Marathon Supreme.
Are they the same tire?

I’ve used Continental Travel Contact for years on my regular bike. Mostly for puncture protection. They have almost no thread pattern in center so rolling resistance could be ok but grip on e.g. gravel is only by the knobs on the side of the tire. May try them to compare to the Specialed Trigger tires I have on the Vado.
More reports on rolling resistance please.

 

[Alaskan]

My error (corrected) The tires are the Marathon Supremes

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-2016

 

[6zfshdb]

My Riese & Muller Homage came with 28"x2" 50-622 Schwalbe Big Ben tires...not at all an aggressive tread. Schwalbe North America is located 10 miles from here in Ferndale, Washington. I spoke with a guy there about tire choices for my bike. After listening to him and the tech at our local Trek store, I decided to give the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 5-622s a try. They are a lighter, folding tire but have similar wear and traction characteristics, much better rolling resistance

Today I did my first decent ride on them and the results were astounding. Aside from a very nice, albeit slightly quieter ride, I got a solid 10% greater range on the Marathon Supremes over the Big Bens. I went on a 35 mile ride that I do regularly. With assist set at tour for the whole loop, I typically get down to 20% remaining which translates to around 43 miles on a battery. After the 35 mile ride I was still showing 31% remaining which would have easily added another 13 or 14 miles to the total. Going from 43 miles to 48 or 49 miles is an easy 10% improvement in range. I did not really notice any appreciable difference in speed but there was a clear jump in assisted range.

The Fat Frank tires on my Pedego Interceptor are quite stiff. I've considered going to a softer tire with less rolling resistance but I'm concerned about punctures given the rough trails I sometimes ride. Can the Marathon Supreme tires take slime? In your opinion, are they more or less prone to punctures than "standard" tires?

 

[Stromer2work]

Cool, thanks for the post. Going to check out the 26" version. I'd be primarily concerned about traction on concrete too. My commute has lots of loose sand, gravel, dirt, water that I have to watch out for as I turn and avoid obstacles.

Looks like my tire order just got bigger ! Got to split that $25 shipping charge up a little. Buying six pair of various types and sizes.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy...QAtTx4lmdCTNkJmyItMjMZvI_buFiaPhoCFJsQAvD_BwE

 

[Alaskan]

The Fat Frank tires on my Pedego Interceptor are quite stiff. I've considered going to a softer tire with less rolling resistance but I'm concerned about punctures given the rough trails I sometimes ride. Can the Marathon Supreme tires take slime? In your opinion, are they more or less prone to punctures than "standard" tires?

The size I bought 50-622 required tubes so I did put slime in them. The tires are not pure slicks but the have no real tread, instead they have siping and water channels for wet conditions. They are very much a road tire. I doubt they would provide much traction on rough trails.

 

[rannyv]

@Alaskan- were the Marathon Supremes narrower that the stock tires and was there a degradation in shock absorption?

 

[Alaskan]

@Alaskan- were the Marathon Supremes narrower that the stock tires and was there a degradation in shock absorption?

The tires are the rated at the same size but are perhaps 3/8"/6mm less diameter. I did adjust the circumference on the Nyon cycle computer/controller for the 18mm lesser circumberence..

My bike has a full suspension and a body float seat post I don't need the tires for suspension effect. So I keep my tires at around 50psi.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Cool, thanks for the post. Going to check out the 26" version. I'd be primarily concerned about traction on concrete too. My commute has lots of loose sand, gravel, dirt, water that I have to watch out for as I turn and avoid obstacles.

Looks like my tire order just got bigger ! Got to split that $25 shipping charge up a little. Buying six pair of various types and sizes.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy...QAtTx4lmdCTNkJmyItMjMZvI_buFiaPhoCFJsQAvD_BwE

The HD speedguard is not Tubeless ready. Schwalbe Marathon Almotion has the lowest rolling resistance in TL configuration, closely followed by the Supreme line.
Either tires are great. The Almotion also comes in 2.15" which should give you more air volume in TL setup and will be more apt for gravel riding.

 

[6zfshdb]

The size I bought 50-622 required tubes so I did put slime in them. The tires are not pure slicks but the have no real tread, instead they have siping and water channels for wet conditions. They are very much a road tire. I doubt they would provide much traction on rough trails.

View attachment 25208

Thanks for the info. I'll keep looking.

 

[Stromer2work]

The HD speedguard is not Tubeless ready. Schwalbe Marathon Almotion has the lowest rolling resistance in TL configuration, closely followed by the Supreme line.
Either tires are great. The Almotion also comes in 2.15" which should give you more air volume in TL setup and will be more apt for gravel riding.

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the Almotion. I will run tubeless in one of my ST2s's and will check out the Almotion. The other bikes may be ok for the marathon supreme. I'm going to run tubes in all three of ST1x's as I will ride one of them during the cold weather. The other two ST1x's don't get enough use to merit tubeless. I believe the tubeless material will eventually gravity settle if not used regularly.

 

[Alaskan]

https://www.cyclingabout.com/schwalbe-tyres-the-best-for-touring/

 

[Asher]

The HD speedguard is not Tubeless ready. Schwalbe Marathon Almotion has the lowest rolling resistance in TL configuration, closely followed by the Supreme line.
Either tires are great. The Almotion also comes in 2.15" which should give you more air volume in TL setup and will be more apt for gravel riding.

I'd also check out the G-One Speeds. They come in tubeless easy, are faster (the fastest of any bike tire anywhere claims Schwalbe), have better off road traction. Slightly lower puncture protection rating, according to Schwalbe. Main downside is lower durability rating, though I've had mine as a front tire for 7-800 miles and it's still fine. No punctures, despite running with tubes.

My ideal setup would either be 2 G-One speeds, or a G-One speed in the front and either a Supreme or an Almotion TLE in the back. Supreme is lighter but the Almotion is TLE.

https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/racing_tires/G-ONE_Speed

There are a few upgrades that have a huge bang for buck on a bike, and tires is definitely one (suspension seatposts are another).

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Was the tire pressure otherwise identical?

I ask because I've found that going from 40psi to 45psi increased range by about five percent.

 

[Gator]

I have been following this thread closely. I am about to pull the trigger on two Marathon Almotion HS 453s. I wanted to ask, "Would this be a good set up for commuting? I put 120 miles in this week. =D

 

[ROJA]

@Gator I am running Almotions on my Turbo and I'm quite happy. I have ~1200 miles on the front and ~750 miles on the rear. Where I ride (across the Dumbarton Bridge) it's always windy so hard to compare speeds (no good control group) but I think they're a little faster given that I find myself riding in 1 gear taller (smaller) more often since I switched to these tires!

Flat resistance has been perfect except for a screw that went all the way through the middle and I don't think any tire could have prevented the flat. I repaired it with a new tube and the tire was OK and I'm going to keep riding it.

The tires are not amazing in gravel but good enough for hard-packed / fire roads.

Recommended!

 

[MadManMark]

Was the tire pressure otherwise identical?

I ask because I've found that going from 40psi to 45psi increased range by about five percent.

Second this question. After a quick google I see that your original Big Ben's are rated 35-70 psi, while (per your link) these Marathons are rated to 85 psi.