After a week of many punctures around Manchester I decided it was time to upgrade my 15 year old tyres to new ones. Had a few suggestions from friends and ended up getting a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus (26×1.5) tyres. The decision was made on the basis that most of my riding is done on the road now and the little off road I do tends to be on cycle paths and the such.

So fitting them is more work than my previous tyres, significantly more so, but I did get them on using only my hands so not to bad and I suspect there is a nack to it. Admittedly the purpose of the tyres would suggest that I should never learn the nack which I suspect is why the tyres have a reputation for being hard to get on.

My first ride on them today was ok, a ride up to Popup Bikes for the Wheelers Brunch. I had heard a few remarks about how them slid a bit in bad weather but they seamed ok in the wet today and the little bit of snow on the ground. The ride was however noticeably quieter and perhaps a little quicker, though I suspect that says more about the inherent unsuitability of my old tyres (off road 26×2.0).

Will see how it goes.