I wrote to Schwalbe about the apparently excessive weight of their Marathon
700x28 (510g) and Marathon Slick 700x30 (500g). Of all the tyres I've
considered they're the only ones in the 500g+ range. This is the bulk of
Schwalbe's swift response. I think it makes for interesting reading, both
about their justification for the weight (they claim 6,000 to 12,000km for
the Marathon) and about how Continental calculates their TPI:
"You are right if you say our Marathon tyres are mostly
heavier than other high performance tyres. Reason for this
is, that the Marathons are made for long life, low wear and
safe riding. All tyres you are mentioning are light weight
skin tyres with thin tread and without sidewall rubber. The
Marathon, as well as Marathon Slick are very strong due to a
special sidewall rubber film reinforcement and long lasting
because of a thicker tread with special compounds. I think
this is a key for our success all over Europe, as bicycles
purpose here is mostly everydays use. We can of course also
provide real lightweight tyres. For example our Stelvio 28-
622 is only 325g with Kevlar breaker. Please be advised,
that the TPI's mentioned by Continental can not be compared
with TPI values from other manufacturers. Conti adds up the
TPI's of all carcass layers of one tyre. If we would do so,
our Marathon would have 150 TPI whereas Marathon Slick would
be 201 TPI. Stelvio is at least 335 TPI as there are two
additional carcass layers (overall 5) for puncture
resistance."
I haven't found an Australian price for the Stelvio but
Performance have them for USD39.99.
--
"I'm proud that I live in a country where witnessing two
hours of bloody, barbarous torture in gloating detail is
considered indicia of religious piety, whereas a mere second
gazing upon a woman's breast is cause for outraged
apoplexy." Betty Bowers,
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