Touring Bike Tire Test: Schwalbe Marathon Almotion TLE Addix

Together with the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme, the Marathon Almotion forms the pinnacle of performance in Schwalbe's touring bike and e-bike line-up. When compared to the Marathon Supreme, the Marathon Almotion is targeted more towards puncture protection and robustness while the Marathon Supreme is the lighter and more supple alternative.

If you've followed our site for a while you probably know the previous version of the Marathon Almotion with the older OneStar compound has been the fastest tire in the touring bike section since 2016. It even outperformed the much lighter Marathon Supreme with the same OneStar compound in almost all of our tests except for the obvious higher weight.

The OneStar compound simply was a great performing compound but as many of you know, Schwalbe moved their entire line-up to their newer Addix compounds that most of the time do not perform exceptionally well in our tests. As the Marathon Almotion now comes with the Addix compound as well, it was high time to do a re-test of the latest version.

This is a test of the 40-622 Microskin TLE (tubeless-easy) version which can be used without an inner tube but requires tire sealant to completely seal the tire. Also available is a V-Guard version which isn't tubeless compatible and is much lighter (625 vs 490 grams specified). Please be aware that we did test this tire with an inner tube, when using this tire tubeless, rolling resistance will be a couple of watts lower.

After scrolling through the available sizes of the Marathon Almotion, we noticed the current non-tubeless version has a specified weight of 490 grams while the non-tubeless version we tested back in 2016 had a specified weight of 610 grams. Coincidentally, the Marathon Supreme in the same size also has a specified weight of 490 grams... As you can see from our test results, the Addix version of the Almotion is a very different tire than the Almotion that launched in 2016.

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Schwalbe
Model	Marathon Almotion TLE Addix
Year	2021
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At
Manufacturer part number	11654230
TPI	67
Compound	Addix
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	40-622
Size Inch	28"
Width mm	40.00
Specified Weight	625 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	80
Made In	Pro Data
Available Sizes	40-622 (700x40c) 50-622 (700x50c) 55-622 (700x55c)

Schwalbe Marathon Almotion TLE Addix Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	625 grams
Measured Weight	607 grams
Measured Width	38 mm (un-round)
Measured Height	37 mm (un-round)
Tread Depth	2.0 mm
Total Tire Thickness Center	5.0 mm
Total Tire Thickness Sidewall	Pro Data
All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	None (30 ml sealant) (current protocol)	Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl) (test protocol)
Rolling Resistance 75 PSI / 5 Bar	Pro Data	Pro Data
Rolling Resistance 60 PSI / 4 Bar	19.7 Watts CRR: 0.00591	22.7 Watts CRR: 0.00680
Rolling Resistance 45 PSI / 3 Bar	Pro Data	Pro Data
Rolling Resistance 30 PSI / 2 Bar	Pro Data	Pro Data
All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	83 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Pro Data
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Pro Data
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Pro Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness	5.0 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Pro Data
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Pro Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Pro Data

Static Grip Test Results

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	74 Points
Wet Grip Center	Pro Data
Wet Grip Edge	Pro Data
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 Tour/E-Bike grip test rim width = 23.0 mm

Conclusion

The latest version of the Marathon Almotion doesn't shine as bright as the Almotion with the OneStar compound we tested back in 2016. For some reason, they dropped the thick, but fast-rolling anti-puncture layer. The total tire thickness at the center of the tread has gone from 6.6 mm down to 5.0 mm which happens to be the same as the Marathon Supreme.

The Almotion even gets outperformed by the much cheaper Marathon GreenGuard that we tested back in 2015. We mention 2015 explicitly here as we're quite sure the Marathon GreenGuard that you can buy today won't perform the same either as the tires they sold in the past. Although our website shows Schwalbe tires before 2017 perform great in our tests, they clearly have taken a different path somewhere around 2017/2018.

Our conclusion is that the current Marathon Almotion is nothing more than a Marathon Supreme with a different tread pattern. What does make this a unique tire is the availability of a tubeless-ready option which is quite rare with touring bike/e-bike tires. When you use this tire in tubeless form, rolling resistance will drop ~3 watts which moves it up the ladder a bit. We do think it might not be worth the trouble on a touring/e-bike when you do not get the absolute best performance in return.

RATING: 3.5 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Recommended

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