Touring Bike Tire Test: Schwalbe Marathon Racer

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  • Schwalbe Marathon Racer
Performance compared to all other touring bike tires
(100% is best)
Pro Members get 11-point radar charts



Schwalbe Marathon Racer road bike tire on a rolling resistance test machine

The Schwalbe Marathon Racer is the lightest member of the Marathon family and its name suggests this to be a very fast tire. The Marathon Racer has a 67 TPI carcass, SpeedGrip compound, RaceGuard puncture protection and LiteSkin sidewalls. Unlike the Marathon and Marathon Plus, the Racer doesn't have a thick and heavy anti-puncture layer under the tread. On paper, the Racer should have a much lower rolling resistance than both the Marathon and Marathon Plus.


Ad Buy Schwalbe Marathon Racer at Amazon.com


Specified weight of the Marathon Racer is just 465 grams, this makes it a lot lighter than the Marathon which has a specified weight of 730 grams. The biggest savings seem to be in the anti-puncture protection. The Racer uses a double layer of thin nylon fabric instead of the 3 or 5 mm thick latex layer the other Marathon tires use. Natural thinking suggests lower weight = lower rolling resistance... Let's just run the tests and find out if this is true.


Manufacturer Specifications


Manufacturer Specs
Brand Schwalbe
Model Marathon Racer
Year 2015
Supplied By Supplied by Schwalbe
New or Used New
Mileage 0 km
Price Range Med
Buy At Ad Amazon.com
Manufacturer part number 11100290
TPI 67
Compound SpeedGrip
Bead Wire
ETRTO 35-622
Size Inch 28"
Width mm 35.00
Specified Weight 465 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi) 95
Made In Members Only
Available Sizes 40-622 (28x1.50)
35-622 (28x1.35)
30-622 (28x1.20)
40-559 (26x1.50)
40-406 (20x1.50)
40-355 (18x1.50)
40-305 (16x1.50)

Schwalbe Marathon Racer Test Results

Schwalbe Marathon Racer Touring/E-Bike on a rolling resistance test machine

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements


Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight 465 grams
Measured Weight 450 grams
Measured Width 33 mm (un-round)
Measured Height 32 mm (un-round)
Tread Depth 1.5 mm
Total Tire Thickness Center 4.6 mm
Total Tire Thickness Sidewall Members Only
All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

As previously mentioned, specified weight is 465 grams, my sample comes in even lower at 447 grams. The measured width and height is 33 mm and 32 mm respectively. Width and height both come in slightly below the rated size of 35-622.


Tread depth is 1.5 mm, which is less than both the Marathon (2.3 mm) (read review) and Marathon Plus (2.0 mm) (read review), but still reasonable. The Total Tire Thickness Tread measurements clearly show the Racer doesn't use a thick anti-puncture layer. With a total thickness of 4.6 mm, it's a much thinner tire than both the Marathon (7.3 mm) and Marathon Plus (9.0 mm). At 0.8 mm thickness, the sidewalls only have half the thickness of those tires.


Rolling Resistance Test Results


Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl)
Rolling Resistance
75 PSI / 5 Bar
22.6 Watts
CRR: 0.00677
Rolling Resistance
60 PSI / 4 Bar
24.6 Watts
CRR: 0.00737
Rolling Resistance
45 PSI / 3 Bar
Members Only
Rolling Resistance
30 PSI / 2 Bar
Members Only
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.

Shockingly, rolling resistance of the Marathon Racer is HIGHER than the plain Marathon with 3 mm thick anti-puncture layer and much higher weight. The Racer is also only barely able to outperform the 'flat-less' Marathon Plus. On average, rolling resistance is some 3 - 5 watts higher when compared to the plain Marathon and 0 - 1 watt lower when compared to the Plus.


I'm really disappointed by the performance of the Racer in the rolling resistance test, it's quite misleading to call this tire Racer when it's slower than the plain Marathon. Only providing a lower weight shouldn't justify the name Racer, rolling resistance should at least be on par with the plain Marathon.


Puncture Resistance Test Results

Schwalbe Marathon Racer Touring/E-Bike on a rolling resistance test machine
Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread 97 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle 16 Points
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle No Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness 4.6 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle No Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness Members Only

How does the double layer of thin nylon compare to the to the thicker anti-puncture layers of the Marathon and Marathon Plus? The Racer sets a higher score in the raw puncture resistance test than both those tires. With a score of 16 points, this is 2 points higher than the Marathon and 3 points higher than the Plus. In the sidewall test, the Racer scores 4 points vs 5 points for both the plain and Plus Marathon.


Because both the tread area and sidewall of the Racer are very thin, it doesn't do so well in the Puncture Factor calculation. Puncture Factor Tread comes to 72 points, which is still a decent score. Because the sidewalls only have a thickness of 0.8 mm, the Puncture Factor Sidewall calculation comes down to only 3 points. 3 points is very low, the Racer is the lowest scoring tire in the Puncture Factor Sidewall calculation to date.


Static Grip Test Results


NOTE: Grip test data is only available on tires tested after November 2018. You can find more information about our grip test here: Introducing Grip Testing

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average No Data
Wet Grip Center No Data
Wet Grip Edge No Data
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100
Tour/E-Bike grip test rim width = 23.0 mm

Conclusion


  • Schwalbe Marathon Racer
Performance compared to all other touring bike tires
(100% is fastest - lightest - thickest - strongest)

Pro Members get 11-point radar charts

After testing the Marathon Racer, it leaves a bad taste. Because this is the 'Racer' version of the Marathon, I expected this tire to outperform the Marathon by at least a couple of watts in the rolling resistance test. An interesting theory could be that the Marathon and Marathon Plus are just too good. Those tires sell a lot more, which means more R&D resources and better materials are available to improve those tires.


If you don't mind the extra weight, just grab a pair of Marathon (GreenGuard) (read review) and have better performance in both the rolling resistance and puncture resistance department. Because the performance of the Schwalbe Marathon Racer is still equal or better than tires from other manufacturers, it gets a Recommended 3/5 rating.


Ad Buy Schwalbe Marathon Racer at Amazon.com


RATING: 3.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT:
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