[Jack English]

I’m considering an SST A 11 mainly for canal/river tours in Europe. For example, I’m doing the Danube Radweg from Passau to Budapest in September. According to the spec it will take up to 32mm tyres. What would be the toughest tyres I could fit for these mainly tarmac/compacted aggregate paths.
Many thanks

[Des Gibbons]

Schwalbe marathons are a good all rounder, you can get a few variations with better puncture protection, all very easy to get online and most big online bike shops.

[John Taylor]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus are incredibly tough BUT they are incredibly difficult to change if you have a problem. After five years of using Marathon Plus tyres on a Rohloff equipped TSR I’ve changed to Marathon Racer. I ride regularly on the Kennet and Avon canal tow path, which is a terrible surface, but they cope with that. The racer won’t last as long as a marathon plus, but will give you less problems in the long run.

[Cameron]

What did you go for in the end?

I think the challenge of getting the Marathon Plus tyres on depends a lot on the rim. On some of mine I can easily get them on with fingers only, but the narrower rims are more tricky.

I had some Marathon Racer tyres but hated the feel (rather subjective, but they felt soggy and slow). They are less puncture resistant too.

I am now running Marathon original (Greenguard) which feel better, and are fractionally quicker round my usual circuit.

However I think the smallest diameter for all those three is 40mm so not helpful.

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