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Schwalbe Marathon Extreme HS 402
April 1, 2010
With Spring in the air I have been preparing for some off road touring that I plan to do once the trails all dry up. Most of these will be a combination of single track dirt trails, gravel roads, and some pavement. With that in mind I put some Schwalbe Marathon Extreme HS 402 tires onto my bike. I have ridden many of the Marathon tires over the years, but all were aimed solely at commuting and touring. The Marathon Extreme HS 402 is definetly one tire that can pull double duty, both on and off road.
The Marathon Extreme HS 402 comes in a few different sizes, for this review I was using the 26 x 2.0 version. The tire was notably slower than other Marathons but much faster than a typical mountain tire. It ranks high on Schwalbe tires chart for grip. Due to the season we are in at the moment I have been able to test these out in dirt, mud, snow, gravel, and wet and dry pavement. On snow they proved to provide decent traction but slipped when cornering. In the mud the tread filled up rather quick, and soon they felt like a slick tire. In all other conditions they performed well above average. The provided enough grip on the trails to be considered a off road tire.
The Schwalbe Marathon Extreme HS 402 is pretty average in the weight department, with each tire coming in at 570 grams. I took some pretty decent trial runs on the trails with this and it really could be the ultimate off road touring tire. Schwalbe has treated these tire to both SnakeSkin + HD Ceramic Guard, creating a tire with great puncture protection too. I will still run a smoother tire for my daily commute, but this tire can still do it all for those not inclined to change out tires all the time.
It was refreshing to find out a tire like this even exists. Some times it is hard to tell tread patterns from a picture on the internet, but this tire did not disappoint. Schwalbe currently only has 4 size variations of this tire available, but hopefully they will offer more in the near future.
Price: $78 USD
Details: A tire for on and off road adventures
Pros: Great traction and puncture protection
Cons: Slightly slower than most of the Marathon tires
Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars
Schwalbe
Reviewed by: Ryan