I have just put my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres on my bike 650B 27.5 x 2.25. It was a bit of a job but then this is only the second time I have take both wheels off a bike and changed them. I knew it was something I need to know how to do. The Schwalbe Tough Tom tyres were wearing out, the rear was close to needing replacement after 1350k. The tyres when removed feel incredibly thin and flimsy.
Here is a picture of the Schwalbe Tough Toms, back on left (note the much greater wear).
The Marathon tyres still feel very light but a lot more substantial and the tread pattern is much more suitable for both paved and trail surfaces with a lot more protective tread in the middle plus 5 mm of protection underneath. They were difficult to put on. At one stage I was going to give up but I took the tube out again and tried a different side of the tyre and it was much easier. They are very stiff to put on, no doubt about it, the sidewalls and not just the outer perimeter of the tyre really are quite substantial. The sidewall on the Tough Tom was shockingly thin, like you could put your finger through it. I did mark up the front rims a bit though with my metal tyre levers but the damage is just cosmetic and hey it is a MTB and I fell off it the second day I had it to make it look used.
I reused the same tubes with the goo, no name tubes put in by the shop. I may change these later but it seemed pointless in chucking them at this stage. I will order some green goo tubes soon as replacements if I do get a puncture.
I tested them with a good right last night including over sand, grass and gravel plus paved surfaces. The most noticeable thing was how quiet they are on the road whether biking along or braking. Totally different and much quieter than the Tough Toms. Performance wise they seemed fine to me even in sand. If I have any further thoughts on them as I go along I will say something, maybe do a review in depth.
A few pix of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus...
Edit: I did a 32km trip from BB to Romeo Road on the Yaberoo Budjara track. Great test. On the way back in the middle of nowhere in the dark, my front tyre was making a noise. mmm. Investigation suggested a lack of air so I pumped it up and away I went. At Hester Avenue I pumped it up a bit more and it looked like it would last until I got back to my car which it did. By the time I got home, the air had gone to the top of the tyre again. Mmm. The tubes were at fault, this front tyre did lose a bit of pressure at one stage on the old tyres but it stopped. I found the leak on the seam of the tube up the side so a manufacturing fault and the goo coming out didn't stop the leak or it stopped it maybe for a while and that leak had been there for a while I think. I think the tubes are cheap junk made by CST in China.
I learnt a lot about fitting tyres by fitting these tyres and I made every mistake it is possible to make. I used metal levers and damaged the rims (which I smoothed off on the top and inside later). I missed tricks about fitting them which I now know. In the end I used four cable ties around the tyre to fit them on and used plastic tyre levers. Maybe next time I will be clever enough with some more tricks to know how to do this without ties or even levers. Having said that these Marathon Plus MTB tyres are notoriously difficult to fit and it isn't a job for a beginner like me, unless you are willing to suffer, damage things and learn the hard way...as I did...
I did replace tubes in my Tough Tom tyres which was easy and gave me the misplaced confidence to put these Marathon tyres on. Great learning experience...ouch!