Cheap Schwalbe Marathon tires. Are they faulty?

[Ugo51]

Hi guys,

Bit of a strange question, I know. On eBay, it's possible to find Marathon plus tires for a considerably lower price than the usual retail price, roughly £19/tire instead of +£30+.
Different sellers, different prices, but out of three £19 Marathon tires I purchased, two were faulty.
Bad luck, or do you reckon the lower price is because they have "small" faults"? One had the bead wire broken, the other one was "twisted", not for packaging purposes, but in the sense that it wasn't straight so that the bead doesn't correctly sit in the rim, and occasionally it slips out. Eventually the profile of the tire got ruined.

I really like these tires, and 2 out of 3 is not big numbers enough to run statistics. Have I been particularly unlucky?
£19 for a new tire is not a big price, but I would really like to avoid throwing away another 20 quids for a faulty tire...

Thanks!

 

[hamster]

Often the eBay ones are older versions (I think there are about 6 different flavours in production) so it ets complicated. I agree, there do seem to be some dodgy ones out there.

I generally use Spa Cycles, the pricing is always competitive and the service excellent.

 

[secret_squirrel]

It may just be me but I've always had the suspicion that Marathon quality control leaves a lot to be desired, particularly on dimensions for fitting, no other tyre I've used has snapped so many levers. Its not just me either - stick how to fit tight tyres into YouTube and I guarantee most of the video's will be demonstrating with Marathons.

Makes sense that there is a network of grey market suppliers.

 

[Ugo51]

It may just be me but I've always had the suspicion that Marathon quality control leaves a lot to be desired, particularly on dimensions for fitting, no other tyre I've used has snapped so many levers. Its not just me either - stick how to fit tight tyres into YouTube and I guarantee most of the video's will be demonstrating with Marathons.

Makes sense that there is a network of grey market suppliers.

Don't get me started on this...
I also had problems fitting them.

To be honest, a more appropriate topic should have been "what other tire to go for instead of the Marathon plus"? :roll:

 

[secret_squirrel]

To be honest, a more appropriate topic should have been "what other tire to go for instead of the Marathon plus"? :roll:

To be fair they are brilliant when they are on. Tons of commuting with very few punctures.

Its just that getting them on tends to scar....