Why I chose the Schwalbe Marathon Racer Tyre on my 3Sixty Foldie (over the Marathon, Kojak & One)?

[@i-vernsimphonique3012]

I’m using a Schwalbe Marathon Racer for my 16” wheel trifold bike. 😊 Thanks for this educational video. ❤

[@SingaporeUntold]

Love my schwalbe one. Massive change in performance. Just be careful in the wet. Crashed myself on a wet floor

[@fredphua]

Oh yes, I just have it on my new Avro and it really rolls super well. But totally agree with you, I'd be really careful in the wet and over rougher roads/gravel. Hope all's fine after your last crash, that's unfortunate.

[@eshuang7222]

You have great youtube presence, presentation skills, personality and informative content. I have learnt so much from your videos. Thank you!

[@fredphua]

Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I actually started this as a side project as a platform to self critique and to improve my speech. Also, to overcome stage fright. Your words mean a lot, thank you. 🙏🏻

[@fender1000100]

Great channel subbed. These differences in tyre performance fascinate me. I want the maximum performance for my efforts on my folder. And this has taught me alot. Many thanks...

[@fredphua]

Glad it helped you and thank you for taking the time to leave the comment. As an update, I managed to try out Schwalbe One on my new ride and it performed as we've guessed in the video. Now on Continental Contact Urban and I feel it sits nicely between the Racers and One. Won't go wrong whichever way you go, hope this additional update helps in your shopping! Happy riding! 😁👍

[@dashamin]

Nice. What would u recommend for Brompton World Race, tire and pressure?

[@fredphua]

Hey, I saw that you have a pretty cool B now! Nice!! I have been trying to find something that i feel is a good all rounder. I have managed to ride on Schwalbe One as well as Continental Contact Urban since I posted this video. I personally think the Contis sit nicely between Schwalbe One and the Marathon Racer, and might be my personal favourite now for an all-purpose tyre. I left it at 85 PSI but this is just personal preference. My 2 cents, other riders may have tried many others and will have more insights . 😁👍

[@seductive_Octopus]

Nice Video like always.👍 My own Experience is - in the City - Puncture Protection before everything else, because speed in the City is relativ. Then you could go for less roll resistant or good look. It the End ur Speed depends on how many Traffic lights or crossings are on your Route. I see it all the Time,me on a Non Electric 6 Speed Brompton can easily hold up with E Bikes, Race bikes etc.., all thx to Traffic Lights slowing them down. 😂 while they sweat, I drive relaxed. Plus if there is Glass or something similar on the Road, they all act like the floor is Lava, ironically been a obstacle for other Riders like me. 😒 Yesterday a car almost hit me because of such knuckle head.

[@fredphua]

Hey T, thank you for dropping by again. 100% with you on this, important to choose tyres according to usage. Anyway, I'm glad you came out fine after your close shave with the car! Please stay safe. 😊🙏

[@louiscastero6566]

Awesome, clear and useful information regarding different Schwalbe tyres spec, now I know which is my best choice. Thanks Fred for your effort & time sharing. Cheers bro~

[@fredphua]

Thank you for leaving this comment Louis. It's so encouraging to know my 2 cents' worth of opinion helped in some way. Which one did you go for in the end? Excited about your new tyres! :D

[@wcleong5584]

@@fredphua 9

[@simonloh8242]

Thanks alot for producing this video as many would have benefites from it as most of us try to our wheel and not having the luxury to own and experience them. Always great to see your video.👍

[@fredphua]

Hey Simon, pleasure's mine. I'm more happy that this is beneficial to fellow hobbyists out there, hope some of these views helped. Happy hunting! :)

[@simonloh8242]

@@fredphua I'm your loyal fan. 😊👍

[@fredphua]

@@simonloh8242 humbled by this, thank you. 🙏

[@dmitriylo]

Thank you! Just ordered Schwalbe Marathon Racer

[@fredphua]

Hope you'll enjoy it. 😉👍

[@SwedishSonna]

Good video. Thanks!. I run the racers on mine for my daily commute. Quite often glass on the paths on my route, and although I do my best to avoid, I do inevitably run over it sometimes. No punctures yet! I'm doing the Coast to Coast (C2C Whitehaven to Tynemouth) tour in May next year - considering putting the Schwalbe One tyres on.

[@fredphua]

Thank you for your comments. And yeah, might be a better experience on the One if the road conditions are good for a road trip, helps get to the next accommodation point faster! Anyway, have a good road trip, really missed those. 👍

[@secretpotato]

what about the continental urban contact?

[@fredphua]

Hey, no experience with it. But I'm sure those that have it will have good reasons for their choices too. 😊👍

[@aaong6272]

Hi Fred. Thanks for the info on these tyre. If I only wanna change 1 thing on my foldie, should I change my stock tyre to these performance ones or should I change my stock crankset to hollowtech? Which change will give me a bigger improvement in performance?

[@fredphua]

Hey AA, thanks for dropping by. I wouldn't be able to substantiate this so it is just my own experience. Personally, I found tyres to be more noticeable in terms of changes in riding characteristics (for better or worse depending on what one is after...) than when I changed cranks. Maybe others will have a different view. 🙂

[@aaong6272]

@@fredphua ok i will consider buying racer. thanks for the advice Fred!👍

[@fredphua]

@@aaong6272 btw I managed to try the "One" on my Avro and really love how it rides. The characteristics are 80-90% as I had guessed it would be in the video. Some others have also mentioned continental contact, so might also want to check them out as well. Happy hunting! 😁👍

[@effyleven]

The Racer is a good compromise, in comfort, lightness, speed and puncture resistance. But this video was not as useful as it could have been, because we could not see them properly. Fred was waving them AROUND so much. I was getting giddy trying to focus on them.

[@dynasty9173]

Hey Fred, great comparison video. Just wondering if you have any recommendations for a shop that sells and also does tyre installation?

[@fredphua]

Hey, thank you for the encouragement. I went to A.M cycle (link below). I think many popular foldie stores in SG has them so you can check them out. Either that, can always buy online and DIY, not too difficult. Hope it helps! 😉👍

[@fass74]

Just curious why Continental Contact Urban was not being considered as part of the lineup?

[@fredphua]

Hey, no particular reason. I was just looking at tan wall options and these are the few variants I was interested in.

[@clarkkent4608]

To fass74 I was thinking about getting the Continental contact Urban tires for my e-bike but I never get much information on how great they are and do you have those tires? And if so can you tell me if they are a nice choice for a e-bike and do they grip the road well and are they good on pavement and if I hit a little bit of dirt in the road they still have the grip and you can please let me know it would be really awesome and thanks

[@fass74]

@@clarkkent4608 I have not used them personally but have heard good reviews from several users both on grip and durability. I will be trying them out once I wear out my Marathons

[@rorialvarez7913]

did you change the inner tubes too? i want to change mine from schrader to presta, but still researching how to convert without changing the rims

[@fredphua]

Hey Rori, I did not change the tubes as it is still working fine. Sorry not of help here, but keep me posted on how it goes! I'm curious. 😁👍

[@domestique3954]

In order to get fewer punctures with the Kojak you should run them at least with 6 bar! ! I just mounted them after running marathon racers for 2 years,and i must say the Kojaks are superfast on my Birdy 👌 🤙

[@fredphua]

I doubt that's the variable that's going to change things (for me), it's 90PSI at least for all tyres all these years. But glad this works for you and hope it remains so in the long run. Yeap, they feel really fast! Enjoy your new tyres! 😁👍

[@kaferkafer2825]

Hi! I I recently got myself a birdy of an older generation, I'm loving it. Currently it has big apple tyres (2,15) and it's pretty smooth, once it's on the roll it can be pretty fast, like 34 km on the flat and it's easy to peda,l however I think I could improve this experience even more by getting Schwalbe marathon racer (1,5). How was your experience with them? Did they roll well? Was it dangerous when it was wet? Why did you go for Kojak? To be super fast?

[@josephd9079]

just to confirm on the name Schwalbe Marathon Racer Tyres- yellow tyres because there is another marathon original -the one has a blue icon

[@fredphua]

Hey Joseph, yeap they come in both black ones and tanned wall ones. I happen to have both with me for the shots.

[@tanjinghung6848]

Can you review your other bikes as well?

[@fredphua]

Thanks for dropping by. This is the only foldie left and my other bikes are maybe less interesting to talk about. :)

[@bungee28]

It's amusing you made comparisons to the Schwalbe One without actually having own or rode them.. :) I had upgraded from the 16" Schwalbe (wired bead) Kojak to One tyres and I absolutely love the Ones. I found Kojak slippery too and scary to ride in wet conditions. One the other hand, the wider Schwalbe One is grippier, has low rolling resistance, and makes for a very comfortable ride when not inflated to the max. Maybe not the best choice for touring but for regular use, One is very light and incredibly easy to remove and fit onto your rims, without requiring any tyre levels ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGjRaKirh8iimaM ). The Schwalbe One does cost a pretty penny though, and you need to watch out for fakes.

[@fredphua]

Thanks for this. I also have the One now on my Avro, updated on my community post. The characteristics looking at the tyre when I made this video still stand, but I really wouldn't call it "grippy". Though I agree with the observation that it is slightly better than the Kojaks in this area and the better comfort levels. Cheers.

[@bungee28]

@Chats with Fred there, I've changed my comment to "grippier". It's relative to the Kojak. Too much grip and it will probably increase rolling resistance.

[@fredphua]

@@bungee28 cool, enjoy the new tyres!

[@misaelramos83]

You've had punctures with the Marathon?? Wow.

[@randyvaliente]

Very cool :)

[@fredphua]

Thank you, hope the perspective is useful.

[@merepekar]

The Ones are also slightly taller than the rest.

[@fredphua]

Thank you, this is good infor!

[@tiongweiyeo6990]

Fred,👍

[@fredphua]

Thank you TW.

[@omera967]

Ironically it has been tested in a lab that the racer is not faster than regular Marathon.

[@fredphua]

Yeap this is interesting. In fact in the site I've shared, they found that the Marathons were of lower resistance than the Kojaks too at certain pressure. But those are of different years and sizes so I won't dare to directly translate to this. Anyway surprising still! Haha

[@omera967]

@@fredphua Indeed. You would have thought "Racer" equals faster. Apparently not. There's also chatter on brompton forums when the racers replaced the stock brompton tyres, new owners were not so happy with that decision as again, it was proven the marathon racers were neither faster nor was it more durable than brompton stock tyres.

[@fredphua]

@@omera967 good to know! Thank you for sharing the insights of other users. Yeah, I guess this really kind of fall in the "not here not there" category. Hope it lasts a decent amount of time for me before I start hunting.. 🤭🤭🤭

[@omera967]

@@fredphua I'm sure it will at least last a decent amount of time. I think users are just upset towards how the tyres are marketed. Marathon (Durability) Racer (Speed) which again as you said, neither here nor there. I think the fastest Marathon were the Supreme. Sadly the smallest was 20" if I'm not wrong but even now it's already obselete. I was lucky enough to have 'em. Amazingly fast. Lasted a couple of years with me. I think you've "hunted" quite a fair share of tyres though 😅. Maybe you could try Fantome or the rare Greenspeed Scorchers but the Scorchers are not locally available. They are the widest you can fit at 16 x 1½.

[@fredphua]

@@omera967 wow thank you! I'll definitely look to try them if I look to build a faster foldie. I think my current "smell flower" bike won't be able to unleash any fast tyres potential. When the time comes, I'll definitely ask you for tips! Haha now you just gave me 2 more options to research about, potentially not too good for my pocket! 🤣🤣🤣

[@joehong624]

Nice , but sounds like a physics lecture, might want to keep it to more casual to grow the user base

[@fredphua]

Thank you Joe. Haha yeah, will try to keep it lighter! Tough one with this side of the content 😁😁

[@TreyyDaMenaceFan]

Schwalbe is pronounced SCHWALB