Its not every tire change that I get this excited about new tires. The first thing to get excited about was how well my old tires held up. I got 6,548 miles on a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x35 touring tires. I did all kinds of riding from touring to commuting to club rides to just riding around town, in all kinds of weather on all kinds of roads. I had exactly zero flats. I had a slow leak once that required me to pump up the tire once a week until I got around to changing the tube, but I never got a flat.

This is the rear tire. The front shows even less wear. Does this look like a tire with 6,5048 miles on it? By comparison on my road bike I'm happy if I get 2,000 miles on a set of tires.

The trade off, of course, for indestructible tires that last forever is that they are very heavy. 895g is a lot of tire to be pushing down the road. While I really enjoyed not have to change a flat, I decided I would try a lighter, more supple, tire to see how the bike would perform. So I got a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. At 520g for 700x35c they're still no light weights, but they should make a big difference. Plus these tires have a smoother tread and are made of more flexible rubber. Of course there are lighter, faster tires, but I still need something that will hold up for touring.

The new Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires with about 5 miles on them.

Will these tires make a big difference? Will they make me faster? Or will I be sitting on the side of the road fixing a lot of flats? Time and a lot of miles will tell.