Punctures are the bane of a cyclist’s existence. Often unexpected, punctures seem to always stop you in your tracks in the least convenient of places. We can combat most punctures by using heavy/slow touring tyres. But is there an all-around touring tyre that is light, fast and puncture resistant?

The website Bicycle Rolling Resistance carries out all kinds of lab tests on bike tyres. They focus mostly on rolling resistance but also conduct a tyre tread and sidewall puncture test. We are fortunate enough to have data available of 17 different touring tyre models to examine.

Let’s take a look at the most puncture resistant touring tyres, and weigh them up against the fastest rolling tyres.

The Test

The Bicycle Rolling Resistance team position a 1 mm thick needle over the centre of the tyre tread and sidewall (not at the same time). They then add weights to the needle until the tyre punctures. To ensure that the results are consistent, they conduct this test five times per tyre tread and sidewall. A score of 10 means it will take twice as much force to puncture a tyre when compared to a score of 5.

Tyre Tread Results:
Vittoria Randonneur – 21
Continental Top Contact Winter II – 17
Continental Top Contact II – 16
Schwalbe Marathon Racer – 16
Continental E.Contact – 16
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – 15
Schwalbe Marathon – 14
Schwalbe Energizer Plus – 14
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial – 14
Schwalbe Marathon Almotion – 13
Continental Sport Contact II – 13
Continental City Ride II – 13
Schwalbe Marathon Plus – 13
Vredestein Perfect-E – 13
Vittoria Voyager Hyper – 12
Continental Contact II – 11
CST E-Series Reach – 10

The Vittoria Randonneur took twice as much force to puncture than the lowest performing tyre, the CST E-Series Reach. Continental had three of their tyres in the top five, suggesting that their protection belts are very effective.

Tyre Sidewall Results:
Continental E.Contact – 8
Continental Contact II – 7
Vittoria Voyager Hyper – 6
CST E-Series Reach – 6
Continental Top Contact II – 6
Continental City Ride II – 6
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial – 6
Schwalbe Marathon Almotion – 5
Continental Sport Contact II – 5
Schwalbe Marathon – 5
Schwalbe Marathon Plus – 5
Continental Top Contact Winter II – 5
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – 4
Schwalbe Energizer Plus – 4
Schwalbe Marathon Racer – 4
Vredestein Perfect-E – 4
Vittoria Randonneur – 4

The Continental E.Contact required twice as much force to puncture than the lowest performing tyres. While the Vittoria Randonneur was at the top of the list for tread resistance, it was bumped right down the bottom on this test. Continental again had many tyres perform well in this test.

Puncture Factor

Bicycle Rolling Resistance use a metric that they call ‘Puncture Factor’. This is the puncture resistance score above, multiplied by the tyre thickness. This probably gives a more accurate depiction of resistance, as thicker tyres tend to prevent more punctures by extending the physical distance debris has to travel to puncture a tyre.

Tyre Tread Puncture Factor Results:
Vittoria Randonneur – 120
Schwalbe Marathon Plus – 117
Continental E.Contact – 106
Schwalbe Marathon – 102
Schwalbe Energizer Plus – 98
Continental Top Contact Winter II – 94
Schwalbe Marathon Almotion – 86
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial – 85
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – 75
Schwalbe Marathon Racer – 74
Continental City Ride II – 72
Continental Top Contact II – 70
Vredestein Perfect-E – 62
Continental Sport Contact II – 55
Continental Contact II – 46
CST E-Series Reach – 44
Vittoria Voyager Hyper – 40

The Vittoria Randonneur, with its amazing needle score, still came out on top. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus was breathing down its neck thanks to its 9mm thick tread. It’s interesting to note that Schwalbe tyres score better when we factor in tyre thickness (three of their tyres are in the top-five).

Tyre Sidewall Puncture Factor Results:
Continental E.Contact – 15
Continental Contact II – 14
CST E-Series Reach – 11
Continental City Ride II – 11
Schwalbe Marathon – 8
Schwalbe Marathon Plus – 8
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial – 7
Schwalbe Energizer Plus – 6
Continental Top Contact II – 6
Vredestein Perfect-E – 6
Schwalbe Marathon Almotion – 5
Vittoria Voyager Hyper – 5
Continental Sport Contact II – 5
Continental Top Contact Winter II – 4
Vittoria Randonneur – 4
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – 3
Schwalbe Marathon Racer – 3

The Continental E.Contact again tested best in terms of sidewall protection. This can be attributed to the fact they’re designed for high-speed electric bikes which require a stiff sidewall casing for imperfections in the road. The Continental Contact II and City Ride II again scored particularly well for the sidewall test.

Puncture Resistance vs. Rolling Resistance

While the Vittoria Randonneur and Continental E.Contact tyres took out all of the puncture resistance tests, they have also shown to be the slowest touring tyres available out of the 17 tested.

In my article about tyre rolling resistance, I show you how using high rolling resistance tyres actually slows your speed more than carrying 30 extra kilograms!

So that got me thinking. I wanted to see what would happen if I gave equal weighting to both the puncture resistance and rolling resistance tests, so I created a ranking system for all four puncture resistance scores. Once I’d ranked the 17 tyres from 1-12 (due to a handful of equal scores), I combined the puncture resistance ranking with the rolling resistance rankings.

Combined Puncture Resistance and Rolling Resistance Test Results:
=1. Schwalbe Marathon – 4th Puncture / 5th Rolling
=1. Schwalbe Marathon Almotion – 8th Puncture / 1st Rolling
=2. Schwalbe Energizer Plus – 6th Puncture / 6th Rolling
=2. Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – 9th Puncture / 3rd Rolling
03. Vittoria Voyager Hyper – 12th Puncture / 2nd Rolling
=4. Schwalbe Marathon Plus – 3rd Puncture / 12th Rolling
=4. Continental Sport Contact II – 11th Puncture / 4th Rolling
05. Continental Top Contact II – 8th Puncture / 8th Rolling
=6. Continental E.Contact – 1st Puncture / 17th Rolling
=6. Vittoria Randonneur – 2nd Puncture / 16th Rolling
=6. Continental City Ride II – 7th Puncture / 11th Rolling
=6. CST E-Series Reach – 11th Puncture / 7th Rolling
=7. Schwalbe Marathon Mondial – 6th Puncture / 13th Rolling
=7. Schwalbe Marathon Racer – 9th Puncture / 10th Rolling
=8. Continental Top Contact Winter II – 5th Puncture / 15th Rolling
=8. Continental Contact II – 11th Puncture / 9th Rolling
09. Vredestein Perfect-E – 10th Puncture / 14th Rolling

The Schwalbe Marathon and Marathon Almotion are the combined rolling/resistance test winners. Picking between them is a matter of prioritising speed or puncture resistance. If you’re after something a bit lighter in weight, the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is ~30% lighter than the Marathon Almotion as well as being almost as puncture resistant and fast.

Choosing Your Puncture Resistant Touring Tyres

If you never want to think about punctures again, I’d suggest using:
– Vittoria Randonneur ($30)
– Schwalbe Marathon Plus
– Continental E.Contact

BUT… if you’re keen to reduce your rolling resistance but don’t want to compromise too much on protection – it’s hard to look past the Schwalbe Marathon ($33). These are the most common touring tyres for a reason.

If rolling resistance is your priority (the best touring tyres can save you 1-2km/h) then you’ll want to get your hands on some Schwalbe Almotion tyres ($54). I’ve been using a set for over 2000km now and haven’t yet had a puncture. Plus they feel really fast under my loaded touring bike.

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Have You Read About Touring Tyre Rolling Resistance Yet?

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