Touring Bike Tire Test: Schwalbe Marathon Mondial Evo

The Schwalbe Marathon Mondial is a touring bike tire made for journeys where you might come across all kinds of different road surfaces. The tread pattern on the Marathon Mondial is very similar to the classic Marathon XR which is its legendary predecessor. The center part of the tread looks similar to most other touring bike tires, the big difference is in the much more open profile at the edge of the tread: this should give much better grip on bad roads.

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The Marathon Mondial is available as both an Evolution and Performance version. I've decided to test the Evolution version as it should be the better (and more expensive) tire. Although the weight of both the Evolution and Performance Marathon Mondial is very similar, the Evolution uses a Double Defense casing which should make it more durable and puncture resistant. The Evolution also has folding beads and a triple compound rubber instead of the wire beads and single compound rubber of the Mondial Performance

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Schwalbe
Model	Marathon Mondial Evo
Year	2016
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At	Ad Amazon.com
Manufacturer part number
TPI	67
Compound	TravelStar
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	37-622
Size Inch	28"
Width mm	37.00
Specified Weight	570 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	1
Made In	Members Only
Available Sizes	50-622 (28x2.00) 47-622 (28x1.75) 42-622 (28x1.60) 37-622 (28x1.40) 50-584 (27.5x2.00) 55-559 (26x2.15) 50-559 (26x2.00)

Schwalbe Marathon Mondial Evo Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	570 grams
Measured Weight	579 grams
Measured Width	35 mm (un-round)
Measured Height	34 mm (un-round)
Tread Depth	2.6 mm
Total Tire Thickness Center	6.1 mm
Total Tire Thickness Sidewall	Members Only
All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

Specified weight of the 37-622 Marathon Mondial Evolution is 570 grams, my store bought sample came in at 579 grams which is good enough for me. The maximum width on a 17C rim, at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars is 35 mm. Max height is 34 mm.

Because the Marathon Mondial is made to perform well on all kind of different surfaces, tread depth is high. At 2.6 mm tread depth, this tire is at the top of the charts. The total measured thickness of the tire at the center of the tread is 6.1 mm. The sidewalls have a thickness of 1.1 mm.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl)
Rolling Resistance 75 PSI / 5 Bar	24.5 Watts CRR: 0.00734
Rolling Resistance 60 PSI / 4 Bar	26.7 Watts CRR: 0.00800
Rolling Resistance 45 PSI / 3 Bar	Members Only
Rolling Resistance 30 PSI / 2 Bar	Members Only
All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

Rolling resistance is a bit higher than expected from a Schwalbe Evolution class tire. At an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars, rolling resistance comes in at 26.7 watts while the (also Evolution class) Marathon Supreme (read review) came in at a much lower 19.1 watts. What surprises me the most, is the Marathon Mondial even gets outperformed by the much heavier Marathon Plus (read review) which is a tire that uses a 5 mm thick anti-puncture layer.

It's hard to compare the Marathon Mondial to other touring bike tires as I didn't test any direct competitors with a rougher tread pattern yet. Compared to the touring bike tires I've tested up to now, It just doesn't impress me. I feel this being an Evolution line tire, rolling resistance should have been at least been better than the Marathon Plus.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	108 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	14 Points
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness	6.1 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Members Only

In the raw puncture tests, the Marathon Mondial slots in right between the Marathon Supreme and Marathon Plus. In the tread test, it gets to a score of 14 points which is average. In the sidewall puncture test, it scores an above average 6 points. The better than average performance (and best of the Schwalbe touring bike tires tested up to now) in the sidewall puncture test must be the result of the double defense puncture protection.

Puncture Factor of the Marathon Mondial is decent as well. Because the Mondial has quite a high total tire thickness of 6.1 mm at the center of the tread, the Puncture Factor calculation comes in above average as well. When we multiply the result of the sidewall puncture test (6 points) with the thickness of the sidewall (1.1 mm) we get to a sidewall Puncture Factor of 7 points. The score of 7 points is similar to the Marathon GreenGuard and Plus.

Static Grip Test Results

NOTE: Grip test data is only available on tires tested after November 2018. You can find more information about our grip test here: Introducing Grip Testing

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	No Data
Wet Grip Center	No Data
Wet Grip Edge	No Data
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 Tour/E-Bike grip test rim width = 23.0 mm

Conclusion

It's hard to judge this tire as it isn't really comparable to the other touring bike tires I've tested up to now. I do think rolling resistance is higher than expected from a Schwalbe Evolution tire and total puncture resistance isn't that impressive either. The strongest part of this tire is probably the tread pattern which should give more grip during the bad road conditions you might run into when traveling the world.

Rated 3/5 because rolling resistance isn't that bad compared to other brands and puncture resistance is decent. If you don't expect to go off-road a lot during your trip or daily ride, look elsewhere as there are better rolling tires out there. Check the touring bike overview to see which tires perform better in our tests.

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RATING: 3.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Recommended

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