I have had to retire the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme on the rear wheel of my Thorn Mercury due to signs of an imminent side wall failure. Beloved by many cycle tourists for their durability and lively performance many were devastated when Schwalbe stopped making them. My Mercury is just nine years old and the original tyres Panaracer Paselas probably lasted about 8,000 km. I must have ridden 15  to 18 thousand km on the Supremes and apart from the sidewall are still in good condition.

I do not recall a puncture in either wheel on those tyres.

Well done, rear tire! While we don't have the impressive mileage you've had, we never had a single puncture in our two bikes, four wheels, on four trips. There was one tube failure, that's it. Fantastic, reliable tires. 

Spray paint it gold and hang it over the fireplace!

Is this the start of a CB Supreme fan club?

We’re taking extra TLC of our last remaining Supreme’s. Great tires (tyres for you Mike).

Sad to see their demise but life moves on. 

For a few years I would replace the Schwalbe tires on my touring bike with a new set. I'd transfer the old ones to another one of my bikes. In over 10,000 miles of touring I had two flats on Schwalbe tires. One was a faulty valve. The other was a huge jagged piece of road debris that became caught beneath the fender and tire. It must have taken five rotations for that thing to get through the tread.

As it stands, I now have six "old" Schwalbe tires in my basement. They are all still tour-worthy. I think they will outlive me.

Mike,  What size were your Supremes?  I just replaced my 650B x 1.6s with 48 mm Panaracer Gravelkings.  I now have 3 Supremes which are surplus to requirements: one brand new & unused; two with about 3500 kms on then, one front & one rear.  

Happy to let you have these, if they fit.  Let me know?  We are hoping to visit our family in Gold Coast in April, so I could ship them from there.  Or, if you need them earlier, I could ship them from Ottawa. (They're snug & warm & flexible in my basement workshop, well insulated from our -22 nights and the 50 cms of snow we'll receive by the end of the weekend.)

Cheers, John

PS:  if you wish to follow up by email, you can reach me at johncsaxby(at)rogers(dot)com

Thanks to all who replied. I managed to obtain two Panaracer Paselas on run out, 36 X 622 , the Supremes were 37 X 622.

Brilliant tyres. The pair I have on my Thorn Sherpa touring bike have only covered about 1500 km so I hope to get a few more loaded tours from them. Canberra to Hobart is the plan for the next ride.

Canberra to Perth, with a load on, wore the last pair to a thinness I no longer trusted for touring. 

A tip for installing a new folding tyre if you are not on the road on a rainy night and have plenty of time.

I took the new tyre from its packaging and hung it on two pegs about 300 mm apart  or 12  inches for those in the land of the free and home of the brave. After three days all those annoying  folds and kinks came out. Installation was then easy peasy.