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I recently bought a tandem for me and my daughter. it came with marathon plus tyres.
however I wanted something a little lighter (think they are 1100g each)!
I believe I need durable tyres with strong sidewalls.
I would also like to take it on more paths / unpaved roads, so something with a little more tread but still alright on roads
any suggestions?
26" maybe could fit 2" or more
If you're looking for "durable tyres with strong sidewalls" in 2", which will handle the weight of two people off-road, I don't think 1100g is unreasonably heavy. I have tyres of that weight on my MTB, and that's something that can actually be chucked around, rather than a tandem which probably weighs 50lb without two people sitting on it and which basically needs to just plough through stuff.
So I'd say don't fear the weight. I've used light tyres and heavy tyres (including the over-a-kilo-each ones I used on my MTB) on our tandem and it makes no difference. Just get something with an appropriate tread and as much volume as possible. The Tour or MTB versions of the Marathon are probably ideal, depending on how off-road your off-road is (and if you're looking at the Travel Contact, which I suspect wouldn't be any better than a vanilla Marathon off-road, you're probably looking at the Marathon Tour).
I'm thinking if I swap the tyres, saddle, seatpost I can shave about4-5 pounds of weight which might make it a little easier for us (its hilly where we are and my daughters only 10)
Stick with them and oump them hard. Ran Marathon plus for years on the tandem. You don't want punctures when there's another relying on you. Still only the same weight as two pairs of lighter tyres 😉
I've ridden a kiddyback for years. You'll get a great cardio workout with the "luggage" on the back - kids don't have th epower to weight to get you up those hills. It's just gears.
I've just gone to 1.25 marathons on our tandem as a lighter weight option than the 1.9" city jets I had on. you REALLY don't want to be dealing with tyres giving way on a tandem at speed. If you really want to shave 4 or 5 pounds, go on a diet. In the grand scheme of things though I can guarantee you won't notice it/
conti contacts are a much better tyre than marathons IMO. I have used travel contact in 1.75 flavour on ours. I now tho use a DH rear that is double ply. I have also used crossroads. I hate marathons - frighteningly ungrippy
Tj - how were the travel contacts compared to the marathons? strong side walls?
whats a DH rear?
current marathons are 35mm - I'm thinking of putting something about 45mm (1.7")
I only ran the travel contacts for a short time on the tandem. Ran them for years on my commuter. Puncture protection really worked well. I would pick a dozen bits of glass out of them every few months. IIRC mine are 1.75 but come up skinny. Run nice and quick, ok on dry dirt. sort of 75% road 25% offroad
You only ( IMO / IME) need strong sidewalls if running low pressure. DH tyre - Downhill dual ply currently larsons but no longer made unfortuatly - best tyre I have run on the tandem
Travel contacts at 80psi, larsons at 30 psi rear. mountain kings at 50 psi rear and they fretted thru the sidewalls offroad touring with luggage