Do I need Marathon Winters?

[mrmacmusic]

I hope this doesn't sound like a daft question, but since everyone here has been extremely helpful in the past, I thought it worth gathering some opinions on the subject....

Short back story: started commuting last August, built up to 5-days a week, took ill in November so stopped commuting, once fit again SWMBO suggested Winter cycling wasn't on... commuting didn't start again until February. I now commute 5-days a week, though there are odd days where I need to take the car for one reason or another.

Anyhoo.... last Winter wasn't particularly cold or snowy as I recall (unlike the previous year), and we had our usual mix of slightly colder normal dreich weather here in Central Scotland. However I do recall a couple of frosty February commutes where there was the odd icy patch, and distinctly remember wheel-spinning uphill at one point... an interesting experience, but one that didn't result in a fall thankfully!

I appreciate no-one has a crystal ball, so there's no way of knowing whether or not we'll have months of sub-zero temperatures, or whether it will even snow, but so far SWMBO hasn't mentioned storing the bike until Spring, and I'd prefer to keep commuting through the winter this year. At the moment, I have the luxury of being able to take the car if the weather is really bad, but that may change too.

So, is it worth investing in a pair of Marathon Winters 700x35c...? I've already had a couple of commutes around freezing, but no icy patches (and it's got a bit milder again), and I honestly don't know what sort of state my route would get into if we have a bad winter – Clackmannan to the Clacks Bridge and then once over the bridge to Grangemouth (NCN76) are back roads/old farm roads and whilst tarmac, I doubt they'd get ploughed if it snowed, but they are 'open' so could be prone to freezing more than other sections through the villages. Any other CC'ers know the area and experienced it during winter?

If I do invest, would it be wise to "fit and forget" them (apart from the fact that I've read they're so noisy, forgetting them would be a problem!), or is it pointless using them when the temperatures are above freezing?

I'm sure these studded MW tyres do what they say on the tin so to speak, I'm just not sure that with extremely changeable weather, and no guarantees of months of sub-zero commutes whether they're really worthwhile.... Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated – particularly if you commute through the winter months.

 

[PpPete]

To cope with the changeable weather you maybe want to invest not only in a set of winter tyres but another set of wheels (and another cassette) that you can swop in on days when the forecast is more wintery?
Or even a complete N+1 equipped with the winter tyres?

 

[MacB]

For the last two Winters I've fitted them around this time and left them on until March. I run them around 60 rear and 50 front, that's for a large guy, and find they get me around fine. Realistically there have been few rides where they would have been a requirement. It's just peace of mind and, even on good days, it's easy to be caught out if you work late and there's a frost etc. I don't find them especially slow and I'm soon able to tune out the extra noise.

But, and this is the big but, I only put them on one bike and can take a different bike if I want.

 

[DCLane]

Unlike others, I simply commuted last year on my normal tyres (cheap s/hand things I had lying about) - on this year's winter bike it will be the 23mm Schwalbe Lugano's that came with it.

However, I do have an MTB that I switch to when the weather's bad; i.e. snow on the ground.

 

[green1]

Long term forecast is looking like its going to be a white winter.

 

[mrmacmusic]

To cope with the changeable weather you maybe want to invest not only in a set of winter tyres but another set of wheels (and another cassette) that you can swop in on days when the forecast is more wintery?
Or even a complete N+1 equipped with the winter tyres?

Cheers Pete – yes, I had thought of a complete set of wheels (with cassette and brake discs). I've already done N+1 this year so my new Boardman Hybrid Comp was already going to be my designated "crap weather, salt on roads" bike, leaving the Madone wrapped up cosy in the shed I was originally going to run the Trek through the winter (and it is fitted with Crud Roadracers), but I decided I'd rather ruin the components on (or slip off) a £400 bike and not an £1800 one....

 

[mrmacmusic]

For the last two Winters I've fitted them around this time and left them on until March. I run them around 60 rear and 50 front, that's for a large guy, and find they get me around fine. Realistically there have been few rides where they would have been a requirement. It's just peace of mind and, even on good days, it's easy to be caught out if you work late and there's a frost etc. I don't find them especially slow and I'm soon able to tune out the extra noise.

But, and this is the big but, I only put them on one bike and can take a different bike if I want.

Peace of mind is where I'm at, which is why I already planned switching to the hybrid and not risk an icy fall on the expensive bike.... Nice to hear you don't find the MW tyres especially slow though and run them right through the Winter. Thanks

 

[mrmacmusic]

Unlike others, I simply commuted last year on my normal tyres (cheap s/hand things I had lying about) - on this year's winter bike it will be the 23mm Schwalbe Lugano's that came with it.

However, I do have an MTB that I switch to when the weather's bad; i.e. snow on the ground.

Well I do have 2 bikes – the Boardman was going to be my winter bike anyway, although if it's mild I'll be giving the Trek more than the odd whirl for sure!

Long term forecast is looking like its going to be a white winter.

Snow is a different prospect from ice... from what I've read, the MW tyres are a pretty good compromise though, with studs for traction on ice, and slight nobbles (and studs) for the white stuff. Not as good as big knobbly snow tyres, but then I don't have an MTB to fit them to anyway!

 

[mrmacmusic]

A silly additional thought just entered my head.... since my Boardman Hybrid Comp has disc brakes, could I (and is it even worth considering) fit 26" MTB wheels and tyres? More clearance – although I think I'll manage 700x35c MW with my SKS Longboards as there's still room to spare – and the prospect of more bargain wheelsets available. Daft idea?

 

[fossyant]

I'm fortunate to have a MTB that I equip with studded tyres and leave them on until March. I still commute on 23mm tyres most of the time, but switch to the MTB when bad. If you want to commute all year by bike then this may be your best option.

 

[amaferanga]

People got all excited about winter tyres in this country a few years back. And then people were getting themselves all worked up trying to find them for last winter only for it to barely even snow.

But if you don't have alternative routes that use more major roads that will get gritted or cleared first then it may be worth having a bike equipped with them if you have a spare bike. You may end up only needing them for a few days through the winter so it's down to you to decide if that's worth the expense. I've commuted through Sheffield and in the Peaks for almost 5 years now and there's only been 2 or 3 days when I couldn't use my road bike with skinny tyres (though there have been plenty of days where I had to avoid certain roads). On those days I used a mountain bike with fat tyres to cope with the frozen rutted snow on all but the main roads, but since you live in Scotland then they actually know how to deal with heavy snow, unlike in most of England where they still seem to think that all you need to do is sprinkle some grit on the roads.

 

[HovR]

I didn't use any studded tires last year, and don't intend to use them this year. If I saw a patch of ice ahead I would either avoid it, or set up my approach to keep all inputs minimal (no braking, turning accelerating etc). Didn't come off once, and that was on 25mm tires.

The year before I managed fine on my MTB with big knobbly tires, although I wasn't commuting then.

 

[MacB]

A silly additional thought just entered my head.... since my Boardman Hybrid Comp has disc brakes, could I (and is it even worth considering) fit 26" MTB wheels and tyres? More clearance – although I think I'll manage 700x35c MW with my SKS Longboards as there's still room to spare – and the prospect of more bargain wheelsets available. Daft idea?

well I've been told by 'bikeshop' people that it's a bad idea but I did pump all the numbers from a couple of frames into BikeCad. BB height and trail come out almost identical if you run 26x1.95 or 700x23 and you'll find plenty of folks have stuck skinny 700c wheelsets into old MTBs.

My overall idea was probably along the lines of where you're currently heading....a seperate wheelset for one bike. But then I got into the detail and it's easy to rack up more costs than you intitially expect. If the purpose is to make the wheelswap as easy as possible then you're talking a second cassette, another chain, disc rotors, skewers, making sure both wheelset rotors line up. There's more that escapes my mind right now but the overall spend was working out enough, and the faff level too high, that N+1 became a more attractive solution.

Most of this was in advance of actually getting my studded tyres and I had been anticipating finding them only rideable as a necessity. As it turned out that wasn't the case, though I accept that others will find different, so I just bung them on as a matter of course now. I reckon I drop a max of 2mph off my average using them but can still maintain around 13mph. As it's utlity use only and also in conjunction with a hub gear that works fine for me. The M Winters have carbide studs and I can't see any appreciable wear over two Winters. As I use a different bike for conditions then I anticipate getting 5-6 years from a set which I'm happy with.

If you happen to be between about 6' and 6'4" there's a cracking deal on a Surly Crosscheck in the classifieds

 

[mrmacmusic]

I'm fortunate to have a MTB that I equip with studded tyres and leave them on until March. I still commute on 23mm tyres most of the time, but switch to the MTB when bad. If you want to commute all year by bike then this may be your best option.

Well I was daft and sold the MTB (and the Flight) and bought the Boardman Hybrid instead... but I'm happy with that decision

Amongst my many, many reasons for going down that route, was that despite fitting 'guards to the Madone, the idea of not using it once they start gritting the roads became quite appealing – not least because I distinctly remember the state my Flight's rims and drivetrain got into last year even with daily wiping down and thorough weekend cleaning and maintenance.... So, the Boardman is now my main commuting bike in "winter" (9 months of the year here in Central Scotland).

 

[DCLane]

I guess it depends on your commute route; mine's almost exclusively on main A-roads for the 10 miles, which means they're kept clear and gritted.

The result is that there are a lot less problems with ice/snow when commuting ... although there are other issues!