Do I need Marathon Winters?

[mrmacmusic]

Careful the first time you ride on the winters: I felt my back wheel sliding a bit at times - and I am slow, btw
After about 6/7 miles I had no problems.
More miles later, in pouring rain, I felt there was no difference to my ordinary tyres.

Cheers for that

My commute is 14 miles each way, so I'm guessing they'll be 'bedded in' after a couple of days at most? Forgetting for a minute the fact that they've got studs, I'm presuming that the winter compound rubber is going to be a bonus when it's hovering around freezing but not icy, so quite looking forward to getting these fitted. Not sure how long they'll take to arrive from Germany, but had a dispatch notification within the hour yesterday morning. It's looking mild at the beginning of next week, but appears to be getting chilly towards the end, so possibly perfect bedding-in weather

 

[vorsprung]

I hope this doesn't sound like a daft question, but ..

In Devon it is very mild and now (November) the number of nights with frost I could count on one hand

I am not commuting at the moment but I haven't seen any ice on the road

If you are commuting or riding most days and often see ice on the road for a period of weeks or months then it is well worth getting Marathon Winters

When I was commuting, first year there was a bit of ice now and then. I fell off two or three times, minimal damage to clothing, some bruises. It doesn't matter how skilled or careful you are. One time I remember I was in central Taunton, came round a corner and I was on my arse. There had been no ice in the rest of Taunton, this was a sheltered spot and not prone to ice. I use Marathon Plus for commuting, they have a little tread and work ok in light snow

Next couple of years we had all the snow and extensive ice. But I had the Marathon Winters then and didn't fall off at all. It's worth using them IMHO just for this reason. You can do stuff like ride straight up a 1:6 of sheet ice. If this sounds good then they are the tyres for you

They are the heaviest tyres ever and if you are riding on snow they have to be at a low pressure, so they are very slow. Switching back to Marathon Plus when the icey mornings had ended was like adding a turbo boost to my speed.

On the plus side as they are 35mm they are fairly comfy

 

[Pat "5mph"]

not sure how long they'll take to arrive from Germany,

2 days from ordering for me.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Not sure how long they'll take to arrive...

3 days for mine.


GC

 

[mrmacmusic]

Thanks folks - sounds like they should arrive Monday or Tuesday

 

[HLaB]

Mrmac I've never used studded tyres but I took the train from Dunfermline to Edinburgh instead, I didn't fancy the Dunfie-Inverkeithing back road in the morning; when I lived in Edinburgh I stuck to the main roads and its too early to say if the mild weather down here will end and they'll have ice but if they do I'll just walk those days; but if I had no alternatives I'd invest in some studded tyres.

 

[tincaman]

Just received the TopContact Winters, thought you would like to see the tread pattern up close. They are about 400g each less in weight than MW's

 

[doddy73]

Any thoughts on whether the 120 spike version of the Marathon Winter? From the illustration, it looks like exactly the same tyre, except it has holes where the outer-most ring of studs would be on the 240-stud version. Never seen these anywhere else, but they are certainly a nice price at just £19.07 each from bike-discount.de

The cheapest I can find the standard Winters with 240-studs in 700x35 is for €27.90 (about £22.50) each at actionsports.de.

With UK shipping that's ~£45 for 120 studs or ~£50 for 240 studs... so which one would it be best to go for, presumably the 240's considering the small difference in price?

Big thanks for posting the link! Great price so a pair are ordered. Geeees yer snaaaaw nooooo

 

[doddy73]

Arrived after only 3 days... what a fantastic deal.

So... is everyone running with these already? or waiting until it dips below 0 ??? I'm gonna break them in over the next 2 days... just not sure whether to switch back or leave them on.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Arrived after only 3 days... what a fantastic deal.

So... is everyone running with these already? or waiting until it dips below 0 ??? I'm gonna break them in over the next 2 days... just not sure whether to switch back or leave them on.

Mine arrived on Monday, but I've opted to wait until the weekend to fit them – not sure whether it'll actually end up being icy or not, but it's set to get a bit colder next week, with the forecast suggesting 0–3°C commutes Mon–Wed..... bring it on!

 

[Norm]

Fitted mine to spare wheel set a few weeks ago, did about 50 miles to bed the studs in (I've only lost a couple) and switched back to the City Jets until it's gets a bit colder again.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Arrived after only 3 days... what a fantastic deal.

So... is everyone running with these already? or waiting until it dips below 0 ??? I'm gonna break them in over the next 2 days... just not sure whether to switch back or leave them on.

I'm using Maurine the ice bike this week for the commute ... because the "swish swish" sound is fun!
Great grip on wet leaves too.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I'm using Maurine the ice bike this week for the commute ... because the "swish swish" sound is fun!
Great grip on wet leaves too.

Do you have names for all your bikes?

And why Maureen?


GC

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Do you have names for all your bikes?

And why Maureen?


GC

Yes:
Boris because @Potsy slagged "him" off as a Boris bike
Gonzales because he's speedy - the lightest of my bikes and the frame that suits me better
Maurine ... oh, because she's cheap! (Remember the directory inquiry radio advert?)
She was very very cheap on the bay, being her a wee 24" wheeled PINK mbso

 

[albion]

I always thought you needed 5 to 10 mm of ice before you use these?

I'm sure with misused studded tyres for cars they destroy the roads whilst getting destroyed themselves.