Do I need Marathon Winters?

[Sara_H]

Had been thinking about some winter tyres, but at the moment tyres with flippers would be a better idea!

And scuba equipment!

 

[potsy]

Fettling fail, It'll just have to cope with a few missing studs, anyone got a good technique for fitting 'em?
Seeing as they do a version with only half the amount of these I imagine they'll be fine.

 

[Sara_H]

Fettling fail, It'll just have to cope with a few missing studs, anyone got a good technique for fitting 'em?
Seeing as they do a version with only half the amount of these I imagine they'll be fine.

Theres some good top tips on the CTC forum for getting your studs in.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Now, may I ask, what is the bedding in procedure?

Schwalbe suggest an initial 40km on tarmac with no hard acceleration or violent braking to ensure the studs are properly bedded in

 

[potsy]

Theres some good top tips on the CTC forum for getting your studs in.

Cheers, I'll have a look next year

 

[Sara_H]

Schwalbe suggest an initial 40km on tarmac with no hard acceleration or violent braking to ensure the studs are properly bedded in

Ah! I never do hard acceleration or violent braking anyway!

Whats 40km in real money?

 

[Norm]

About 25 miles. Mine got considerably quieter during the bedding in period, they're still noisy but much better now.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Well, guys and girls, this morning Maurine the ice bike got to do her stuff, she done it very well!
The roads were icy: I realized how much when my boots did slide on stopping at traffic lights.
The park I use as a shortcut had large patches of ice ( I fell there last winter): I rode through it with no problems.
Granted, I went so slow that I never once had to brake but I could feel both my wheels gripping fine, no sliding at all. Wanted to go faster, refrained till I was on the main road again ... caution comes with age

 

[potsy]

Well, guys and girls, this morning Maurine the ice bike got to do her stuff, she done it very well!
The roads were icy: I realized how much when my boots did slide on stopping at traffic lights.
The park I use as a shortcut had large patches of ice ( I fell there last winter): I rode through it with no problems.
Granted, I went so slow that I never once had to brake but I could feel both my wheels gripping fine, no sliding at all. Wanted to go faster, refrained till I was on the main road again ... caution comes with age

Nifty

Mine are on the rims, next step is to put the wheels back on the bike, one job at a time

 

[coffeejo]

Nifty

Mine are on the rims, next step is to put the wheels back on the bike, one job at a time

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Nifty

Mine are on the rims, next step is to put the wheels back on the bike, one job at a time

Procrastinating cat?

 

[potsy]

Procrastinating cat?

Just lazyitis

 

[Crankarm]

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.

Had you done a search you would have found this useful thread featuring SMW tyres which would have avoided 5 pages of replication.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-hope-it-snows-it-snows-and-snows-this-winter.115620/

HTH.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Had you done a search you would have found this useful post...

Thanks - I did search and read that post, and it was/is very useful

I started this thread as I wanted to know if anyone could shed any light as to whether or not Marathon Winters were a worthwhile investment for me given my commute route etc., and am grateful for the useful information and advice other CC'ers have contributed.

 

[potsy]

Wheels back on the ice bike, new triple compound brake pads put on the front too, I have been busy
Contemplating a ride to the park as a test run, there's nowhere to mount my Garmin though so there might be no evidence of the Strava segments I get kom on
Just need to put a rack on it now, took it off last year as a weight saving measure, the bike is that heavy I doubt it made much difference