Good Winter Tyre
- Thread starter Liamjc90
- Start date
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andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
The Schwalbe Marathon Winter is a studded tyre that will allow you to stay upright on ice, provided you ride reasonably carefully. On snow, it's no more than average. It's designed to be run all winter, and isn't too slow compared with summer tyres of an equivalent size & tread.
Studded tyres with big knobbles for snow are also available from Schwalbe & Nokian, but they are slow, and bigger than 38mm. Continental studded tyres use steel studs that wear when used on road.
Another option is the Continental Top Contact Winter II. This isn't studded, but uses a special rubber compound and tread design that gives good grip on cold ice or compacted snow, like winter car tyres (probably not so good if the ice is melting).
Winter tyres are generally best looked for on German websites such as bike-discount.de, starbike.com or rosebikes.co.uk. Don't forget to include shipping when comparing prices.
Studded tyres with big knobbles for snow are also available from Schwalbe & Nokian, but they are slow, and bigger than 38mm. Continental studded tyres use steel studs that wear when used on road.
Another option is the Continental Top Contact Winter II. This isn't studded, but uses a special rubber compound and tread design that gives good grip on cold ice or compacted snow, like winter car tyres (probably not so good if the ice is melting).
Winter tyres are generally best looked for on German websites such as bike-discount.de, starbike.com or rosebikes.co.uk. Don't forget to include shipping when comparing prices.
MrJamie
Oaf on a Bike
I think im going to go for Marathon Plus Tour 700*40 to replace my current 700*38 Marathon Plus (normals), considerably better for the trails/mud and will hopefull avoid roadside repair. 38mm urban tread M+ were utterly useless on snow/ice compared to the same model bike with 45mm mtb knobblies. Im tempted by Marathon Winters but getting a puncture in freezing conditions isnt funny and most of my routes involve multiple glass ridden underpasses like you wouldnt believe... On Friday I went through one that someone had smashed a large glass dining table under, was like a lake of glass 
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a6413/marathon-winter-240-spikes-28-x-16-wire.html?lg=en&cr=GBP
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a6413/marathon-winter-240-spikes-28-x-16-wire.html?lg=en&cr=GBP
hoopdriver
Guru
- Location
- East Sussex
I ride all winter, although in Sussex our winters are not as severe as those in Scotland. Even so, given the hours I ride (typically 4:30am to 6:30am) I put in a lot of miles in the cold and wet and dark, conditions in which I really, really don't want to get a puncture and so for me it is Schwalbe Marathon Plusses every time for winter. And so far -knock on wood - they've a perfect record, and this is going back quite a few winters and many thousands of miles.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
And scroll down to the table which shows what tyres widths are good for each rim width.
mcshroom
Bionic Subsonic
- Location
- Egremont, Cumbria
hoopdriver
Guru
- Location
- East Sussex
You can get Marathon Plusses in 25mm if that's of interest
MrJamie
Oaf on a Bike
It's fun trying :P
A couple of years ago the cars were crawling along the roads super slowly in fresh snow and on my 3 mile round trip to Tesco i saw 2 minor car crashes, but it was just about reasonable to cycle on a mtb. It doesnt take much snow to make it really hard work especially trying to ride up hill though. Probably quite dangerous though, especially with cars shunting eachother
Supposedly some of the snow tyres are really good, but too expensive to justify trying out unless you live somewhere with plenty of snow.Lots of reading on studded tyres. If you want winter tyres, it's best to order them soon, as stock disappears quickly as the mercury starts to fall.
hoopdriver
Guru
- Location
- East Sussex
Sure, but why?
