Preparing for the ice age (studded tyres)

[potsy]

Can I have your hints,tips,general advice about using these please.
Am thinking of fitting mine in the next couple of weeks ready for the expected big freeze.

I have seen people mention the 'bedding in' period, how many miles and at what kind of pressures?

Cheers.

 

[ColinJ]

All that, and I'd also like to know how studded tyres perform when there isn't any ice on the roads?

 

[mcshroom]

I've got snow studs, so they drag horribly on the road, but do give me more traction in snow. Ridijg on roads without ice they are a bit noisy but won't rip themselves apart and handle ok.

On ice, the grip and confidence they give are quite astonishing; in that you can ride on surfaces you cannot stand up on.

I got mine too late to do any bedding in, but didn't have any problems and all my studs are still in place.

 

[mcshroom]

Oh, and when using them you learn to stear more and lean less in corners.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

marathon winters stipulate 50 miles on the packaging potsy. i've had mine on my cx for a while now and have done about 3 miles of bedding in. i lost one stude but it was easy to re-install. they don't feel as bad as i thought they would.

 

[potsy]

marathon winters stipulate 50 miles on the packaging potsy. i've had mine on my cx for a while now and have done about 3 miles of bedding in. i lost one stude but it was easy to re-install. they don't feel as bad as i thought they would.

50 miles? Yours should be bedded in nicely for winter 2012 then

Do you bed them in at max pressure or minimum so the studs are in full contact with the tarmac?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

50 miles? Yours should be bedded in nicely for winter 2012 then

Do you bed them in at max pressure or minimum so the studs are in full contact with the tarmac?

how the **** do i know?! i just pumped em up to pressure n rode round and round the estate.

i bet i catch you on mileage before the year end....feeling gooooood now and raring to go.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

cheeky bugger!

 

[andrew_s]

I've used Marathon Winter.
They didn't get any bedding in as such, I haven't lost any studs.
On dry road they are as a normal heavy tyre (similar to Marathon Plus?), apart from a crackling noise from the studs.

Note that studs don't give anything like as good a grip on ice as you get on dry tarmac, so care is still in order.

 

[phantasmagoriana]

I got mine too late to do any bedding in, but didn't have any problems and all my studs are still in place.

Same here - got my Snow Studs last year when the ice had already started, so no bedding in! Had them on for about 2 months through the winter, and no stud loss so far.

 

[style over speed]

this is what schwalbe say:

MARATHON WINTER
For a safer journey. You have full control on icy roads with this tyre. Even in tight bends and under violent braking everything remains under control. The spikes work best on ice when running at minimum pressure, whilst at maximum pressure the tyres can be ridden on ice-free roads with minimal road noise. In order to ensure that spikes are permanently fixed, tyres should be run in for about 40km on asphalt, while avoiding any fast acceleration or heavy braking.

I just guessed at the mid point of the pressure range for a bedding in ride, 40 km is only 25 miles. I think schwalbe are a bit optmistic that you'll get ever fast acceleration from these tyres

anyway there's some good information here about winter tyres:

My link

 

[Jezston]

ATTENTION!


I think this thread seems as good as any to bring up something I had been planning for some time.

I have a Finnish contact, and last year he helped me discuss with a retailer getting a set of these tyres shipped over:

Nokian A10
http://www.suomityres.fi/hkplstud.html

These are 32mm studded tyres - somewhat narrower than the thinnest 37mm Schwalbe tyres, and are thus capable of being fitted to many road bikes - including mine

I should also say, that even if your rims say they'll only take a 25 or 28, they'll probably take bigger - mine are only specced for 25 but I had a set of 37s running on it for a few weeks with no problem. Caveat emptor and all that.

In the end I never bought any as it had started to thaw out, but by then I had been off the bike for 3 weeks, and apparently this winter is going to be harder and longer so this year I'm going to do it.

As I'm going to be ordering them from finland, why not order a few sets?

So ...

Would anyone be interested in a group buy of Nokian A10 32mm Studded tyres?


IIRC they were somewhat cheaper than the Schwalbe's too.

 

[MacB]

Potsy, for bedding in just whack them on and ride them like a regular tyre at about 70psi for a couple of weeks, you may lose the odd stud but the Winters have so many it doesn't matter. After that it really depends on your setup and whether you mind swapping about tyres etc. I just left mine on for the whole Winter and lowered the pressure when we had proper snow. The rest of the time I just treat them like a regular tyre that gives protection against a sudden off on black ice.

Speedwise at 70psi I found they were within about 1mph of an M+ 700x35 tyre, I get between 13-15mph as an average over a 20 mile run with them. Run softer in snow and lots of ice then it's a lot slower, but so is anything else.

 

[potsy]

Cheers guys, some good advice there.

MacB I'll probably do the same as you and stick them on all winter, pump them up according to conditions and use my other bike on the better days.

Jez- The Marathons come in 35's not 37's but the point is still valid re the narrower tyres, I would suggest starting a new thread about a bulk buy though, lot of people won't bother looking in here that may be interested in the 32's

 

[fossyant]

Snow studs here for last two years. On the mtb as I use the TPT when icy. They are slow on road, but that's coming from riding 23mm. No bedding in here. Had to drive to the couriers depot as the vans were snowed in. Some poor lass was in and out of vans finding folks parcels.