Schwalbe Marathon Winters

[SamoBamo]

My new tyres are amazing.

Bought the 26x1.75 version from Germany a month ago http://www.actionsports.de/ excellent service and weak Euro (£50 for the pair including p&p).

Decided on the Marathons rather than Snow Spikers because I thought they were overkill.

Have ridden them on my 12 mile commute for the last 4 weeks and overall very good. When it's dry they chatter a lot but rolling resistance isn't bad if they're pumped up to 80psi.

When it's icy or snowing they are incredible! London streets have been treacherous for the past week but with these suckers on I can go anywhere at 40psi. I was cycling round town on Saturday when we had a blizzard - peds and motons looking on like I was superman.

The only down side is in deep rutted slushy snow where they struggle a bit but any tyre would so I can't count that against them.

Overall I'd give them 9 out of 10

 

[mercurykev]

I've been using them for the past month and would agree that they are very good. I've ridden across sheet ice that I couldn't even walk across and they never faltered. The only surface that causes slips is deep slush but that is a problem for any tyre.

 

[summerdays]

I've only just fitted mine (yeah I'm lazy as I ordered them last Feb), but they are fantastic... I have walked and cycled down my road today ... cycled ... wheel slide slightly once ..... walked and I almost fell over several times. I felt safer cycling rather than walking.

 

[rusky]

I really wish I had got some when they were in stock.

 

[BSRU]

100% agree, I would not have the confidence/ability to keep riding in these conditions without them, plus now I have invested in them I need to use them.

The noise they make is very reassuring.

 

[adds21]

I'll echo others too, and say they're excellent on ice. They're not quite as good on deepish snow, but that's only to be expected. I bought them mostly for frosty morning commutes, and they're excellent for that.

The roads this morning were especially bad. It's stopped snowing here, but all the country lanes have been compacted into solid ice. Several of my neighours were unable to move their cars in the right direction this morning, but I just sailed past on my Winters! - Had it not been for them I'm prettty sure I wouldn't have made it into the office today.

The only problem is they do tend to give a feeling of over confidence... as I discovered on Saturday after finding myself unexpectedly lying in a hedge. Mind you, that really was my fault, not the tyres!

 

[Amheirchion]

I've a pair of Schwalbe Snow Studs, and will echo the call of feeling safer on the bike than walking.

 

[BSRU]

I've a pair of Schwalbe Snow Studs, and will echo the call of feeling safer on the bike than walking.

I have YakTraks which means walking on ice is no problem either, I wear them as I thought of the times I need to put my foot down at traffic lights and junctions, thinking if my foot slipped it might be a little painful.

 

[400bhp]

Question for people:

Can these tyres be used all year round? I am thinking of getting some for my beater commuter bike (the one I use in crap weather-rain etc).

 

[adds21]

Question for people:

Can these tyres be used all year round? I am thinking of getting some for my beater commuter bike (the one I use in crap weather-rain etc).

I can't see any reason why not, although you probably wouldn't want to. They're quite heavy, and also quite noisy on clear roads.

I'm lucky in that I've got a couple of bikes, so although the Winters are currently on my hybrid, I'll take my road bike if the roads aren't icy. Even with that luxury though, I'll still swap the Winters back to standard Marathons come the spring.

 

[BSRU]

There is no reason you cannot use them all year but I would rather use my normal tyres, M+'s, for rain/wet roads, in fact when the daylight lasts longer I will use my semi-slicks as they even better in the rain.

 

[fossyant]

I'll be swapping the Snow studs off the MTB for trail tyres once the ice goes (about May at this rate)......2012

 

[GrasB]

You could but I wouldn't, they're not exactly cheap & by the looks of things the rubber tread life is going to limit the durability of the tyres not the studs. Mine sit on a set of Halo Freedom disc 29er rims (which I had from a previous bike) & I swap between the Durano Plus (on the boardman supplied wheels) as needed. It also means I can have a nice tight 11-21 cassette for the slicks (52.5"-128.5") & a 13-25 cassette for the spikes (45.5"-113").

 

[tincaman]

Anyone have any studs mising yet, I have one missing front and back?

 

[MacB]

Anyone have any studs mising yet, I have one missing front and back?

yep, lost a couple last Winter but the tyres can lose quite a few before they lose functionality.