Got my Nokian A10 700x32 tyres on Friday which I'd ordered from the USA on eBay. Someone wanted me to let them know how they were; I cant remember the thread so Im starting a new one.
Firstly they ended up being a bit expensive. The basic price worked out at about 30 each once converted into pounds ; not too bad. But on top of that was £22 postage which seemed ok as I dont think they can be sourced easily in the UK. However the sting in the tail was the £20 import duty which I hadnt realised.
They are nice tyres though! I would describe the tread as a deep touring tread -- you can find the pictures through google. These boys have 72 studs and are designed for low resistance relatively speaking as a studded tyre.
I had gone for thin tyres as I was planning to put them on my spesh sirrus with mudguards. In the end though my wife let me put them on her ridgeback hybrid. This comes with 37mm tyres and so there is plenty of clearance for these 32mm jobs. The rims are alex ace-18 although I think they are actually 16.5mm wide at the narrow point where the tyres 'hook' in as can be seen on the Alex website, so I think that means they are really 16.5.
They were fairly easy to fit although there was a slight tendency for them to slide off one side as they were being levered onto the other. Fixing punctures on the road will be more difficult than fixing the 28mm slicks on my sirrus which is a breeze, and thats before you take the weather into account. Perhaps the tyre become more supple with time, making this easier.
Maybe I should have gone for the 40mm versions as there is enough clearance on the hybrid, and as I said it did come with 37mm ones, so not much wider than that (but would they have fit easily on the rims??). That said they are a bit more square at the bottom than the 37mm ones, so probably have a similar level of contact when going straight. Anyway at least I have the flexibility to put them on this sirrus e.g. if the wife changes her mind!
I took them on a 5 mile spin (to the supermarket and back). Back was at 60psi and front 50. I weight about 80kg and the bike must be around 15kg. On the main roads, where the snow has been mostly cleared by traffic I do find the rolling resistance to be not too bad at all. I took a side road which is a bit of a rat run and which had thin layer of hard packed snow and the studs and tread came into good effect. I did take it easy though. Pretty sure I would have wiped out on my slicks here and probably even knobblies. Finally coming back to my house I hit a little-used side road which had a couple of inches of snow at about 10-12mph. I could feel the wheels were loosing traction but managed to hold it by just freewheeling until I got down to about 5-6mph at which I felt comforable to continue -- if I did lose it at this speed I would be able to control a crash.
So overall I think they are a good tire for a London commuter. 95+% of the time Im on main roads which are fairly clear and I want the low resistance. They have enough traction on ice/hard pack that Im unlikely to wipe out. Loose snow is an issue but thats something thats unlikely to creep up on you and they degrade gradually.
In summary (not summery!!) Im pretty pleased although with hindsight I could have got hold of Schwalbe Marthon Winters a bit cheaper and I suspecty would have done just as good a job.
Firstly they ended up being a bit expensive. The basic price worked out at about 30 each once converted into pounds ; not too bad. But on top of that was £22 postage which seemed ok as I dont think they can be sourced easily in the UK. However the sting in the tail was the £20 import duty which I hadnt realised.
They are nice tyres though! I would describe the tread as a deep touring tread -- you can find the pictures through google. These boys have 72 studs and are designed for low resistance relatively speaking as a studded tyre.
I had gone for thin tyres as I was planning to put them on my spesh sirrus with mudguards. In the end though my wife let me put them on her ridgeback hybrid. This comes with 37mm tyres and so there is plenty of clearance for these 32mm jobs. The rims are alex ace-18 although I think they are actually 16.5mm wide at the narrow point where the tyres 'hook' in as can be seen on the Alex website, so I think that means they are really 16.5.
They were fairly easy to fit although there was a slight tendency for them to slide off one side as they were being levered onto the other. Fixing punctures on the road will be more difficult than fixing the 28mm slicks on my sirrus which is a breeze, and thats before you take the weather into account. Perhaps the tyre become more supple with time, making this easier.
Maybe I should have gone for the 40mm versions as there is enough clearance on the hybrid, and as I said it did come with 37mm ones, so not much wider than that (but would they have fit easily on the rims??). That said they are a bit more square at the bottom than the 37mm ones, so probably have a similar level of contact when going straight. Anyway at least I have the flexibility to put them on this sirrus e.g. if the wife changes her mind!
I took them on a 5 mile spin (to the supermarket and back). Back was at 60psi and front 50. I weight about 80kg and the bike must be around 15kg. On the main roads, where the snow has been mostly cleared by traffic I do find the rolling resistance to be not too bad at all. I took a side road which is a bit of a rat run and which had thin layer of hard packed snow and the studs and tread came into good effect. I did take it easy though. Pretty sure I would have wiped out on my slicks here and probably even knobblies. Finally coming back to my house I hit a little-used side road which had a couple of inches of snow at about 10-12mph. I could feel the wheels were loosing traction but managed to hold it by just freewheeling until I got down to about 5-6mph at which I felt comforable to continue -- if I did lose it at this speed I would be able to control a crash.
So overall I think they are a good tire for a London commuter. 95+% of the time Im on main roads which are fairly clear and I want the low resistance. They have enough traction on ice/hard pack that Im unlikely to wipe out. Loose snow is an issue but thats something thats unlikely to creep up on you and they degrade gradually.
In summary (not summery!!) Im pretty pleased although with hindsight I could have got hold of Schwalbe Marthon Winters a bit cheaper and I suspecty would have done just as good a job.
