Putting the Schwalbe Ice Spikers to the test

[Caph]

I fitted my Schwalbe Ice Spikers to my Galileo MTB yesterday and after considerable snow yesterday and an overnight freeze I decided to put them to the test today.

I tried a section of well used bridleway a third of a mile long which descends about 50m. These tyres just ate it up. The first section before the bridge is pretty even and I hit 20mph without any problems, then the second section after the bridge is rough and I got up enough courage to manage a little hop half way down.

It is amazing how confident these tyres make you feel. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny. I've included a short section at the start on clear road so you can hear just how noisy these tyres are. Get them on snow though and they're in their element.

YouTube - Galileo Schwalbe Ice Spiker Descent

(video is encoded at 480p so click the 360p and change up for best viewing)

 

[Mussels]

They look really good. I didn't get anything that extreme as we get more ice than powder here, I'm beginning to wonder if I'll regret that!

 

[Caph]

Maybe not Mussels, there is a down side to these tyres. I only reached 13mph on a clear stretch of road when I normally hit 18 mph. These tyres grip well but they seriously slow you down.

I'm lucky having two electric bikes which means I can put ice spikers on one and snow studs on the other, then I can chose the right tyres for the weather. If I only had one bike I'd probably stick with the snow studs.

The snow studs and the ice spikers actually have exactly the same studs on them it's just the snow studs only have two outer rings of studs whereas the ice spikers are a bit wider and have two additional centre rings.