Winter tyres

[Mussels]

It's getting near that time of year again and I'm looking for some decent winter tyres, something that won't put my on my backside as often as happened last winter. That means it either needs studs or some amazing technology that I haven't seen before, knobblies are not good enough.
Should be easy right? I thought that last year when I got Schwalbe Snow Stud tyres, after all the tungsten carbide studs are so strong that the tyre will wear out first. Utter rubbish, the studs rounded off and recessed into the rubber of the tyre so they barely contacted the road, they probably work well on car tyres as cars are heavy but they didn't have much mileage for me and were well worn by the end of winter.

So now I'm on the lookout again and I'll Google it in a bit but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a great tyre that can hold the road in snow and ice AND cope with riding on a normal tarmac surface. It's not easy changing the rear tyre with a hub motor so it has to stay on for 2 -3 months.

Any ideas?

 

[z0mb13e]

I have seen bike snowchains before.

Can't comment on their performance though...

Bike Tire Chains

Edit: Can't comment on their performance on tarmac etc, they seemed to work a treat in snow!

 

[Barnowl]

I'm mostly going with car tyres this year.

Perfect biking tyres for the winter in the UK is a bit of a tall order given how fast the weather changes. It never stays on the road long and then it's tarmac slush and black ice with good spinkling of salt and grit and numb fingers for good measure.

I thought London was relatively unaffected anyway.

 

[AndyOfTheSouth]

Hi Mussels. I had a quick google around the idea of snow socks for bikes. These would be fabric rather than metal and are used as an alternative for chains for cars.

I couldn't find any but did chance on this page:

Studded Tires- BikeTiresDirect.com

One of the options was for replaceable studs. Could these be screwed in or out as conditions demanded?

 

[andyh2]

Here's a helpful article from someone over the Atlantic selling them;

Studded Bicycle Tires

There's some feedback on some winter tyres on the Cycle Touring Club forum here;

CTC Forum • View topic - Schwalbe Marathon Winter Tyres

 

[Barnowl]

Interesting link. Are carbide studs really that hard wearing?:


Q: Most days in winter there's no ice on the roads. Should I swap out the studded tires for regular tires when I know there won't be ice? Won't my studs last longer if I don't ride them on clear pavement?

A: No. You should put the studded tires on in the late fall and leave them on all winter. If the studs were made of steel, you would need to be concerned about wear. But the tires I sell do not have steel studs. Our carbide studs last as long as the rubber tire itself, so there's no need to worry about stud wear.

 

[Mussels]

Interesting link. Are carbide studs really that hard wearing?:


Q: Most days in winter there's no ice on the roads. Should I swap out the studded tires for regular tires when I know there won't be ice? Won't my studs last longer if I don't ride them on clear pavement?

A: No. You should put the studded tires on in the late fall and leave them on all winter. If the studs were made of steel, you would need to be concerned about wear. But the tires I sell do not have steel studs. Our carbide studs last as long as the rubber tire itself, so there's no need to worry about stud wear.

I don't know how long Wiggle had my tyres in stock last year but Schwalbe had switched to carbide by then and I found that they had rounded off and recessed into the rubber, I've got the less worn one at home still so I'll have a look tonight and check if it had steel studs. I wasn't very impressed by the wear though. The idea of the studs being raised off the road at full pressure must have been designed for someone much lighter than me!
I've looked through the links and as Nokian seem unavailable in the UK in 26" it looks like I'll be trying Marathon winters this year, pricey but worth it on a frosty morning.
I see that Continental make a range of studded tyre but there's no mention of them on the website which makes things difficult.

The tyre chains look to be unsuitable for icy roads but they are a good idea.

 

[z0mb13e]

Continentals from these guys...

Mountain Bike Tyres and rims: wide rims, snow tyres, stud tyres, spike tyres, ice tyres, winter tyres.

Echo rim looks interesting... ECHO SNOW READY SUPER WIDE RIM

Studded tyres and chains all wear fast when used on snowless roads as we discovered in France...

Edit: forgot to say they aren't cheap!

 

[Barnowl]

Also non-studded Conti - The Top Contact Winter contains sharp granules in the rubber compound, thus aiding grip in wet and snowy conditions. I get the impression they're not as good as studded in the heavy stuff though.

 

[Mussels]

Continentals from these guys...

Mountain Bike Tyres and rims: wide rims, snow tyres, stud tyres, spike tyres, ice tyres, winter tyres.

Echo rim looks interesting... ECHO SNOW READY SUPER WIDE RIM

Studded tyres and chains all wear fast when used on snowless roads as we discovered in France...

Edit: forgot to say they aren't cheap!

The continentals still have no info and I can't see the entire range a once to see what application each is for, other manufacturers make it fairly clear.
The rims seem to be for running very low pressure on powdery snow, I see very little of that here so it's not worth spending money on for me.

Also non-studded Conti - The Top Contact Winter contains sharp granules in the rubber compound, thus aiding grip in wet and snowy conditions. I get the impression they're not as good as studded in the heavy stuff though.

That's different and may be just the ticket, there's not much in the way of reviews but I see they have used it in car tyres for a while so I guess it's reliable and the sharp bits don't fall out.

 

[Barnowl]

The only one I found was this one. Given it's from Norway I guess it's not too bad a review.

Review Continental Top Contact Winter | Chain Reaction Cycles Reviews

PS I notice elsewhere that Aldby wasn't much impressed with the non winter version Top Contact compared to the Marathon Plus.

 

[Mussels]

The only one I found was this one. Given it's from Norway I guess it's not too bad a review.

Review Continental Top Contact Winter | Chain Reaction Cycles Reviews

PS I notice elsewhere that Aldby wasn't much impressed with the non winter version Top Contact compared to the Marathon Plus.

After last years snow stud tyre anything will feel good to ride on.

 

[FatMog]

I'd be surprised if carbide studs didn't last, but i guess there's different qualities available. When I rode my horse on tarmac a lot I used to have him shod with a couple of road nails in each hind foot to stop him slipping, and these have a carbide core. He weighs well over half a tonne was shod every 6 weeks and never came close to wearing out a road nail - took over 5mm off the toe of each mild steel shoe in that time though!

 

[Mussels]

Also non-studded Conti - The Top Contact Winter contains sharp granules in the rubber compound, thus aiding grip in wet and snowy conditions. I get the impression they're not as good as studded in the heavy stuff though.

I have now received a pair of these and fitted them last night. The sharp bits or 'micro studs' as it says on the side aren't visible but the rubber feels much more sticky than a normal tyre when I run my fingers over it, the tread is different and they gave me much more confidence on the greasy roads this morning than my old tyres did. The ride is much better than studded knobbly tyres but not quite as good a Big Apples on a dry road, I'm pleased with that.
I don't know how well they will do on frost and ice so I'll update this when that starts next month.

If you get some don't mistake the micro studs for shards of glass stuck in it and dig them out, like I just have.