Winter Cycling - Marthon Winter or Ice Speed?

getting studded snow tires. my usual commute is over road and trail. the road may or may not have been plowed by the time i leave and i have three bridges to cross (one wood) with a higher likelihood of ice. the trail is packed fine gravel access road which obviously isn't plowed.

currently running Conti Winter Contacts, without problems in up to 4" of snow so far, but figure i should have studs in the arsenal. don't want to go over 37mm, as i don't want to buy another wheelset (2 should be enough....).

pretty much narrowed it down to Schwalbe Marathon Winters ( use the touring version as a 3-season already) or Nokian Ice Speeds.

leaning toward the Marathon Winters, with more positive reviews and the Ice Speeds being a new model, but decided to check with the hive mind?

advice/experiences?

I can't even find the Ice Speed tires on the Nokian website. How did you find any information about this new tire? I can tell you that my experience with their 26" Extreme 294 tires has been excellent, but I have no experience with the 700c tires.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp


They are the replacement for 35mm W106.

559 - 26" Nokian Mount & Ground W160 are on my Icy roads bike.

If you are OK with Winter Contacts, I would not get something like Ice Speeds as the next tires, but go with something more aggressive with more studs. I have the Contacts, W106s and W240s. I find that the traction gain between W106 and Winter Contact is often too small to make it worth putting W106s on. Putting on a W240 brings more of a difference. Note that you can go into a more aggressive configuration in steps, first putting a more aggressive tire just on the front and then on both wheels. You can fill the gap in-between the tires later, if you want. Marathon Winters had some bad press here, as shedding studs without much provocation.

thanks. something to consider.

most of the locals here have never used studs, which is how i ended up with the Top Contact Winters, but i tend to over-equip....

Hi, the Winter Marathons are nice. I have one on the rear for drive. Its a 700c x 35 and rolls nicely. My front tire is a Schwalbe Snow Stud. We have very icy roads this winter and I won't go without front and rear studded tires.

By the way, my cranks are the SRAM S300 Courier GXP. I like them, mostly because I am more partial to outboard bearings.

thanks. i'm just going to get the Marathons. even if i lose some studs, it has more to start than other models i've looked at.

(i'm running FSA Gimondi's with a stock TH bottom bracket on my Nature Boy, w/ a Shimano bb waiting for "spring cleaning".)

I can speak for both the Marathon Winters and Peter White. Excellent tires and excellent service. Also, the MWs have studs running along its sides, making it better in deeper ruts than the Ice Speed.

If you will be on rutted ice roads then the MWs would be more aggressive than the W106s. I use the W106s because I'm always on good plowed but icy roads and these are lighter in weight and have all the studs in the center where I need them.

droy45-

Where are you in Coastal Maine? I live in the York area...

droy45-

Where are you in Coastal Maine? I live in the York area...
Bangor/Hampden/Winterport Areas

Posting just to say that I'm just now finishing my 50KM (or more, really) break-in of my second set of Marathon Winters -- first set was purchased 4 years ago and served me well. This latest set appears to be largely the same as my last pair, which is to say that they are very good tires. I read a lot about stud-loss on Schwalbes these last years, and my feeling is that the folks shedding outrageous amounts of studs are likely just abusing the tyres: If you bed the studs in for a while by riding easy and smooth on pavement, avoid hard braking, and avoid hard peddling across roots and rocks, the 2012 Marathon Winters shouldn't have any durability issues.

In fact, back on my last pair, I went an entire season without ripping out a single stud by braking smoothly (never skid -- on pavement, mainly) and never mashing on the peddles at starts (shift gears in such a fashion that you're always using high-RPM rather than high-torque). In subsequent seasons I did see some stud loss (maybe 15 rear / 10 front -- after 4 years), but that was mainly on account of switching to a single-gear bike (it is possible to rip-out studs if you bear down on the peddles when the rear tyre is starting off on an icy patch because it slips fast until a stud suddenly grips, which can then come out) and because I eventually stopped minding the studs and would occasionally lock the wheels at a stop and that would cost me a few studs every time.

And mind you, it was never ice that ripped out my studs, always asphalt.

thanks, i plan on breaking them in properly, but i'll likely stress them to some degree as i have three hill climbs on my commute and ride a singlespeed with 70gi.

Then you might keep in mind that if you give a good deal of extra power at the start of every down stroke, should the rear wheel come across an icy patch just as you're powering into your climb and thus experience slippage, the possibility of stud-loss exists. Not that pulling a stud is the end of the world; but the smoother the power onto the peddles, and thus to the tyres, the less chance of shedding any of that beautiful tungsten carbide.

Oh, and by the way, metal studs really don't do much at all to help with traction across wet/icy wood (found that one out the hard way, mutliple times) so do take care there. :)