Robert C

It seemed a good idea to order them before I, and everyone else, needed them. I read some reviews and the Schwalbe Studded tyres seemed to be well recommended.

There don't really seem to be many choices in the 700x35 that my bike came with. Of course it will be a few months before I get around to adding any sort of a review. I am little concerned that they will clear the fenders; but there seems to be plenty of clearance. Here's to hoping for a slip free winter.

wipekitty

Mine just arrived last week: I went with a pair of Nokian Suomi Extreme tires. I got them on Ebay - only a few miles on them, and they arrived in gorgeous condition with all their studs.

When does the snow start? I'm ready!

Motolegs

LOL, I got the same feeling when the Nokian Mount and Grounds were delivered here. Can't wait to try 'em out.

dwinks

Those are the low-end/budget version of the Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires. You can see the empty holes where many more studs would be located in the regular version.

That said, I have the regular version, in 26x1.75", and with 2 or 3x more studs than that budget version, it's better than slicks, but still not like riding in summer. I usually ride my Conti Winter II Premiums, at 26x2.1" and rather low PSI because they work MUCH MUCH better on everything other than hard, smooth, solid ice.

The Schwalbes fail miserably in the snow, as they don't have the best tread pattern for snow, and studs do nothing on anything other than hard ice. The Schwalbes are also WAY slower than my Conti Winter tires.

The biggest issue I'm running into during winter is deep snow/slush. What happens with my current tires is I'll ride up on top of slush/snow briefly, then I'll suddenly sink down losing all control. My wide tires don't provide enough float to stay on top, and are too wide to cut through to pavement. I think I might try out some 700x32 cross tires this winter, and see if they're any better.

That said, I can't recommend the Conti Winter II tires enough. On everything short of slick solid ice, they're significantly faster and more comfortable than my Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires. The Conti tires work great on hard-pack snow, fresh snow under about 3" deep, and slush as long as it's also not too deep/solid, which is 95% of the winter conditions I run into around here.

xuwol7

OP, while Schwalbe makes great tires, the ones you ordered do not have the studs on the outer portion of the tire.
You need to be careful when turning on ice as there are no studs to "grab" the ice and with studs only in the middle your tires will easily slip out on you.
I am running the Nokian W106 and they are great, If it were me I would cancel the order (if possible) and order studded tires with outer studs.
Good studded tires are an investment and will last you many years, so buy once and get the best IMO.

As far as all the hyperbole about studded tires being slower etc., of course they are going to be slow, very slow as winter cycling in general is slow.
The good thing is that after commuting all winter, come spring you are going to be in great shape and really fly on your non-winter bike.

This site is a great resource for winter riding:

SlowerInWinter

scoatw

smart move on ordering the tires now. September and October are the time to order snow studs. Usually they are sold out in Dec and Jan. At least from my experience.
I have no experience with the Schwalbe winter tire. I have a spare wheelset with a pair of Nokian Extreme 294's mounted to them. 2.2 wide. They get me thru anything that Mother Nature throws at me. From glare ice to 6" to 8" of snow. I've had them for seven years now and expect to get who knows how many more out of them. Good tire.

Leebo

I like my nokian hakkapalita in 700 x 35mm. Yes, like riding in wet tar, but keeps my but off the pavement. For tougher winter conditions, I use the nokian mount & grounds in 26x1.95 on the rockhopper. 45 north makes some in 700x 38 or so.

rumrunn6

loved my marathon winters (w more studs) in my area I definitely needed the studs. almost wiped out on black ice and after that - I bought the studded tires

mox

I have a set of Marathons on my winter bike, and as was said earlier, they aren't much use is deep snow. On ice, however, they're fantastic. When I was in high school I hit a patch of ice and fell in front of a van, which nearly ran me over. When I started riding again last year I was very nervous about that happening again, but with the Marathons, you have virtually the same traction on ice as dry pavement.

Bike Gremlin

That particular Schwalbe model is for ice and hard packed snow. In those conditions it is very good. They also roll OK on stretches of road without snow. They are not the best choice for soft snow.

El Cid

After reading this thread, I did a bit of research. A common complaint about Schwalbe tires in general is stud loss -- at least a few reviews said the stud loss is excessive (although it does happen with all tires), especially for such an expensive tire. Comparatively, Nokian Gaza Extreme and Hakkapalita were favourites of veteran mountain bikers in almost any forum or any product review I could find.

Another thing I found is that all the really good winter tires are 26" -- every friggin' one! I did find that the Nokian Gaza Extreme can be found as a 29er, but with the same number of studs as the 26" version. Based on product reviews of various 45 Degrees North tires, I'm expecting the Nicotine tire to be just as good as the Nokian tires, possibly the best in the market for 29" tires. Trouble is, the website says that they're compatible with rims up to 40mm. My Krampus comes with 50mm rims, and I'm going to be really bummed if I have to buy smaller rims to go with my winter tires. Might be my only choice though; I don't have clearance for a real fat tire.

gecho

I've currently have 3 different size of studded tires to choose from. Its nice that this season there will actually be 2 different 5" studded fat bike tires on the market, I had to grip stud my own.

I lost 2 studs on my Marathon Winters the first year and no more since. The studs have held up very well even with a lot of bare pavement riding early and late season when there might be ice.

BigRedClydesdal

I have my tires ready to go. Just need to add some ice!

Maxillius

Am I the only one here that would put my nice new winter tires on ratty old wheels and store my nice summer wheels with the warm weather tires so they're not manked up by snow and salt?

rumrunn6

can you at least clean them well and then apply a protectant or polish, to at least give them a shot at looking decent?

dscheidt

I recommend adding a wheel, a tube, and some air, too. Possibly a bike, but that might be too crazy a suggestion.

noglider 

Why am I feeling envious of you folks in serious winter country?

GravelMN

I've got some inexpensive, entry level wheels with a narrow range cassette that I keep my winter tires on. My good wheels don't come out until spring training. I have Schwalbe Marathon Winters and haven't lost any studs after the first full winter of use.

Blues Frog

Ordered my Winter Marathons today. 240 studs. I feel better already, though lighter in the wallet.

BigRedClydesdal

Well I went nuts, got a bike and doubled up on wheels and tubes. Air is crazy cheap so I got as much as I needed.

Leebo

I have 2 dedicated winter commuter bikes, I just leave the studded tires on them all year. Here in MA, LOTS of sand and salt are used all over the roads. Can get very messy. The good bikes stay in the garage or on the mt bike trails.

Daniel4

Picked up a pair of knobby tires from a guy who owns an independent bike shop. You can't find a lot of choices for 27in x 1 1/4in anymore. That size has been discontinued for 25years.

Mine aren't studded but I hear the studs might even be a detriment if the roads are cleared of snow and you're riding on clean asphalt.

rumrunn6

sounds great! got pics?

studs are good for black ice so watch for melting snow and refreezing. also watch for freezing fog which is another condition we get up here that creates a surprise glaze

dscheidt

Studs marginally reduce traction on bare asphalt, and of course, they add a fair amount of drag. The problem is that I rarely ride on roads that are bare. The vast majority might be -- 95%, even, a day or two after a storm -- but there is always a stretch that has something on it, and it's often an unexpected bit of ice. it's hard to see this stuff when it's dark, and I do lots of riding in the dark during winter, because it's always dark.