Originally Posted by
tjspiel
IMHO the Marathon Winter just isn't that great in snow. Fresh, undisturbed snow isn't so bad as long as it's not too deep but honestly, 23mm slicks aren't so bad in fresh undisturbed snow either as long as they can get down to the pavement.
I'd say Kenda Klondikes, Nokian W106s and 240s are all better but what other folks have said is true. The conditions you describe is not a cakewalk for any of the other tires I mentioned either. I have a rear wheel with a Marathon Winter on it just waiting for the roads to get better because it rolls so much nicer than the 240s I have on my bike now. However the roads are so bad at the moment my speed is more limited by the conditions than the rolling resistance of the tires so I'm sticking with the 240s both front and rear.
tjspiel speaks truth.
This is the first year I've commuted on 700c x 35mm Schwalbe Winters. They aren't good in snow over 2" deep;the front tire seems to always wash out but the rear tire sticks alright. I got the Schwalbes because of thier low rolling resistance, it is fabulous but you really sacrifice rutted roads / deep snow performance. Fortunatly I have a mountain bike with 26" Nokian 294 for those days where the Schwalbe just can't cut it.
I'm planning on getting a Nokian 240 for a front tire and runnng a Schwalbe on the back next winter.