I dream of moving back to Cleveland! I'm in Minnesota now, and I think we have the same winter conditions, just in different proportions. The tires are a matter of preference, but the two mentioned don't seem hugely different. Some people like thin tires to cut through the slop. I tried MB tires on a fixed gear and got bogged down because I couldn't plow through the snow with my gear ratio. A lot of people use fenders, but I put a plastic layer over my rack( which holds panniers), and I don't get too wet. I will ride a geared MB with studded tires this winter.