delbiker1 

I have a Schwinn Supersport DBX, 700c tires, mechanical disc brakes and am looking for winter tires. I live in the mid Atlantic coastal area, Bethany Beach, DE. We do get snow but average not that much. We do have alot of rain/sleet, wind, blowing sand. My bike is set up for commuting/light touring. I presently have Vittoria 32mm zaffiro pro's mounted on the bike. The rear still has clearance of 3/4 inches on each side of seat stays, 1/2 inch at side of chain stays and 1/2 inch at each triangle of stays and seat tube. The front tires have clearance of 3/4 inch at top of fork and 3/8 inch on the sides. Any suggestions for brand, type and width would be appreciated.

joejack951

Hey, another DE cyclist!

For sleet/ice, you can't beat a studded tire. I have some studded Nokian Mount & Ground tires that I used for commuting year round. At 1.9" wide they wren't great for deep snow but I never had issues on ice. Traffic around me was another story. In your case, it sounds like a 40mm tire ought to fit without issue while leaving clearance for the inevitable rocks, etc. that might get kicked up by the tires.

It was many years ago but I am fairly certain I bought the tire through Peter White Cycles: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.php

There are likely many more choices in retailers these days but Peter was very friendly and helped me decide on a tire that served me very well.

Andrew R Stewart 

While I agree with the width advice I disagree with the use of a metal studded tire on otherwise wet pavement. Only is the pavement supports ice (it's freezing too, ground takes a lot more cold to freeze then the precip does, the precip will just melt as it contacts the non freezing pavement) will the studs be greater traction. On wet pavement the studs will reduce traction, sometimes by a lot more then events want. Andy

alias5000

You have to go pretty wild to run into those things.
When you say 'studded tire', the first things I think of is: 'no fun, because super slow' and 'pretty pricey'. There obviously is a trade-off between running or not running studded tires in potentially icy conditions. For Canadian winters, I am running studs now. For Germany winters, I never have and probably wouldn't. On those days, I usually used some form of Marathons or similar. One rugged level out would be tires with more tread and into the cyclocross/MTB world. Snow and slush does not require studs.
So as Andy said, studs might be overkill, if your primary concern is a wet, but not very icy winter. A bit more tread for snow days, maybe some additional puncture protection could be a good start.
If you want more than that, a lot of people here usually also mention Continental top contact Winter tires. They're not studs, but soft rubber and lots of grip apparently. The next step is probably studs.

canklecat

I like Michelin Protek tires for all weather use, even light snow. I wouldn't ride on icy roads with any tires. I don't even drive on icy roads or leave the house. Texans don't know how to drive on ice so it's dangerous to get within 100 yards of any icy road.

But I just switched one hybrid from the excellent Continental Speed Rides to Conti Sport Contact II (now the Contact Speed), mostly because the Speed Rides were too wide for my fenders and the Sport Contact II was available on sale cheap in 700x32 (about $10-$11 each via a recent Nashbar sale). We've had an unusual amount of rain here recently and the Sport Contact II have been fine on wet roads. Unlike the previous version of the Sport Contact, version 2 (and Contact Speed) has a slightly pebbly texture across the tread and sidewalls. Seems to grip well. No idea about wear, only had 'em on for a couple of weeks. But the slightly textured file pattern Speed Rides wore remarkably well for two years.

The Sport Contact II is a little harsher ride than the Speed Ride, but they're very different tires. The Speed Ride was a wider version of Conti's Cyclocross Speed tire, with a very flexible sidewall and pliable tread that could be ridden at low pressures without pinch flats yet still feel fast on pavement -- very cushy, comfortable ride, yet not sluggish. The Sport Contact II is a city/commuting pavement tire, with much thicker tread and more rigid sidewalls. At around 65 psi it feels a bit more like a road bike tire but with better grip than my road bike tires (I've used Zaffiros, Schwalbe One V-Guards and Conti Ultra Sport II slicks on the road bike).

joejack951

Is this personal experience with studs on wet pavement? My experience has been that studded tires, if any worse than standard knobbies, aren't that much worse in the wet. But they are *infinitely* better on ice, ice which is sometimes mixed in with wet pavement, or ice that forms while you are at work during the day. As such, I rode many miles on both dry and wet pavement with studded tires when there was a chance I'd need them. Studded tires also work far better on really packed snow than do plain old knobbies, and again, infinitely better than slicks. Given the choice, I'm going to run my studded tires unless the chance of slippery pavement is quite low.

rumrunn6

fwiw, I can see going to a different tread pattern but I wouldn't go wider

fietsbob

for your convenience, I used this retail online site
and sorted for 700c studded tires .. Link

I Have Suomi Nokian tires , but mine are 26'', It does not ice up, here,
for long ,

so mine are still great 25+ years later.. it is a hard durometer rubber,
so never lost a stud..





....

Andrew R Stewart 

I'll admit that my personal experience with metal studded tires is only on a number of repair bikes at work. I have had wet conditions sliding a couple of times but then I was looking for it and was trying to see how easy it was to induce. Too easy for my tastes, on wet pavement. I will note that the OP didn't mention ice in his post, some snow and much more rain/sleet. To me this isn't the climate I would have expected metal studded tires to excel in. We have to accept in slippery conditions we need to heed how we ride in general. (I think of all the single vehicle accidents that involve all wheel drive, like all wheel drive is meant to keep you on the road...) Andy

JonathanGennick 

If the OP has a stout budget, I can give a hearty recommendation to 45NRTH Gravdals. Get the 120 tpi version, because the rubber compound and suppleness matter as much as the studs. These are hands-down my current favorite winter tire for commuting and general riding.

FWIW, I agree in broad terms w/Andy on the issue of reduced traction on pavement. Some of my tires with high stud counts will skid easily. The Gravdals have some grip though.

Marcus_Ti

Good news for us cheapos out there...Amazon has 700x40 Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires for $50USD each....which is half the cost of some road racing slicks.

rumrunn6

I have those. they're beefy. I got them for mixed surfaces. if I were commuting I'd stick w the 35mm version which would be easier to fit w fenders







they keep me upright even riding thru water over ice



remember to mount them in the correct direction!



sizzling bacon