Steely Dan

thanks.

that tread looks a lot more aggressive than the marathon winter's.

if/when my marathon winters wear out, i'll keep the W240's in mind.

Jazzba

Last year I did ride the Fat-Bike all winter as my other bike was "down".
I think I had maybe two "hard landings" because of ice,
several "out of control " front wheel wobbles that took some strong arming ,
maybe four or five "one foot landings" requiring walking the bike ten feet to a new area
and one walk up the hill because of " tracktionless " slush.

chas58

The W106 has 106 studs. You can run high pressure to stay off the studs, or low pressure to stay on the studs. Its a better tire for commuting than the W240 (240 studs). Either one does great in deep snow (see pictures in first post above)

chas58

Good point. I have hit the ground enough times commuting, when I hit an icy patch, that I'm doing studs if the morning temperature is below 34 degrees.

Steely Dan

when i need studs, i want a crapload of them. the more the merrier as far as i'm concerned.

when i don't need studs, i simply ride one of my other bikes.

chas58

Like said above, the W106 is a great compromise for commuting. great in deep snow, and not too many studs.

My local shop has demo days and/or rents out fat bikes - they are fun to play on! It did amaze me how I could not ride far through deep snow on anything much above than 3" tires, but anything below 3" was a pain on the trails. It depends on the conditions. Fat bikes really need groomed trails in the winter if the snow is deep, studded tires can sometimes do better on ungroomed trails - especially if there are icy patches hiding under a layer of snow.

chas58

Its those inbetween days, warm during the day, cold at night, that always bite me...

Jazzba

One thing I learned is to "scan" the route ahead while concentrating on the "immediate" ten feet .
Different conditions require it's own "cadence" with sudden bursts of power to overcome the "slush ridge" or the patch of " untouched " deeper snow"

unterhausen

we have a lot of ice here, and I finally realized that just having studs wasn't enough, because icy ruts make a 2" tire feel pretty sketchy. I usually ride my fatbike under those conditions, I have studded tires on that too.

mcours2006

My commute was all good this morning--cleared, dry roads; few patches of packed snow/ice, but nothing studs couldn't handle. Then I turned down a side street near my work. It looked like the whole street hadn't been plowed at all, so packed down ice and snow, with many, many ruts. I went slow and didn't have any incident. I'm thankful I had the studs. Can't imagine riding down this street without them.

fietsbob

I've been running these, on my go To winter Bike , for 20+ years.. if you have icy patches and bare pavement

because no down the center studs on-the pavement traction is fine,

dont concern your self about trying to pump them up hard to not have the studs contact while you ride

they're tungsten steel like Car tire studs so dont wear down, and really dont protrude that far .

its not like Ice racing motor cycle tires..

JonathanGennick 

Cool photo! My neighbor races motorbikes on ice. His studs are wicked, they are only ever on the one side of the tire, and he wraps his tires -- the studs are never allowed to touch anything but the ice. No pavement. Ever.

chas58

Yeah, I race cars on lake Huron - some of the guys in the studded category have studds like that. Kind of takes the fun out of ice racing in my opinion.

Then again, when racing on the great lakes, there is nothing to hit for miles if you slide "off course"

JonathanGennick 

Only some of the racers? Do the others run with more road-like studded tires?

chas58

competition classes are broken down by tire type.
All

• season tires
• Snow tires ("studdless tires do surprisingly well)
• tires with studs.

Further subdivided by FWD, RWD, AWD.

Most people don't race on studded (or spiked) tires because you can't drive them on the road in Michigan.

Dan Burkhart 

Tenderizes your roadkill before you haul it home.

fietsbob

YT videos of Scandinavian and Russian Speedway Ice Track racing, I think they corner faster on Ice
with spike studs like that ,
Than they do on the same 400M track when its thawed dirt..
Its a 800M 2 lap sprint .. 500cc Singles , No Brakes. just the throttle .



Viking Spirit!

irwin7638

I've been using the W106 for several years and love them. They roll pretty quickly at 70 lbs of pressure and the studs are there to help with the slightest turn or maneuver.

Marc

heywood

I got a pair of the Schwalbe stud tires last week, just in time for the storms.. I've taken them out for a few tests and find them great on ice or hard packed snow..i'd only go a few inches with the snow since like any tire they start to 'bog' down..They do cut through fresh fallen snow better than i assume the 'fat' tires would. I haven't been able to bike commute on them yet since we've had temps below my 'cut-off' level and nasty winds..as soon as it lets up i'm anxious so see how they'll do on my 20km commute.. Rolling resistance is a bit of an issue but you soon get used to that. In the winter i always expect to have to get off sometimes and push, on the plus side it's way easier than pushing a car.

chandltp

Personally, I have one of each. If it's hard pack or icy, I ride the bike with studs. If we're expecting (or just got) 6-12" of snow, I know the roads I'm riding aren't going to be cleared and I ride my fat bike. I'll never get down to the ice in those conditions. Sometimes I ride the wrong one, but I'm getting pretty good at choosing.

When I rode on main roads in the right hand tire track, the studs were fine. But honestly, I like taking my fat bike on the back roads (where I rarely see a car) and dealing with unplowed roads. It's just more relaxing for me.

mcours2006

I made two attempts last week during that storm we had. Failed both times. Past two days, though, worked like a charm. Roads are more or less cleared, but still stretches of ice and packed snow, especially sections or road near open areas where the wind blows.

alathIN

My commute is mostly on a greenway, which gets cleared of any deep stuff. So the usual Winter condition is 70% clear, with patches of packed snow and ice.
I have a plus bike ("almost fat" - 3" tires) and while it's good in the fluffy stuff, it's scary on ice or packed snow.
My commuter/tourer road bike with 36cm Conti Nordic Spikes is working out great for me so far (this is my first Winter commuting).

Kawriverrat

I have 2" Marathon Winters on my 29 we got ice & 2" of dry fluffy snow. First season running them on my one way 10 mile commute. So far Ilike them alot. Ive been impressed with how well they roll on dry pavement. Not experienced the issues some speek of in the 3" - 4" snow but have been unable to ride in that depth of snow for any distance yet.

Biggest negative that I've noticed is trying to maintain my regular cruising speed on dry pavement. It's then that I notice the weight & overall resistance of these tires. However I believe this is to be expected.

PaulRivers

Lol that's definitely different than my experience. 6-7" of snow, only a fat bike has worked for me, skinnier studded tires just slide around.

Fat bikes float around on top of snow a lot more, but they're fat enough that if you change how you handle the bike it's fine. Skinnier studded tires will cut through the snow if it's newer snow and not to thick. The worst were 2" tires - to wide to cut through, to skinny to stay on top of the snow.

PaulRivers

I know the 45nrth Gravdal is the "new hotness" for a little slower but grippier tire:


Haven't seen anyone compared them to the 240's directly. Compared to the Schwalbe Marathon's they're apparently slower, but grippier and more stable handling on ice and ruts.