45Nrth Gravdal
 

45NRTH Gravdal
Third winter biking. Previous winters have been with the schwalbe marathon, which I thought were OK, but not great (they got the job done).

So given the age and the change in my commute situation (old = mostly trail & MUP vs new = city street & MUP) So, at the beginning of this winter I decided to upgrade and handed my marathons to a neighbor's kid who wanted to get into some winter riding. I've yet to see him ride :/. Anyways, with two versions available (120tpi - Concave Aluminum Carbide & 33tpi - Steel Carbide) I decided on the wireless/folding version (120tpi). The ease of working with wireless tires, along with the minor things I've noticed around turning & acceleration -- a result of the carbide studs and less weight -- are great. I doubt I'll ever buy wire rimmed again.

So I've been riding with these for nearly two months on a close to daily basis (I commute M-F & do some weekend runs) and they've been pretty great. There have certainly been some annoyances with the weather (bring me more snow & deep cold!!!!) but in general my take is (1) they're fatter than road tires so they will be cumbersome in any packed/frozen snow & (2) turning is ****ing great.

My road to work covers city streets, MUP & more city streets. Coming home I get the opportunity to traverse the seasonally abandoned Minnesota State Fair grounds, which has given me the chance to try to make these things fail.


In both directions I run into the same things: snow, slush, frozen ruts & ice. And in both directions I have the same feedback: They push through slush (what wouldn't?), react to ruts as any tire (BUMPBUMPBUMP) & can take on ice better than the marathons, which are the only other studded tires I've ridden extensively. Riding studs slows you down, that's just a fact, so when I'm trying to pace a fellow biker I work with, who has refused to switch from road tires, I have to put in some effort on any clear straight section, but where these babies really shine is in turning. I find I barely have to slow down at all when making a good turn due to the stud distribution.

I'll add some wear and tear pics, but I'm done writing for now

Edit: I was mistaken about which tire the OP was talking about here.

You had me until you claimed they're better on ice than the Schwalbe Marathon Winters. With only 2 rows of studs instead of 4, how could they possibly be better on ice?

If I remember my tires right, and the site backs my memory up, Schwalbe had alternating studs on two rows on each side of the tire, making the 4 rows you mention, but the Gravdals, using that same vision, actually have 6 rows. I think you're confusing the Gravdals for the Xerxes. I believe the marathons and the Gravdals both have 252 studs, but I think the "V" placement & the tread makes the difference.

I liked the marathons, like I said, but these control better.

You're right, sorry about that, I was confusing them - my apologies. The Xerces have 2 rows of studs and half the studs (about) as the marathon winter's, but the Gravdals are a totally different tire with as many or more studs.

Any thoughts on speed compared to the marathon winters? I've only personally used the marathon winters myself, my thoughts looking at them is that I would expect the marathon winters to be faster (especially at higher pressure), but the Gravdals to be better in dealing with snow and road junk. I know you wrote "Riding studs slows you down" but I would expect the Schwalbe's to slow you down less...

I want to try them out myself, but sadly, the bike I bought for winter riding doesn't accommodate a tire bigger than 35c. (Though thinking about it, 38c isn't that different than 35c...hmm...)

I think you're pretty right with your thoughts. If I recall right the marathons had a good winter speed since they had a less aggressive tread. I feel like the gravdals (I have the 120tpi concave studs version) really grip the ice, and thus road, much more and so you have to work a bit more to run your route. However, I feel the wire vs wireless rim is a noticeable weight difference, thus a theoretical increase in speed. All in all I enjoy riding these more.