msyrek

Do you really feel the difference using winter tires?
What do you recommend not to overpay?

dabac

For what kind of riding?
As long as the snow is soft enough for the tires to leave an imprint, I’ve been quite happy with pretty much any knobbly tire.
For my commuter and rides featuring ice/hardpack, I’ve only used studded tires. And, given how much traffic I see, I don’t skimp on those.
Favourites are Suomityres W240. Hard wearing, plenty of studs and grippy in soft snow. Fairly high rolling resistance.
Schwalbe Marathon Winter are so-so. Good stud count, good rolling on bare ground. Poor grip on slushy snow and HUGE variation in quality. Have had to return a couple.

sweeks

What's the co-pay on a broken hip?

I've been commuting on Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires for about 15 years. They are great on ice, OK in slush and snow, a bit noisy on bare pavement. I get about 3 winters on the rear, and 4 or 5 on the front. The streets are salted here in Chicago, and the studs corrode, and the corrosion products wear through the tire carcass eventually. Tire liners extend the life of the tires.
I have Nokian Extreme 294 tires on my mountain bike. These are a bit more expensive and seem to be higher quality, but aren't available in the size I need for my commuting bike.


Inside of Marathon Winter after three winters on rear wheel



Outside of Marathon Winter after three winters on rear wheel

You can see why the tire liners would help!

Sy Reene

Who amongst this crowd has or doesn't have studded tires?

PaulH

I have 20 years (well, seasons) experience with studded tires. The Nokian W106 is the most durable, good for 5 seasons. The Schwalbe Marathon Winter is better for ruts, rolls easier on both bare pavement and ice/snow, but is only good for 3. There is a tendency to lose studs. The failure mode for each is the same -- the studs push through the casing. I switched from Nokian to Schwalbe when my office moved to a location reached by rutted bike path from an earlier one reached primarily by road. A bike on studded tires is the best road vehicle, far superior to a car without chains. Unlike a car, it can always get you home. A modern road bike on slicks is basically unrideable in snow and ice. A hybrid or mountain bike is OK if you don't use the front brake or climb hills. The old balloon tired single speeds from the 1950s are surprisingly good. You can broadside drift through turns like dirt bikes. All of these, however, greatly benefit from studded winter tires. Riding with studs on glare ice is one of life's pleasures -- it is smooth and dreamlike. It is best of all when passing five miles of stuck cars.

parkbrav

RE: avoid overpaying, my recommendation is to get them in the late summer / early fall around Labor Day. So unfortunately you're a bit late to the party.

You might want to get a spare winter tire in case one blows this winter because there's been an uptick in cycling due to the pandemic.

Schwalbe Marathon - excellent suggestion!

2_i 

After I slipped and ripped a $120 coat and few days later $40 pants and then was aching for a couple of weeks, suddenly the winter tires sounded awfully cheap. The alternative was going through another round with any replacement clothes. Incidentally, good quality winter tires (Nokian/Suomi) will outlast many sets of winter clothing without any incidents involved. They hardly wear off.

sweeks

My Nokians seem to be made a little better than the Schwalbes, but the Nokians aren't made in the size I need for my commuter bike (20").
The Schwalbes work fine, though. As you can see in my previous post, they don't last forever under corrosive conditions.

This brings up another point: some less expensive studded tires use steel studs, as opposed to the Schwalbe and Nokian tires which use tungsten carbide studs. The tungsten carbide does not corrode, but as you can see the steel retainers for the carbide studs *do* corrode. This corrosion notwithstanding, tires with carbide studs will last longer than those with steel studs.

noglider 

My spouse and I moved to a rural area when the pandemic visited NYC in March. I now have rubber knobbed tires and carbide studded tires to try. But I don't know what kind of conditions we will have. We are only 90 miles north of NYC, so the climate isn't super wintery. We will get a foot of snow on Wednesday. Around here, it can melt or turn to slush or ice. I might choose not to ride at all. But I really should try. Traffic is light, and drivers are generally good. If I get scared, that will be the experiment I don't repeat.

Gresp15C

Maybe it's regional, but something I've noticed in years past is that snow tires tend to pop up on Craigs List by mid winter. I get it, winter riding isn't everybody's cup of tea, and the tires are expensive. But it's worth watching for deals.

blakcloud

Certainly it depends on your climate if winter tires will be good for you. Here in Toronto, it's the ice that gets you. We are lucky to have the bike lanes plowed so snow isn't the biggest problem. One day I fell on some ice and it just plain hurt. I am not getting any younger and the older you are the more it hurts (or it least feels that way). The next week I bought studded tires and never looked back. It was a night and day difference. They worked well on the ice and brought me confidence which made riding the bike more enjoyable. Now I have studded tires for my 349 Brompton, my 650 Rivendell and my 700 road bike.

alloo

I'm thinking about getting a Tricycle Cargo Bike for winter commuting. Not sure about the snow tires though. Here in Denver our temperature oscillates above and below freezing hence Snow turns to ice and back to slush on a daily basis depending on the weather.

2_i 

Are you going to ride this bike with a load on slopes? On flats you just want to maintain balance. On slopes with load you need to worry about sliding with the slope.

Maru

I have never ridden on studded tires so this is new to me. So they seem to work ok on those days where the road is mostly bare?

alloo

No load, just commuting. Denver is relatively flat, some hills but not too many. The bike is to maintain balance on the ice. The load would be my lunch bag and gear to stay warm for our crazy weather. Yesterday was 62 F Today our high will be 44 F, with snow late tonight.

2_i 

Continental Contact Winter should meet your needs. They have a rubber compound suitable for low temperatures and grab debris that helps with grip. They lack studs, but riding on flats on 3 wheels you should be OK. The studs seriously impair riding on bare pavement. Because of the latter, you want to have as few studs as you can afford under transitional conditions.

Pugs2xLove

I currently have the regular Schwalbe Marathon tires installed on my bike now. After approximately 2000 miles on slushy snow and ice, the back tire has developed several cracks on the side (not sure why?) other than me using them in the wrong weather conditions. In the process of getting studded tires and I've thought about getting the above pictured tires since they're affordable and with me being new to studded tires, I don't want to break the bank for my first set. With that said, with the studs falling out/breaking off, will this cause air loss or tire deflation or can you still ride on these tires? Only asking so I'll know what to expect and look for while on the trails from these tires.

2_i 

Visibly deteriorating tire will eventually lead to flats. You want to avoid flats under adverse conditions, especially such as typical for winter. Normally you begin to look for a new tire once you notice the current to break apart. However, how far you want to push is up to you. Some people cannot afford getting late to work after getting a flat. Some have flexible time and skills and can fix a tire in 15 min on the spot.

2manybikes

If your getting a trike with two tires in the back it will have one wheel drive unless you spend a lot of money, The one wheel drive doesn't work well on slippery surfaces.

Pugs2xLove

Saw these cracks on my rear tire this morning. Am I better off getting new tires than try to salvage these? These Schwalbe Marathon have approximately 2000 miles on them now.

sweeks

The studs falling out won't cause any trouble. I only lose 5 or 10 studs over the life of the tire, which isn't enough to affect their effectiveness. I haven't seen any studs actually breaking off.

The image of the inside of the tire shows where the real problem is. When the studs and their corrosion products have worn through to the inside of the carcass, flats aren't far behind. I have been able to eliminate flats while extending the life of each tire by installing a "Mr. Tuffy" tire liner. Here are some more images...



This tire is shot. I wouldn't use it even with a tire liner.



This is after two winters on the rear wheel with the tire liner removed. I'll use it one more season with a tire liner.



Here are two of the eight pieces of double-sided foam tape used to hold the tire liner in place during installation. The tape is rated for "outdoor use". The red layer is removed before the tire liner goes in.



Installing the tire liner at the first sign of studs wearing through the carcass. This is usually after the first season on the rear or the second season on the front. YMMV.

sweeks

There is a bit more rolling resistance on dry pavement, and the studs are somewhat noisy. It sounds (to me) sort of like bacon sizzling.
I have two commuter bikes. One is "regular" for any weather other than snow and ice, and the other one is more specialized for winter. If there's low probability of poor traction, I take the regular bike. If there's a reasonable chance of snow or ice, I ride the winter bike. I get it right most of the time, but it's easier than swapping wheels or tires.

noglider 

A bit more rolling resistance? To me, it’s a lot. I just took a ride on my studded tires, and didn’t need them. I rode about 9 miles. I think I was 2 mph slower, and it was so much more work. I think I’ll be switching back and forth depending on what’s on the ground, as I don’t have a spare set of wheels (yet).

sweeks

Well, it *is* noticeable, I will admit. My commute is "multi-modal" with a mid-section on a train, and I'm only riding about 8 miles a day so a little extra work isn't a deal-breaker. I have to be up a 5 or 5:30 to catch my train, so the bike has to be ready to go... no time to change wheels. Plus my "winter" bike has a roller brake on the rear wheel, so it's a bit of a hassle to work on. All considered, for my purposes if I have to burn a few more calories it's OK. But when there's ice or snow, the studs really shine!

jkbrooks

Commuting in winter with bike studs? Wow. Bad. Ass.

I'm running 650bs with Schwalbe G-One 38s. NOT in snow or ice. Just the winter gunk that ends up on the roads in Seattle area. It's a good set up. I like the Conti GP5000 tires more my experience is they're a bit more "bomb proof." But I dont think that's a universally held opinion.