mr,grumpy 

I was heartbroken when I went to mount my "new" fenders on my old Schwinn Woodlands yesterday and found the slightest separation between the tread and gum wall on the original OEM knobbies. Now I am forced to buy a set of new, not as cool, tires for it. So, for cheep, cheep, cheep tires should I go knobbie or street to get around when there are some imperfectly cleared roads? I am not planning on going out in storms or any thing like that just running local errands when the roads are mostly clear.

skijor

Go with the knobbies especially if it's just around town. I've found that it's also about the width of the footprint.
<running Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106...probably too $$$>

Metzinger

Your current tires sound fine for winter errands.
Replace them when there's a real problem.

But if you don't like that, any cheapo 1.5"-2" knobby should do.

mr,grumpy 

Here's the damage:

nwmtnbkr

Since you may have to ride when there's black ice, why don't you consider buying cheap knobbies that you can use to create your own studded winter tire? There's a sticky here on how to make them, but basically you put 1/2" sheet metal screws in from the inside and add a liner between the tire and tube. There's no real LBS in the town I live near and the local sporting goods shop only has bike stuff during warm weather. Fortunately, the Ace hardware has Bell products, including tires. I bought cheap Bell knobbies and used a slightly different technique, also described in the sticky, to create studded tires without punching holes in the tires. Fully inflated, the studs (3/8" hex-head metal screws) don't touch the pavement. When needed, however, just lower the pressure and they grip.



You can take your time this winter, researching which tires you want for warm weather riding. Good luck.

Wake

That's hardly damage! Just stick some nylon or other strong fabric across the damaged cord area (inside the tire) and you'll see the lump disappear. Plenty of life left in that tire.

skijor

I agree. Although I wouldn't expect the lump to disappear, I'd say that tire has many miles left in it.

Metzinger

OP started 2nd thread. New tires purchased.

mr,grumpy 

Yes, I went ahead and ordered some Kenda knobbies on-line that are even gum-walled, which I think look particularly proper on this bike. The were very cheep so it was worth it to just go ahead and replace them. If I had hear first that I could have continued using them I probably would have because the tread itself IS almost new but I guess it's cheep insurance replacing 15 or 20 year old tires any way.

Mtn Mike

I hate getting flats in the cold weather so I'd replace those with some $20 tires off Ebay. Any knobby would work fine for your purposes. No need for ligthweight "folding" tires.