Winter Tire Recommendation Needed

[Milton_C]

I wondering if anyone has an opinion on winter tires?

I live in Stavanger, Norway. Most of the winter it will hover around freezing causing some heavy frost and occasionally clear ice. We will also get 3-4 big snows, but the bike trails are plowed quickly. Most of the winter will be cold and wet.

I have recently started commuting to work 5 days a week and riding. Total weekly between 80 -125 km. Bike is a Globe Haul 1 with 700 x 35c tires. The original tires are basically slick and I am sure I need them replaced before the weather begins.

I have looked at at some of the Continental tires and the Top Contact Winter Reflex has caught my eye. But, I am just a newby rider and don't know what I am doing (the Globe Haul 1 is a good example) so I am looking for some advice.

[DAZLIN6]

you might want to consider some ice tyres if you are going to be riding on iced roads. Last winter I had a hell of a time on my racing bike with slicks. But I took my mountain bike out with its knobbly tyres and I had good grip. You may want to also look at some cyclocross tyres.

[Milton_C]

(09-06-2010, 11:13 AM)DAZLIN6 Wrote:  you might want to consider some ice tyres if you are going to be riding on iced roads. Last winter I had a hell of a time on my racing bike with slicks. But I took my mountain bike out with its knobbly tyres and I had good grip. You may want to also look at some cyclocross tyres.

Thanks for the advise. I think I definitely need something other than the slicks.

[Bill]

This thread has a few different things for winter but Joe_W gave a pretty good rating on some Schwalbe Studded tires... http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-8.html

[Milton_C]

(09-07-2010, 09:37 AM)Bill Wrote:  This thread has a few different things for winter but Joe_W gave a pretty good rating on some Schwalbe Studded tires... http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-8.html

Thanks Bill, I had chased that thread a little earlier and it has some really good advice.

[Bill]

Your welcome

[zaax]

I put a Schwalbe Ice Spiker on the front last Saturday. So glad I did the side roads on Friday were sheet ice. The back kept sliding out but stop peddling for a second or two and it moved back in line.

The only problem I find is the noise on tarmac, but I can put up with that.

http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/c2-1059-schwalbe-tires-ice-spiker.html

[JonB]

I *believe* Continental make spiked tyres, though I can't remember what it's called.

Conti Tyres are expensive, but you generally get what you pay for.

Oh and trust me, MTB tyres don't work on Ice. The very angry bruise on my palm says so.

[marathon marke]

I was excited to see this thread, as I just picked up some studded tires a couple days ago. I decided on Nokian Hakkapeliita W106. They are 700x35. Yesterday I used them on ice, snow, and dry pavement. I was impressed on their performance in all three conditions.

Sheer ice was an easy and enjoyable ride. Although there can be a very slight slip when turning, the studs are close enough that it the next one easily caught before anything disastrous happens. The rubber lugs have good depth and well-spaced to keep good traction when riding in snow. I actually tried to make these tires slip when charging up a ice and snow covered hill out of the saddle , and they stuck like glue! Now, I had the rear tire at 4.5 bar and the front at 4.0, so I imagine that they might perform slightly better if I would lower the pressure a bit. But with this pressure, the tires were still surprisingly quiet on dry surfaces. I think that might be due to the tread design in the tire's center area.

I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of these, but I live in SW Wisconsin and you never know what to expect on the winter roads. They have given me peace of mind during my nightly commute from work when I could run into anything.

[Bill]

Sounds pretty good, but something I thought of and never posted before is if the snow "packs" up in them? Does the snow stick to the tires?

[marathon marke]

Bill, I've only had a couple days use on them so far, so I can't give a report for all conditions. As far as the snow packing up in them, yes it does at times. I'm sure that will depend on a number of variables (temp, type of snow, age of snow, etc.). It has been packing up, but it seems to release rather easily too.

I commuted home from work tonight, with temp about 14 degrees F. The thing I love about these tires is how secure I feel riding over black ice, even at night. I don't have to "white knuckle" the bars. These tires will make it possible for me to ride through the winter and have fun doing it! The only time I felt like I might loose it was when I tried to get crazy through a turn and was running through slush about 2 or 3 inches deep. I slipped a little bit, but saved myself. I don't know if it was my reaction or the tire that caught in time (or a combination of both), but I think fast turns through slush or corn snow is probably the only time I can see having to use care with these tires. I'm going to love when the river freezes over and I can ride up the river to some of my favorite summertime coffee shops.

By the way, thanks for posting that link to Joe_W's post. I found it very helpful.

[JonB]

Try letting a bit of air out the front tyre.

The problem of tyre clog is usually solved in MTB by running a lower pressure, which allows the tyre to deform more. This not only provides a bit of extra grip, but as it changes shape it helps clear mud and soil. Going faster always helps, though obviously holding any speed on snow is a pain. Those tyres also look meaty enough to benefit from it. The downside is slightly increased rolling resistance (just think of it as fitness training )

I see no reason why this wouldn't work on snow, if anything it should work better because it's not sticky like mud.

...if not one of my mates swears by spraying GT-85 over his tyre tread to stop ANYTHING sticking to it (though I can't see it doing the environment any good).

[marathon marke]

Thanks, Joe. I'm going to try that, running them a bit lower. That makes sense that they would clea out better as the tires deforms. I have ridden them a bit through the snow, and I've been quite impressed how well they handle so far. I'm with you on the extra rolling resistance providing better training. I don't mind that when riding this bike, since my winter rides are shorter anyway.

I'm not familiar with GT-85. Is that like a silicone spray? I wonder how long it would remain effective on the tire. I work at a hardware store and we often tell people to spray that on their snowblowers.

Anyway, I'm just excited to have found these. I still ride rollers and a wind trainer when I have to, but to have this option for winter riding makes it much more fun!

[Bill]

Ok interesting facts . I just ordered some MTB sizes myself today. Also that is correct about the variables, conditions, etc. in riding the winter time. Today I went for a couple errands and decided to test out MTB in snow with regular tread. Almost wiped out, but stopped let air out and really did not have too many problems after that. Harder workout but definitely worth it. Again this is with regular MTB tread on powder snow about 2" max deep

[Bill]

.... which the temperature was about 12 degrees F. There was no icy spots because it was slush. Now I would rather have the studded tires because the traction would be safer.