Cycling downhill on ice. Which tyre?

[MrJamie]

Sara, I can recommend the Schwalbe Ice spikers, they are basically MB tyres with studs.
Fantastic on ice and snow, tried and tested last winter, wrote a review on them here.

They look good. I've got a Marathon Winter in the garage waiting for it to be needed. How do you find they ride, are they hard work and slow?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

They look good. I've got a Marathon Winter in the garage waiting for it to be needed. How do you find they ride, are they hard work and slow?

All my bikes are tanks did not notice any difference with the Marathons last winter - can't remember the max pressure, I usually inflate to just below max when there's no ice, a bit less when icy.

 

[Sara_H]

Thanks for all the advice and discussion folks. I'm just debating now whether to make the purchase, cos, TBH I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to go out on the ice with studded tyre, so trying to weigh up the pro's and cons.
OH has put his studded tyres now and finds them very noisy!

 

[The Jogger]

Thanks for all the advice and discussion folks. I'm just debating now whether to make the purchase, cos, TBH I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to go out on the ice with studded tyre, so trying to weigh up the pro's and cons.
OH has put his studded tyres now and finds them very noisy!

If you don't how will you get to work? Go on, go for it.

 

[Sara_H]

If you don't how will you get to work? Go on, go for it.

I'm thinking arriving late might be better arriving with all my arms and legs broken!

 

[ufkacbln]

The answer for Ice is:


All you need then is the small child for traction!

 

[The Jogger]

I know the proper sensible answer is " leave the bike at home if it's icy" but on school days I can't actually get to work on time by public transport/by car/walking so options are limited.
What do folk recommend for icy conditions?

Glad you changed your mind.

 

[Sara_H]

The answer for Ice is:


All you need then is the small child for traction!

Be more impressed if they filmed it on the snow!

 

[Sara_H]

Glad you changed your mind.

Tis a womans prerogative. I shall change it several times again before the first flakes fall!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Tis a womans prerogative. I shall change it several times again before the first flakes fall!

Sara, the tyres work, honest, go for it. They do make a "crackle and pop" sound, true, it's all good. When you stop hearing the noise you need to be careful, that's when you are riding on ice.

 

[fossyant]

The Snow Stud is a discontinued tyre, effectively being replaced with the Winter. It was replaced with good reason, it's not actually that good a tyre. At higher pressures the studs only come into contact with the ground at noticeable lean, so while fine for cornering in a straight line they're not better than a generic cheap MTB tyre. In addition to this if you are a lighter rider at the lower pressures required to allow the studs to make contact there's not enough weight on the studs to be effective. Personally I would spend £1 more and get the more effective Winter.

The snow stud on a 26" MTB is a cracking tyre. Can't see it working well on a 700c and narrow. It is a mountain bike tyre. I run them at either 30 or 40 PSI and the studs contact the road fine.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I'm another one with marathon winters and some short sharp twisty changes in altitude with no edge protection on my usual commute. I tried it once, the tyres gripped & I survived upright but it was a good constipation cure. I take the longer smoother routes on icy days now. Not sure what to advise, depends on the nature of the your descent and if you have a safe get out if it goes wrong. But yes they aren't half clattery on tarmac.

 

[Mr. Jaggers]

Thinking of buying some Marathon Winter's just in case the weather gets bad this year. I suspect they will be out of stock if I wait for bad weather before ordering. I go into Wales a lot at the weekends on high ground so I presume I will get some use out of them even if not commuting. Has anyone used these and if so is it reasonable to put them on at the first sign of ice and just leave them on through the winter, or will they become damaged just running them on tow path/road if not actually icy.
Intend to put them on Boardman Team CX

 

[tincaman]

Thinking of buying some Marathon Winter's just in case the weather gets bad this year. I suspect they will be out of stock if I wait for bad weather before ordering. I go into Wales a lot at the weekends on high ground so I presume I will get some use out of them even if not commuting. Has anyone used these and if so is it reasonable to put them on at the first sign of ice and just leave them on through the winter, or will they become damaged just running them on tow path/road if not actually icy.
Intend to put them on Boardman Team CX

I used these last year on my Boardman CX in the 30-622 size

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

And another one on marathon winters (200 spikes apparently). tis when they go silent you need to worry! noisy is fine and good = tarmac. silent means ice and studs are now 'working'.

Also do the get spare studs now option rather than waiting until you have lost some - there is a contact us on the UK schwalbe website and you can request some spare studs, saying how many you have lost whilst bedding in the tyres (). they will then send you a batch of replacement studs free of charge. Between you and I, I did this before I lost any, and promptly didn't loose any at all last winter or either of the two mtbs but I think I was just lucky and bedded them in correctly! I know from last year's thread, that plenty of others lost studs.

I generally switch over to my mtb when the weather is 'bad'. I just feel safer on it and my road bike can only take 700x25c tyres, so options are limited and I have no other transport, but do factor is giving myself plenty of extra time, something I understand you are not able to do as easily.