SoulOnIce
New Member
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Edited: Schwalbe Marathon Winter Studded Ice Tyres - edited to include review on icy roads
Just fitted a pair of the above studded tyres to my heavy, but trusty Ridgeback Cyclone. A quick review of them in non icy conditions.
Where to buy them from....
Seem to be hard to source these - I eventually got mine from Dot Bike for £35 quid each. They were delivered in a couple of days and came folded in a package about 12" square and 3" thick.
Fitting.....
Some folk report problems fitting them cos they are quite stiff. But to be honest they were not hard to fit. I did hang them above a a warm air heater for 10 mins before fitting though I'm not sure this made loads of difference.
Watch out for....
First you need to do is check the clearances on your frame and mudguards to see if they will fit. My old tyres were 1.5" wide and these are 1.75" and I had to adjust my mudguards
Second, if you go from 1.5" to 1.75" tyres you may need to get bigger inner tubes. I fitted a 1.5" tube and only realised after I'd put the wheel on the bike. But the Oracle that is CC says here it should not be a problem.
How they ride....
Schwalbe say you need 20 miles to bed in the studs - so I went out today and did a 28 mile jaunt. And overall I was impressed.
The spikes do give more road noise and and they are heavy (they've got a Kevlar belt in them). They don't feel much slower than my old slicks, but clearly they are. Overall they add about 5 mins onto a 60 min ride - so let's call it no more than 10% extra travelling time. So, for me, it's not a deal breaker.
I had the tyres pumped to about 70 psi and the handling was fine. I think I may have felt the odd little squirm once or twice, but I may have been imagining that.
When it is icy Schwalbe say you need to drop the pressure so the studs can bite into the ice. Obviously this will slow you down a bit more - I reckon another 10% or so. So overall in the ice you might expect an extra 10 mins on a 60 min ride.
I can't say how they ride in the ice as I've not had any ice to test them on yet. I will amend this review when I have.
In conclusion...
Riding on non icy roads, pumped hard they ride fine and slow you down a bit but no more than 10% on your travel time.
At 35 quid each they are pricey, and when the pressure is dropped to ride them on ice I reckon they will add another 10% travel time. But if they let me continue my twice weekly 30 mile commute during the winter I will be happy. And the extra travelling time can be considered as much needed extra training for this tubster!
Will amend the review once I've actually tried them out on the ice.
Edited review following use on ice and snow.......
Right I can now add an edit to cover how these tyres perform in the snow and ice.
The test ride
I have a 15 mile commute on predominately on country roads and about 3 miles in the city. It usually takes me 65 mins and I usually do it a couple of times a week on my relatively heavy Ridgeback Cyclone hybrid.
On Monday I did the commute on a mixture of clear road, clear roads with patches of black ice, compacted snow up to half an inch thick, and very icy compacted snow.
All in all, the conditions were wide ranging and great opp to check the tyres out.
I would add that in the past I have never have even tried cycling in conditions where there would be black ice, let alone the varied and more dangerous conditions on Monday - so I cannot compare the tyre performance to how it would be with my normal slicks.
Tyre pressure
Given the conditions I dropped the pressure from the initial ride I had on them outlined at the start of this review. They were originally at the max pressure of 70psi and I dropped them to around 40psi. At 70 psi on clear roads they added about 5 mins on a 60 min ride. At 40 psi they added a stonking 25 mins on my usual 65 min commute. It was much harder work pedalling and I was noticeably much more tired even on the clear patches of road.
Grip
The grip was fantastic. I actively sought out patches of black ice to ride on and I felt totally secure. Riding on compacted snow of up to half an inch thick was slower, but again it felt secure. I had quite a bit of fun trying different patches of road conditions and the tyres were great across the board. The one caveat being I did not get the chance to try them on powder snow where I suspect they will not be as good as the snow tyres that Schwalbe do.
Stopping
Stopping was very different to dry conditions. On the ice the bike would skid but as long as the brakes were applied gently (and only using the back break) it was not a problem. Basically you need to allow for a much longer stopping distance, much like you would in heavy rain.
Conclusion
At the lower pressure of 40psi the tyres do there job very well. I would never have even dreamed of going out on my bike with slicks on in the conditions on Monday and these babies made me feel very safe.
The downside is that at 40psi this does add nearly 50% on to your travelling time. Which might be ok if your commute is only 30 mins, but adding an extra 25 mins on a 65 min commute it too much and too tiring. So I'm going to run them at 60psi and see if they still grip ok.
Of course the conditions still mean in general you need to treat the roads with more respect than usual - but at low pressure they are great. And at max pressure they don't add slow you down much so they are good to leave on for the whole of the winter.
So if your commute is less than 40 mins or so, the extra 20 mins it would add at 40 psi would make it possible for you to commute in pretty much all conditions with an acceptable time and effort penalty.
If you have a longer commute like I do, then you may have to see if you can find a tyre pressure to get the right balance between speed and grip. If I do find they ride well in the ice and snow at 60 psi then they will be adequate for a long commute like mine.
Just fitted a pair of the above studded tyres to my heavy, but trusty Ridgeback Cyclone. A quick review of them in non icy conditions.
Where to buy them from....
Seem to be hard to source these - I eventually got mine from Dot Bike for £35 quid each. They were delivered in a couple of days and came folded in a package about 12" square and 3" thick.
Fitting.....
Some folk report problems fitting them cos they are quite stiff. But to be honest they were not hard to fit. I did hang them above a a warm air heater for 10 mins before fitting though I'm not sure this made loads of difference.
Watch out for....
First you need to do is check the clearances on your frame and mudguards to see if they will fit. My old tyres were 1.5" wide and these are 1.75" and I had to adjust my mudguards
Second, if you go from 1.5" to 1.75" tyres you may need to get bigger inner tubes. I fitted a 1.5" tube and only realised after I'd put the wheel on the bike. But the Oracle that is CC says here it should not be a problem.
How they ride....
Schwalbe say you need 20 miles to bed in the studs - so I went out today and did a 28 mile jaunt. And overall I was impressed.
The spikes do give more road noise and and they are heavy (they've got a Kevlar belt in them). They don't feel much slower than my old slicks, but clearly they are. Overall they add about 5 mins onto a 60 min ride - so let's call it no more than 10% extra travelling time. So, for me, it's not a deal breaker.
I had the tyres pumped to about 70 psi and the handling was fine. I think I may have felt the odd little squirm once or twice, but I may have been imagining that.
When it is icy Schwalbe say you need to drop the pressure so the studs can bite into the ice. Obviously this will slow you down a bit more - I reckon another 10% or so. So overall in the ice you might expect an extra 10 mins on a 60 min ride.
I can't say how they ride in the ice as I've not had any ice to test them on yet. I will amend this review when I have.
In conclusion...
Riding on non icy roads, pumped hard they ride fine and slow you down a bit but no more than 10% on your travel time.
At 35 quid each they are pricey, and when the pressure is dropped to ride them on ice I reckon they will add another 10% travel time. But if they let me continue my twice weekly 30 mile commute during the winter I will be happy. And the extra travelling time can be considered as much needed extra training for this tubster!
Will amend the review once I've actually tried them out on the ice.
Edited review following use on ice and snow.......
Right I can now add an edit to cover how these tyres perform in the snow and ice.
The test ride
I have a 15 mile commute on predominately on country roads and about 3 miles in the city. It usually takes me 65 mins and I usually do it a couple of times a week on my relatively heavy Ridgeback Cyclone hybrid.
On Monday I did the commute on a mixture of clear road, clear roads with patches of black ice, compacted snow up to half an inch thick, and very icy compacted snow.
All in all, the conditions were wide ranging and great opp to check the tyres out.
I would add that in the past I have never have even tried cycling in conditions where there would be black ice, let alone the varied and more dangerous conditions on Monday - so I cannot compare the tyre performance to how it would be with my normal slicks.
Tyre pressure
Given the conditions I dropped the pressure from the initial ride I had on them outlined at the start of this review. They were originally at the max pressure of 70psi and I dropped them to around 40psi. At 70 psi on clear roads they added about 5 mins on a 60 min ride. At 40 psi they added a stonking 25 mins on my usual 65 min commute. It was much harder work pedalling and I was noticeably much more tired even on the clear patches of road.
Grip
The grip was fantastic. I actively sought out patches of black ice to ride on and I felt totally secure. Riding on compacted snow of up to half an inch thick was slower, but again it felt secure. I had quite a bit of fun trying different patches of road conditions and the tyres were great across the board. The one caveat being I did not get the chance to try them on powder snow where I suspect they will not be as good as the snow tyres that Schwalbe do.
Stopping
Stopping was very different to dry conditions. On the ice the bike would skid but as long as the brakes were applied gently (and only using the back break) it was not a problem. Basically you need to allow for a much longer stopping distance, much like you would in heavy rain.
Conclusion
At the lower pressure of 40psi the tyres do there job very well. I would never have even dreamed of going out on my bike with slicks on in the conditions on Monday and these babies made me feel very safe.
The downside is that at 40psi this does add nearly 50% on to your travelling time. Which might be ok if your commute is only 30 mins, but adding an extra 25 mins on a 65 min commute it too much and too tiring. So I'm going to run them at 60psi and see if they still grip ok.
Of course the conditions still mean in general you need to treat the roads with more respect than usual - but at low pressure they are great. And at max pressure they don't add slow you down much so they are good to leave on for the whole of the winter.
So if your commute is less than 40 mins or so, the extra 20 mins it would add at 40 psi would make it possible for you to commute in pretty much all conditions with an acceptable time and effort penalty.
If you have a longer commute like I do, then you may have to see if you can find a tyre pressure to get the right balance between speed and grip. If I do find they ride well in the ice and snow at 60 psi then they will be adequate for a long commute like mine.