Talk to me about ice tyres

[cyberknight]

Hmmm. Considering that cornering on wet/frozen metalwork is dangerous on ANY tyres, I wouldn't be taking that warning as much of a discouragement ..

nearly fell over just walking yesterday as i caught a metal drain cover and slid long it .

 

[Dadam]

They are fine - I've been using them for 14 years ! As for drain covers, you avoid them at any time of year. It's going to be icy near me this week as everywhere is damp.

100%, I've slipped on wet drain covers when walking!

And just as I was typing....

nearly fell over just walking yesterday as i caught a metal drain cover and slid long it .

 

[BrumJim]

I once rode to work in snow and ice on my 23 road wheels. Got called a f***** t*** by a white van driver, probably legitimately. Then got a set of studded ice tyres which were on special offer, but remained in the garage for several years due to lack of snow. Obviously needed a new bike for these. Can't get 700x23s (or 25s) with studs.

But when I did need them, it was brilliant going up Ludgate Hill in Birmingham leaving BMWs for dead! Really, really tricky on well used footpaths, though.

Nowadays, work from home if it gets a bit snowy.

 

[Vantage]

I've used both the schwalbe snow studs (as said discontinued unfortunately) and the marathon winters (full and partial studded) and I have the say that the snow studs were the better ones where snow is concerned.
The full on studded winters are imo complete overkill and the noise is infuriating. The partial studded ones are better I think.
However, your biggest risk of harm is from those blithering idiots in cars/vans etc who can't even driven safely on a sunny day let alone sheet ice.
None of these tyres work in the salted hardened ice peaks that reside at the edge of the roads due to gritters and the aforementioned idiots in cages.

 

[fossyant]

Frozen sandy snow, with frozen salt is always a challenge - just like riding in sand.

 

[matticus]

Frozen sandy snow, with frozen salt is always a challenge - just like riding in sand.

Yeah. Stuff that has melted and then re-frozen [repeat...] , in a variety of permutations and shapes is - IMO - the hardest to judge.

A thin layer of ice is generally the most painful to land on though, in my experience!

 

[MichaelW2]

I DIYed some self tapping screws into a cheap MTB tyre with the largest knobbles I could find ( each knobble big enough to take a screw). The tyres have proven to be very good on slick ice and rutted refrozen snow.
The Schwalve ones are much better on frosty roads with occasional ice.
You should be riding on familiar roads so you know where all the potholes and metalwork are.
Beware transitions from gritted road to ungritted bike path.
Beware putting feet onto slick ice.
Beware downhill drivers who cannot stop like you can.
These days, if I did risk it I would probably use a hip protector of some kind. And wear a backpack with extra clothing.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

These days, if I did risk it I would probably use a hip protector of some kind. And wear a backpack with extra clothing.

If you have spiked tyres on I don't think you're any more likely to come off into your hip than you would be on a normal bike under normal conditions

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Minus 4C this morning, ice had formed during the night.
My early a.m. commute on the ice bike went smooth, like I knew it would.
Every year I get the "be careful on the ice on your bike" from colleagues.
Of course, then I have to explain about my tyres, the colleagues go "Ohhh, really?!"
When I had the snow studs, I was confident on the bike on snow, but terrified of the cars on the road that couldn't stop.

 

[Tom B]

I've used Marathon Winters for a few years of commuting and general riding; they work very well on ice and snow, in fact the biggest danger is that you'll put your foot down and only then realise you're on sheet ice. Guess how I know this.

They are noisy and heavy though, as others have said; they're hard work after the first few miles.

Another vote for winters. I keep mine on a spare set of wheels. The trick with them is getting the pressures just right. For a morning icy commute I let them down a smidgy fraction so the studs are hitting. If it's thawed by sometime I pump them up and as the dome a bit theyre a bit less draggy. But they're still hard work.

On the upside when you put your normal wheels back on you feel like you are flying.

Oh and they can damage tiled, vinyl and wood floors and skin if you come into contact with them.

I've ridden sheet ice on mine with some trepidation but they was fine and kept me upright. They're not much better on loose fluffy snow deeper than a few mm.

 

[Vantage]

Another vote for winters. I keep mine on a spare set of wheels. The trick with them is getting the pressures just right. For a morning icy commute I let them down a smidgy fraction so the studs are hitting. If it's thawed by sometime I pump them up and as the dome a bit theyre a bit less draggy. But they're still hard work.

Unless for some stupid reason Schwalbe stuck all the studs down the centre of the tyre like they did mine...

 

[TheDoctor]

If it's slippery I tend to ride the Brompton.
Not because it's grippier, but because there's less to get tangled up with when I inevitably stack it!
It's been on Marathons for over a decade now.

 

[mickle]

Twenty years ago when i lived in Brizzol we had several inches of snow which partly thawed during a sunny day and then froze hard over night. The Bristol to Bath cycle path became a solid ice landscape of the previous day's traffic, bike wheel tracks, foot prints and pushchair tracks. I had a crappy old mountain bike ready and waiting with IRC Blizzard tungsten studded tyres fitted, and so i set off from Staple hill with eager anticipation! On my way down the footpath switchback a bloke who was trying to escape, pushing a road bike and could barely stand up told me not to bother - "Its impossible to ride" he said.

Ha!! I farking sailed down it, zooming past walkers and cyclists who literally couldn't keep upright on the frozen moonscape.

People were riding on the grass verge hoping for extra traction, but it was futile. Every so often someone would try to get on my tail, imagining, i suspect, that my ability to stay upright was because i had managed to find a safe line through. They all fell off.

Anyway, i got to work on time. No other bugger did. One of the lads arrived, ashen faced, having been in the front seat on the top deck of a bus when it crashed into a building! Ice tyres are bloody brilliant, its a shame we have to wait so long between opportunities to use them. £70 worth of tyres. Used twice over the course of a decade. Not a great return!

 

[matticus]

Ice tyres are bloody brilliant, its a shame we have to wait so long between opportunities to use them. £70 worth of tyres. Used twice over the course of a decade. Not a great return!

If they saved you a broken hip/collarbone/whatevva (or worse), money well spent.
[perhaps you can retire to somewhere with more snow?]

 

[Dadam]

So, ordered them on Friday, and just today been despatched, saying delivery by Monday. When the forecast is back up to 10C!
I've just said sod it and worked from home this week. We're nominally supposed to go in 2 days a week but nobody's really checking and I do occasionally do more than 2 in a week.

Oh well I'll stick them on the hybrid for the next icy time. It'll give me a chance to ride them in a bit.