Snow tires

I have used the Hakkapelliita W240 and used them a 26" commuter (since gifted to my nephew [the bike]).

They worked well on pavement in up to 3 inches of snow and handled black ice like a dream too.

Draw backs were slow rolling speed (stop pedaling and rapid slowdown - great workout though!) , a bit noisy (dogs would bark at me from inside their houses without being able to even see me), and moderate to poor dry pavement traction.

I'm now looking for a set for my 29er drop bar "monster commuter" and I'm considering:

45N Xerxes

45N Gravdal

Schwalbe Marathon Winter (I need size recommendation on this too)

something else?

My summer tire is the Schwalbe Big Apple 60-622 but winter commuting is more road oriented and width is less of a concern in fact I think narrow is better in cutting through snow. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?

BTW: I'd let the old pair of 26x1.5 go for 75$ if anyone's interested (still in great & shape no stud loss).

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on December 11, 2015 at 1:32pm

Hard to say. If you need them and haven't got them, then you're stuck until the Amazon drone (or whatever) delivers them. OTOH, like me, you might have put them on at the first sign of ice, then feel kind of strange now riding with them on a 50 degree day in shorts.

Permalink Reply by Dave Fonda on January 8, 2016 at 8:56am

Skip, we were out on our cyclocross bikes riding on hard packed snow n ice over gravel.  Been using 32c Panaracer Gravel Kings.  No studs, but they ride smoothly and grip well at 70psi on the gravel hills west of Freeport.  Come out for a winter ride when we get a sunny weekend in high 20s.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on December 12, 2015 at 4:24am

Like Skip says, they last more than one season.

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on December 13, 2015 at 1:38pm

The way things are going this "winter," I'll be looking for some pontoon tires!

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on December 16, 2015 at 2:35pm
Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on December 16, 2015 at 2:50pm
Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on December 16, 2015 at 3:07pm

Nice! 

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on January 2, 2017 at 7:39am

I rang in the new year with a ride using my Xerxes mounted on my drop bar Karate Monkey. I did a ride through Waterfall Glenn which is crushed limestone path but yesterday was frozen hard with many ruts left from warmer days. In some shade dominated areas there was hard frozen ice that was formerly slush with intense rutting, dips and divots. Slick and treacherous as these areas were I came upon a group of folks with "fat" (3-4" wide tires) bikes. One man was picking his bike up off the ground and the others were moving slowly in the grassy areas adjacent to the path. They looked up at me as I approached dead center to this icy bend like I was about to make a big mistake. I approached cautiously and rode right through! I encountered a few more of these difficult patches one even was a slight climb and I stayed upright and moving through all of them! I bet those fat-tire bikers were really surprised  to see an old guy on what looks like a road bike cruise right through some gnarly ice patches! These studded tires are quite awesome!

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