HerrKaLeun

now that you (people of the north) have made it at least one winter, what did you learn regarding tires and what do you plan to do for nex winter?

Her is my story: got my fatbike last fall and it came with Maxxis 4.8" tires. they are great tires, and probably good in snow. But for our winter here (wisconsin) i figured there will be ice pathces (and was so told by local riders) and got studded tires. Since i didn't want to spend a lot for a 3-month season I bought cheap "Vee" tires.

Well, what happened after only 250 km the suds started wearing off. the manufacturer sent me 2 packs (for both tires) replacement studs. that was in March, so at end of winter. I also noticed the profile to be low (4 mm only... i don't recall what they started at, but my maxxis have over 7 mm. So i decided to not re-use those tires for next winter and just un-stud them and shred up during summer. I don't have a comparison to good tires, but I doubt they were so good in snow. I did enjoy having studs, though since that gave me more confidence.

so I have 2 options:
- just install the Maxxis once the "Vee" are worn out and use those in winter (no studs): obviously this would be dangerous on ice.
- for the winter buy new studded tires (but better ones!): obviously a more expensive solution. they only need to be "good" and not perfect for snow, but must be great for ice.

Just curious what everyone else experienced and learned from last season and plans to do. To avoid re-mounting tires (tubeless) I thought buying studdable tires might work and just install and uninstall the studs seasonally. But i fear moving studs all the time isn't good for the tire, and when the stud is out, dirt and little stones fill the stud holes. that makes me think I will need dedicated winter and summer tires.

FrozenK

Bite the bullet, get a set of good studded tires. Swap them at the end of the season. I would much rather swap tubeless tires than remove and install studs.

Leebo

^^^ What he said. Expensive? Could get 5 winters out of a set of winter studded tires. Cost of crashing/ breaking or damage to you is? Now is the time to pick some good, used studded tires, start there.

HerrKaLeun

in theory yes, but tires are wear items, like brake pads. So buying used doesn't seem to make sense unless I find a seller who a) has great tires, and b) gives up winter biking (as in moving south).

If someone has good tires, they won't sell them. If they sell them it is because they were unhappy with them, and I already have bad tires myself :-)

Leebo

^^^ Winter commuter here too, I have studded tires that are 3,5,8 and 10 years old. Yes, I use a lot of studded tires on a lot of different bikes. Cheap studded tires? Carbide studs wear slowly, highly recommend 45 north wrathchilds. XL stud, works great. Check out some of the posts on MTBR. Less $$? Try this, get some XL 45 north concave studs, plus some grip studs, and restud your existing ones.

FrozenK

Not necessarily. I see a lot of good, used tires come up for sale up here. Some times people didn't like winter biking and decided they don't need to keep them, some times people went with something else (like from D4s to D5s. Or from Dillingers to something more aggressive like Wrathchilds) And some people just seem to buy stuff to sell it three months later -to pay for rent, or whatever.

If you are on Facebook, there is a group called Fatbike Trader where you should be able to find decent deals on used tires.

HerrKaLeun

I'll check out the FB group.
But what I see on CL and regular FB marketplace here (Madison, WI) is (besides no fatbike winter tires offered) that people seem to use the LBS MSRP and take 10% off for a 3 year old bike or for a 50% worn tire. Sometimes i even can find an online source cheaper for the same thing new than their 1 year old whatever they try to sell. Plus the convenience of just ordering and it arriving at my doorstep instead of driving all over town.

I agree, if you have friends or riding buddies selling, that is convenient since you have some sort of honorable assurance they don't knowingly sell you crap.

I'm gonna trust that more tires come to market before next winter and that will bring better models and better prices. i mean, those tires cost more than very expensive SUV tires, there sure is room to lower prices without sacrificing quality.

Leebo

Umm, good luck with that. I get they are expensive, but cheap is not the way to go, imho. Which V tires do you have? Re stud them, not that much $$. Try over at MTBR.

FrozenK

Don't hold your breath for lower priced tires. The owner of Terrene had a post on Bikerumor (I think it was Bikerumor) explaining why the tires cost what they do. It boils down to performance. You want a light, supple casing that will still roll at -20F you are going to have to pay for it. The kind of tire construction you see on Dillingers or Wazias is comparable to high end car racing tires.

There are a few lower priced tires out there. The Arisun Sharktooth are supposed to be decent, but you will be getting a lower performance tire.

As for used tires, they are out there. And they aren't junk. But you are still going to pay more than $100 per tire if you want something decent. To me it is worth it, I have four or five years on my Dillingers, well over 5000 miles and they are still going. But your situation is likely different.

Ryan Olivas

Fatbikes are truly recommended to use, especially during winter season.

HerrKaLeun

I could get by with studdable tires since I have all those studs from my warranty. but at this point I i think will look at what is offered in fall. I'm not saying I'm good paying $200 a tire, but if that is what it has to be I will.

I agree good tire will cost more, but right now they cost more than car winter tires that also work at low temps (and high speed and all other car related things). I still think more manufacturers offering tires will pressure innovation and better manufacturing and lower prices.

Unless you mean ice lake car racing, I'd say the studded bike tires are the opposite of car racing tires. No high speed and no extremely high temps and also not asphalt-only.