3S1M

I rode my son's MTB that I put some bell street tires on this summer through the snow and they did just fine. It was not a lot of snow on the road when going though. I mainly road in the tire tracks of cars but there was not more than 1/2"anywwhere on that particular ride. I thought I'd need something more aggressive but I guess cuz the rubber or vinyl or whatever it's made out of is newer, they seemed to grip decent.

On Saturday night it was a blizzard and there was thick wet snow, about 2" or more on the street and I didn't get very far. I tried my cruiser bike with those somewhat knobby beach cruiser tires and I tried the previously mentioned MTB and I think I got more traction with the MTB. The Beach Cruiser tires are about 10 years old though. So figure they lost some grip by now. Either bike didn't work very well and I gave up trying to go very far.

sweeks

Studded tires. Schwalbe Marathon Winter on my commuter, and Nokian Extreme 294 on my mountain bike.

bpcyclist

Road bike all winter, but wimpy winters here, so, really, it's just a rain situation. I am a bit more cautious in the corners when it's wet, obviously, but really, here, I just don't see a big reason to make big tire changes, given how mild thing s almost always are. In the twenties tonight and I will leave on my ride in 3 hours, but it is almost completely dry here. Generally, for it to get much below freezing in this city, it has to be clear skies. So, should be able to ride in the morning.

308jerry

I put Schwalbe Ice Spikers on a couple weeks ago. Where I ride is shaded by trees so the road is frozen and slick. So far I think they work great.

3S1M

Yeah, I guess it's going to depend on where you are... But it's still good to hear what everyone does. I think these are probably good for 99% of the days. Althought it's been kind of a mild winter here so far and I may change my mind if it gets worse, or next year.... But that Saturday night was the first day the roads were really hard to get through. I THINK, some skinny tires with studs on them would've worked that night. But I'm not sure I can justify having a whole other set up for 1 or 2 times a year..... Then again, my goal is to someday have a bike that can do it all. But I don't know if that's even possible. LOL.

wipekitty

I have two setups for real winter. One with a slightly aggressive (cyclocross) type tread pattern and a single row of studs. The other is pretty aggressive and heavily studded - Nokian/Suomi Extreme! The latter is good for roads with snowpack that turn to sludge and ice during the spring thaw. Handy in Wisconsisota

I made it through one Wisconsisota winter with just cyclocross tires, no studs. They sucked on anything remotely icy, including glazed snowpack. I had to stick to the salted main roads that winter. They were good for fresh snow without ice, though.

North Carolina, on the other hand...road race tires have been just great, except for the two days of ice. I use studs on that.

BobbyG

When I got a new commuter bike in 2015, I designated my old MTB-based commuter as my snow bike for winter. From late October to mid April it wears Suomi Nokian W-106 Studded snow tires. The tread works well in the snow, but more than that...

...like an automotive snow and ice tire, the tire material itself is designed to stay soft and grippy in cold temeratures.

I ride down to 5F and the tire still grips. Of course lumpy tread slows the bike down.

Lowering the tire pressure will help any tire grip better in snow. It'll just slow you down even more.

Notso_fastLane

Here, there's snow, rarely ice, and the streets are plowed pretty well. I run regular Marathon+ on all three wheels (20" front, 26" rear). I do a bit of spinning on the rear tire when I'm getting started, but it has decent enough tread, that it's quite adequate for my conditions. If it were a bit deeper, or they didn't keep the roads as clear, I'd either put a Marathon winter (non-studded) or Conti top contact. If it were really bad, I would put a mtn bike tire on the rear and BMX knobbies on the front.

Nice having three wheels, though, as I don't have to worry about falling over, just slide around a little bit.

3S1M

Yeah, I keep seeing those continentals on amazon......

Great responses guys. I'm learning.

Notso_fastLane

BTW, probably the worst part about riding the velo to work almost every day is that when it's parked outside (under partial cover, but outside), it is COLD climbing into a carbon fiber shell that's been cold soaked at 25F for 10 hours!

rumrunn6

if the conditions are good (granular) I can get by with shallow tread & no studs







sometimes even an aggressive tread will compact lifting me above the studs, so it's like I don't even have any





regardless this is my winter tire of choice for 2 bikes

3S1M

Wow, that's not quite the recumbant bike I pictured in my mind LOL. Very cool. Too bad you couldn't park that thing indoors during work.

Daniel4

If you're not willing to spend the money on winter bike tires and having to change them with the seasons, get chains.