alathIN

I'd like to push my bike commuting weather envelope this Winter season. Most of my commute is on a multi-use path that gets plowed, albeit usually only after the streets are plowed. Sometimes there's a thin layer of snow/ice mixed with bare pavement after plowing. Usually the big problem is piles of snow at every intersection, where the street plows heap it off to the sides.

I've got a rando/touring type bike I do most of my commuting on. This will take tires up to 47mm, and throwing some snow tires with spikes on is a temptation. I don't have a set of spare wheels to easily switch from snow to regular tires.

My other bike candidate for Commuter of the Frozen Tundra is a 27.5 plus bike. For those not familiar, "plus" is a bike that has big ballooney tires but not quite "fat." Right now I've got 3 inch mountain bike tires with an open tread pattern that ought to be pretty good in loose snow but I'm not so sure about packed snow or ice. The tires can be run down to 15 psi or even lower without problem. I've looked a bit but haven't found studded or winter-specific plus size tires. No spare wheel set for this bike, either... though it could take a set of standard 29er wheels/tires if that was somehow advantageous.

Would appreciate suggestions to help me keep on commuting deeper into the Winter. Right now the bike weather is just about perfect, but I know that's not going to last forever.



So just wondering which of these would be the better option for when Things Get Frozen.

dabac

For ice and hardpack, you can't beat studded tires for ease of mind.
It'll lower the BB some, but consider getting a pair of used 26" for your 27+ to use as winter wheels. Plenty of studded tires available in 26".

mcours2006

I agree. You'd likely still be using the other bike for most of your commutes, but when the occasion arises you've got something that can handle the snow and ice.

bikemig 

Agree that studded tires are better but I'd try out the mid fat bike as well. Cushy knobby tires run at low pressure aren't bad either.

kingston 

You're leaving out a few important details like where you live and how long your commute is. Assuming you live someplace that stays below freezing all winter and have more than a few miles to commute, I'd get studs for the commuting bike and leave them on all winter.

Bike Gremlin

i ride 26 wheels with a knobby back, and schwalbe marathon winter studded up front.

good for flat lands, ploughed streets with ovcasional ice patches.

for strong, longer winters with lots of snow and ice, i put the rear studded as well.

fatso

I've been well served by studded 700x40 (and x35) marathon Winters. Relatively fast. Can go thru ice and a couple inches of snow fine. Lasts a long time- 000's of miles, mostly on street (I use them whenever it's below freezing, so most use is on regular roads). Wider x40's are better since they can be run lower pressure, but they were too tight on my bike. If you got another wheel set, you could probably run 29x2 marathon winters on your 27.5+ bike. If you have salt on your roads, the steel shanked studs will last longer than aluminum shanked ones. Consider fenders to protect you and your bike in these conditions. Good luck.

CrankyOne

Our daily commuting bikes (Omafiets, Opafiets, Gr8) have 47x622's on them. These get Schwalbe Marathon Winter's for the entire winter. Even though our city & county do a great job of clearing the bikeways and often do it before and after the roads, there are often too many little patches of ice or snow. I'm not aware of any tire without studs that will not slide on ice.

If we're confident that there will be no ice risk then we'll pump them up max which keeps stud contact to a minimum. Otherwise they're softer for better stud grip. The tires are designed for this btw.

We do now have some extra bikes for guests to use, a mix of Opafiets, Omafiets, and Bobbin's. I will sometimes take one of these if I'm confident of not needing any studs.

Bike Gremlin

+1
Pumping Marathon Winters makes them faster and quieter, studs barely touching the ground.

I went a bit further, leaving the rear just some regular knobby tyre, and putting just the front studded. A lot less noise on clear pavement, even when pumped up, and less stud wear, since the front wheel takes less load than the rear. I live in flat lands with roads regularly ploughed, so very rare ice patches are easy to navigate with just front studs. It' worked fine for the past 2 winters.

unterhausen

I have 4" studded tires for my fatbike. The roads here in Central Pennsylvania get icy, and sometimes they stay that way for a while. I am a lot happier on the fatbike with rutted ice. Haven't gotten a dyno light for it yet, that's the only downside. I don't think that 29 plus is really going to do much for you on ice. I have studded 2" tires for my commuter, I use that if I'm just worried about remelt.

ThermionicScott 

Which tires are you using, the Dillingers? A buddy and I are thinking about getting X-Mart fat bikes for the hell of it, and tires costing many times the purchase price of the bike would be an evergreen conversation topic.

alathIN

Right now I've got 3.0 inch tires on the plus bike, and I think it will take up to 3.25

Where did you find the fat bike studded tires? I haven't been able to find any studded plus bike tires.

alathIN

Appreciate all the suggestions.

I like the idea of getting a set of cheap 26" wheels. They'd have to be disc, which rules out a lot of really economical options. I keep seeing 26" studded winter tires at very attractive prices, so it would be nice to be able to use those. One concern: the 27.5 plus has about the same outer tire diameter as a 29er, and it's basically a 29er frame with more width do accommodate the wider tires. Going all the way down to 26" would be quite a jump and I wonder if my pedals would even clear the ground.

An obvious answer there is if I could find a very economical set of 29er wheels (would have to accommodate the extra wide through axles) and put some 29er winter tires on them.

Ultimately I will probably just experiment with riding on the 3.0 plus tires at low pressure and see how they behave in different conditions.

Good point who said I didn't give much detail about my commuting conditions.
I have two work places. Either one, my commute starts out with about 11 miles on a greenway/multiuse path. Then either 1.5 or 2.5 miles on streets, some of which have bike lanes. The MUP drains really well and gets plowed so won't be icy. The roads not so good, will probably have some icy patches here and there.
I live in Indiana. We will have a heavy snow occasionally. Usually it will melt off before the next big snow, but sometimes we do get a new snow on top of an old snow.
Hope that helps.

HardyWeinberg

For me, any snow is transit-able with non-studded (but non-slick) tires. Around here, studs come into play for black ice which is much more frequent than snow or packed ice. A dusting of snow on top of packed ice gives traction, but black ice (that is gone once the sun is up) is impassable w/o studs.

kingston 

Getting a set of Schwalbe Marathon Winters for your rando bike will be your cheapest and best option. Your conditions are not severe enough to realize the potential benefits that a fat knobby tire has to offer.

alathIN

I'm starting to lean this way.

Given all the weird dimensions and axle and brake compatibility issues with my Plus bike, getting winter tires on this thing seems likely to require a high-$ custom wheel set.

I have a sense that under some conditions the plus bike will work fine with the tires it's got.

If I get brave enough to go out in really slick stuff, putting studded tires on the rando is probably my best option.

HardyWeinberg

I do love my 35mm marathon winters

Leebo

45 north makes 27.5 plus studded tires. Would seem beastly for any amount of pavement though. I run 26 x 1.95 and 700 x 35 nokians in the Boston, MA winters here. They do not list a weight. Think 1.5 to 2 lbs apiece, my guess. Would not be my best idea for pavement. How long is the commute?

Leebo

The dillingers are 26 x4.0 "

OneIsAllYouNeed

I'd vote for non-studded winter tires on the rando bike. I have some Continental Top Contact Winter 700x35 for that purpose.

On powder days, take the plus bike for giggles. Studded tires are always slow. Fat bikes are always slow. Studded tires are better on ice, but you already have the plus tires. You're more likely to use the rando bike when there's a little black ice around, so it should have appropriate tires. A second wheelset for the rando bike might be good, too, so you can have normal road tires mounted for days above freezing.

kingston 

I agree that a more expensive and better option would be to get second wheelset for the studded tires on the rando bike and just use them on the days you need them. Your commute is long enough that for me it would be worth the extra expense of having two wheelsets.

cbike

My philosophy on winter riding. Studded tires always. I'm highly allergic to falls with the bicycle. The weather might change and ice might be present on the ride home. Besides I don't mind riding slow. In other words better save than sorry.

(But then I also call a 2" tire a "fat" tire.)

bobish

May need to start a new thread here.

Leebo - I see you have a Burley Runabout.

I have a XL Runabout frame I bought forkless, and I'm trying to build a commuter with it.

I can't find any information about the specs for the fork.

Could you measure the axle to crown distance?

Someone local has a LHT 26" Disc fork for sale, and I think it may work, but I'd feel better about making the plunge if I knew more about what the Runabout originally came with.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Tim_Iowa

@alathIN, 45Nrth has a new studded 27.5 x 3.0 tire, the Wrathchild. It's $130, which isn't nearly as expensive as their 26 x 4.8 studded tires.


I went with studded Dillinger 5's, because I wanted a tire that could handle winter off-trail exploration as well as commuting.
On the MUP I ride to work, the previous day's snow-melt freezes overnight, so there are lots of ice patches on the pavement for my morning ride.

Dillinger 5 studded tire:
+ Snow traction: good paddle-shaped tread works well, but they're not as grippy as Bud & Lou
+ Ice traction: lots of studs near the centerline and the edges, they're totally surefooted on ice
+ Rolling: surprisingly fast-rolling tire; they're only slightly slower than my stock Ground Control tires, which are pretty fast for a fat tire
- Cost: $250 per tire
- Size: not 5 inches; more like 4.4 inches (on 90 mm rims)
- Weight: Heavy. 1450 grams isn't the heaviest fat bike tire, but it's heavier than many. The studs make up a good portion of this weight; the 120 tpi casing is pretty lightweight.

The Dillinger 5 is a great tire; it works well on both snow and ice and still rolls pretty well. However, I'd recommend buying the 3.8" Dillinger 4 studded before the 4.4" Dillinger 5. The $85 more for each Dillinger only gets you .6" more width. That adds up to better floatation on loose stuff, but still it's a costly upgrade.

There are also Vee Rubber Snowshoe XL studded fat bike tires, in 26 x 4.8" size. I've heard that they're not quite as awesome as the studded Dillingers (for example, no concave studs like 45Nrth), but they're also quite a bit cheaper (Dillinger 5 width at the Dillinger 4 price).

I would buy a used fat bike before I bought a Wal-mart one. I see used Pugsleys for $600-700 pretty regularly. The Wal-Mart fat bike probably wouldn't last one winter of snow stomping.

alathIN

Tim, that is good info. The 3" tire with studs looks like you could ride it anywhere; with 4.4 you could probably ride on glaciers.

I see differing opinions about fenders. You have to have fenders, otherwise you get slush splattered right in your face. You can't use fenders, they get crammed with snow.