MostWanted

Hi,
I am commuting 10km per day on my electric MTB, which is a fail because I am rarely ever driving offroad... Whole 10km's are asphalt. I am wondering what would be the best (gripiest) tire to fit during the winter, excluding studded tires (would take too long to explain why not).
I heard that knobby MTB tires like Magic Mary won't help in rain/ice, but will be useful in snow. As I said, snow is not gonna be an issue so i am trying to avoid these.
I went to schwalbe website and set maximum road grip as a parameter, and got Schwalbe Maraton Double Protection tires, dimensions 27.5'' x 2''. Would this thing do well in winter? Obviously it's not gonna be as good as studded tires, but I want the next best thing for slick surfaces, so if you can, help me out here.

Continental Top contact seems to be just that, but sadly doens't exist in 27.5'' :/

LesterOfPuppets

Switchback Hill would probably have the best cornering grip and road feel, but they might be a little lightweight for an ebike.

https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/co...itchback-hill/

There are tradeoffs in tires, you have puncture resistance, durability, cornering grip, and road feel. You can't max out all 4 values in one tire. For ebike commuting, I'd probably stick with the Schwalbes you mentioned.

dh024

Continental Top Contact II Premium. Continental are making them in a 27.5 x 2" version now. There is a current thread discussing this tire here.

MostWanted

Thank you for your answers!
The information that continental top contact exists in 27.5'' was very useful. I decided to put it in front and the schwalbe marathon tire of exact same dimensions will go in back, and I am quite satisfied with the decision for now, gonna post actual results in the other thread once I get them

JonathanGennick 

It's not just about tire dimensions. The rubber compound matters a lot. Winter tires are made from a rubber compound that remains pliable in cold weather. FWIW, here is one source for the Top Contacts:

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Co...g-Tyre-p52538/

Mine just arrived yesterday, and I have a second set on the way as a gift for a friend. I'll be posting up about how well they work once I get them mounted and we have some snow and ice to try them on.

Bikewolf

Please do! Thanks & ’njoy.

Let us know too how it performs / grips when riding on wet surfaces (e.g. cobblestones).

JonathanGennick 

Have you tried them yet in snow and ice conditions? Am curious what you think of them.

MostWanted

Sadly no. I mounted them but these days it's a little bit hot, just above freezing temperature, so no snow/ice, only rain. However, I can say they are very good in rain, and the rolling resistance is surprisingly quite low. Bike feels as it's 2-3 kg lighter compared with previous tires. Will post more when we get first snow/ice here...

Edit: I also tested driving on wet cobblestones, no problems at normal speeds, didn't try above 25km/h tho.

ShadowRaven

i think last year in the winter i went from some skinny summer tyres to some super thick vittoria ones. the grip was great in the winter...i think it was their pro series?

MostWanted

We got snow today, so I finally tested them in real winter conditions today!
I bought both tires with grip in mind, and they exceeded my expectations. I couldn't really test cornering power to its limit since I was afraid of falling, but I tested braking power + acceleration and that works like a charm. Braking on snow is very impressive and a huge change from my previous MTB tires. Another good thing about these tires is that they make no sound at all. Seriously, if the surface is slick, you get no sound, while those spikes sound like tractors when I pass them xD What I am also impressed with is the Marathon Schwalbe tire I am using in the back, I got very decent downhill braking force with it in slippery snowy surface, which I definitely didn't expect, especially because I mounted it at the back... I also tested acceleration full power + electric motor at full power in sand, accelerated smoothly with very minimal wheelspin... Tires are amazing, I totally recommend both.

Pros:
Silent
Excellent grip on roads and hard-packed surfaces
Comfortable
Pretty with those white stripes
Low rolling resistance and not nearly as heavy as spiked tires.
Cons:
None yet.

JonathanGennick 

Remind me what's in front? Are you running the Continental in front? When the tires are off the bike, do the carcasses feel similarly supple?