Barrettscv 

What tire would you want to commute on from October to May, the Continental Top Contact Winter or the Continental Four Season? Conditions are wet, slushy and salted most of the time.

fietsbob

Limited to just Chicago residents I assume.

Wilbur Bud

neither. Nokian Hakepeliitta or one of the other Nokian combo (knobby/studded). Of course, size matters.

Barrettscv 

Not limited, but urban cyclist from the snow belt might have a higher level of personal experience.

Barrettscv 

The number of days annually that a studded tire is the best choice in Chicago are few, and the bike won't fit a big, knobby tire in any case.

I know from experience after using Schwalbe studded tires for a season. Rolling resistance on dry or wet pavement is twice that of a studless tire in most cases. I ran two sets of tires on two wheelsets just so I wasn't on studded tires unless ice and snow was prevalent.

wolfchild

I live in the suburbs of Toronto close to Lake Ontario..I prefer to have two bikes set up for winter riding, one has knobby CX tires and the other has studded tires...To answer OPs question, I would choose Conti Top Contact Winter.

bikemig 

I use the winter contact tires for commuting in Des Moines. That works well most of the time. I agree with wolfchild , having a 2d bike set up with studded tires makes sense.

Barrettscv 

How were the Top Contact Winters in terms of flat resistance? Any evidence of the Top Contact Winter being flat prone?

Phamilton

Recommendation from northern Indiana, keep a spare wheel set with studded tires for icy days and run a tire with good tread the rest of the time, all the makers have one.

bikemig 

Knock on wood, so far zero issues with flats. These are good quality tires.

But Des Moines streets have less crud on them than Chicago, right? If I were commuting in a larger city than the one I live in, I'd be sorely tempted to run tire liners as a precaution. Flats on the way to work are no fun.

fietsbob

My Nokian Mount and Ground W 26x1.9" imported direct from Finland in 90 are still fine ,

although, climate change, for the last several years meant only got down to less than 0C
when there was no cloud cover so day's heat dissipated at sunset.. clear & dry, no ice on the street.

Gresp15C

I've been happy with both Nokian and Schwalbe studded tires in Madison WI. We haven't had a lot of snow in the last couple years, but enough to justify keeping the studs on.

For some reason, there are always a couple pairs of studded tires on the Craig, and they last a long time, so it's worth checking.

Outfitting a family of 4 with studded tires is not cheap.

79pmooney

Top Contacts aren't going to be a lot of fun until winter, October and all but the worst of November, don't. End of March they come off.

I have them (as a fun luxury in Portland). I have ridden year 'round in Ann Arbor and Boston as a non car-owner so I know the deal. The Top Contacts are a very grippy tire with a lot of rolling resistance. Also expensive, I see no reason to work that hard and wear out that great tread pattern faster and for no benefit.

Ideally, I'd get a 2nd set of wheels (maybe a considerably lesser pair since they are going to see salt and road grit) and put the Top Contacts on those. Let them sit until the weather changes. Save your good wheels for those rare nice days and spring.

chas58

Personally, I run Schwalbe G-One (allround). They do wonderful in the snow, great in wet and slush.

That said, if the ground is wet and frozen, studded tires are the only way I can prevent spraining my ankle. Those freeze/thaw cycles put ice in surprising places. If its a hard freeze, or above freezing the G-One is wonderful.

Never used the winter contact - although "studdless" car tires are impressive. The 4 season is just a modern version of the Gatorskin.

hsuBM

Heh, I’ve got studded Hakkas on my car and love them. RWD coupe, even with empty trunk and tank it plows through anything less than four inches above the bumper with no issue.

That’s cool to read that Nokian make bike tires, and if 1) they’re close to as good as their car ones + 2) you’re a sit-down rider and your rig has a nice IGH and chaincase- they’re probably amazing for your riding style through the slidey months.

My climate here in upstate NY is darned close to the same as yours with regards to non-constant ice but I don’t know if you folks in Chi get any of the multi-density crusty slush or the snowblower-clogging wet snow we get.

If you folks are dealing with thicker slush, IME you ought to be posting not just brands/models, but bike+stuff+rider weight and tire width.

Maxed out ~180lbs I found 35c Kenda Klondikes just too horrible in only four inches of fresh heavy lake effect to make the studs worthwhile when I found some plowed streets. They’d climb up on top then fall through with every pedal stroke. In the really thick glop even a 28c is on the edge of too wide to have on the front for efficiently cutting through with my weight.

At the time I’d gotten the Kendas (2009-10) they were the slimmest studded tires I could get. I still have them with around 70 miles on them. I really tried to like them. Useless around here AFAIC.

TsunamiJobu

I used regular old 25mm gatorskins year-round in Chicago (15mi daily commute). Never had an issue beyond a couple of black ice surprises in non-salted alleys. As long as you know your commute and where the sketchy spots are, you’ll be fine. You’ll still crash, but it won’t be from the tires.

Pugs2xLove

Hello fellow Iowan. Des Moines resident here as well. Haven't commuted in the winter time yet but I plan on it this season with studded tires. What kind of bike do you use for the season?

bikemig 

I've been running an old Bridgestone BB-1, which is a basic commuter bike from the early 90s. I like old MTBs for winter commuting; they're cheap (or they were cheap before Covid) and take fat tires and fenders. Winter sort of chews up bikes. I picked up a surly 1 x 1 which I'm going to turn into a winter bike. There's a lot to be said for a one speed in winter.

chas58

Have fun! Studded tires are slow, but super sure footed. I took mine out to a frozen lake to see how hard I could push them, and ended up pulling a w"heelie on a high torque start. I ended up making a private little rae circuit on that lake I was having so much fun on studded tires. Looks kinda funny on a strava heat map seeing all these laps on a lake on a bike. ;-)

I did laugh at this part "You’ll still crash, but it won’t be from the tires." I've got gatorskins - super hard and tough rubber that is the opposite of what I want in the winter. I do love Schwalbe G-One Alround, but if there is any ice, studs are the way to go.

TsunamiJobu

In 4 years I saw zero studded tire commuters.
Now... I wouldn’t ride if it was below 5 degrees (just too cold) so maybe that’s when all the studded tire pros came out.

sweeks

Frozen lake riding is great... especially if there's no snow and the ice is thick!

Nokian Extreme 294 front and rear... like riding on dry pavement!