mkblackwell

I've been running 45nrth Gravdal 700c x 38 studded tires this winter on my daily commuter bike. Now that I have two months and 700 miles on them here's a report.

These are the 33 TPI version with steel/carbide studs. There used to be a 120 TPI version with aluminum/carbide studs but they don't seem to be available any more. In any case for winter tires I value bomb-proof and long lasting over lower weight and suppleness...

The previous four winters I rode Nokian W160's - 26 x 1.9, a much different tire size and different bike, so I can't make too direct of a comparison.

The sidewall rating is 35 - 75 PSI. I initially ran them at 60 PSI (I'm 210 lbs), and they were way too harsh. Now I'm running them at 40 - 45 PSI (depending if the road is snowy or dry, and if I feel like futzing around with them in the morning - mostly I just top them off on the weekend). That makes for a much more comfortable ride.

It's been a pretty dry winter in Boston so far, so I'd say it's been 80% dry pavement, with the rest a mix of snow, refrozen slush, and black ice. Kind of a drag (literally) running studs on dry roads, but I figure it's part of my winter exercise regime... And hoo boy, those black ice mornings make it all worth while!

Each tire has 252 studs, with groups of 6 arranged in a "V" formation. The inner most studs are just outside the inner tread track - on a dry road, riding in a straight line, the tire rides on the inner tread track and the inner studs just barely engage the road. The rest of the studs don't start to engage until you start to turn (or you're in deeper snow). This seems like a pretty smart design, and works really well - it makes for a smoother (and quieter) ride. The studs don't engage until you need them, and then they bite in just fine. On my Nokians the studs were always engaged - secure but the ride always felt rough and noisy (with that distinctive sizzling bacon sound!).

In terms of performance I give these tires a big thumbs up. They're billed as "commuter tires" and for typical winter urban riding on mostly plowed roads they ride great. On dry roads they handle pretty similarly to aggressively knobby tires - there's some squirmyness but not annoyingly so, and they handle a lot better than I was expecting for studded tires (but again, I'm comparing to a much different tire). On snow and ice they handle great - I think the thinner profile cuts through the snow better, and the studs engage well when you need them. We had one day after a big thaw/rain/freeze cycle where the local bike path was a ribbon of diamond-hard zamboni-smooth ice. You couldn't walk on it without falling, but riding with studs was super fun! Even on a section where a truck had driven across while partly frozen, leaving a mine field of frozen ice ruts, the Gravdals handled with aplomb.

My only issue - I noticed the other day that two studs in front were half popped out of the tire. I was able to re-seat them with pliers, but further inspection showed the front tire missing 4 studs (all on the right-side outer row, but evenly spaced around the circumference), and 9 missing from the back (all on the inner rows). There's a FAQ on the 45nrth web site that claims you should expect to lose 5 - 10 studs, but that seems a little excessive in just two months (I never lost a single stud in four years on the Nokians). So I sent a note to 45nrth customer service. They got back to me (which I really appreciate) saying this:

So I guess I'm going to buy a big bag of replacement studs and just live with it... I'd still recommend these tires for winter commuting, but be aware of this caveat.

In light snow you can see how the inner tread rides, with the inner studs just barely engaging.


Two studs caught in the act of popping out.

alias5000

Thanks!
Could you elaborate a bit on the tire width difference's effect on handling in deep snow, slush, ice pellets, etc.? Can you cover more (or less) extreme weather conditions better than the 1.9 tire?

acidfast7

Interesting and detailed analysis. Look at how those studs became embedded!

fietsbob

On the other coast Ice & snow is an episode, not a season... saw a little in the morning , wet snow, Gone by noon..


Now it seems you can get a tool and spare studs to shove them back in assuming worn tread is not worn too thin..



FWIW my Suomi Nokian Mount and ground W are in their 28th winter, still have every stud that they had, when new..







...

mcours2006

Interesting how there are studs going off to the side. How far do you have to bank to engage those babies? They look like they'd be awesome on ice, though.

fietsbob

may be a more aggressive rider that would even need that , & may be why some studs were pulled out..

12boy

Nice review....thanks for taking the trouble to do it.

Banzai

Archwhorides 

Thanks for this report, very thorough and thoughtful.

I rode the 45Nrth Xerxes for a couple seasons and in the end was disappointed. I picked up the 120 tpi Gravdal for my front wheel, but it doesn't fit in the fork, and sits in the basement unused. If you are interested in trying the lighter version on your front wheel, I would swap for a beer or two.

My current 650b wheel only runs with Suomi A10 x 40, and I wish 45Nrth made the Gravdal in that diameter.

mkblackwell

At least for my style of commuting riding (not particularly aggressive, no curb jumping, try to avoid the bigger potholes) those outer-most studs only ever engage sliding into or climbing out of frozen ruts (those annoying one inch deep channels that try to point your tires in different directions). The studs seem to do pretty well in those situations. I suspect they got ripped out by accidentally hitting potholes too hard (we've have a couple of extreme thaw/freeze cycles and the potholes seem particularly bad this year...).

mkblackwell

My impression has been that in slush and unconsolidated snow the narrower tires cut through to the pavement better than the wider ones did, so you don't wind up in the situation where the tire continuously compresses a ridge of snow directly underneath, then slides off to the side. I guess at the other extreme with super-wide fat bike tires they just float on top of everything, but I haven't had a chance to try those yet...

wolfchild

I prefer narrower tires for most of my riding but they do have their limitations. In order for skinny tires to cut all the way to the pavement, the conditions have to be "just right". Sometimes what happens is that skinny tires won't cut all the way through and then you end up sliding and having a hard time controlling the bike...The same can be said about fatter tires. In order for them to work the conditions have to be "just right"...and it's not just about the tire size but the tread design and tire pressure has a lot to do with how well the tire performs in snow..After 12 years of winter commuting and experimenting with all kinds of different tires I came to a conclusion that there is no one perfect tire out there and every tire has it's pros and cons. I have two different bikes set up for winter riding. Ones has skinny studded tires and the other one has bigger wider tires.

Ged117 

I'll echo your remarks about no tire being perfect for the varied conditions faced by the winter commuter cyclist. However I will plug for the Schwalbe Marathon Winters - I am on season four with mine, and I haven't lost a stud or had any damage (or flats, for that matter). Visible wear is minimal. I've been very pleased with the performance in reasonable winter conditions.

Notso_fastLane

You really want to deal with snow?

AlexGS1

I am on my second Boston winter with the Gravdals. I too have lost a number of studs, and plan to order replacements at season's end. That said, there have been a few extremely icy days on the river paths, and I have managed to stay upright. Most of my riding is in the city, but, I do occasionally do a longer commute to Salem Mass from Brighton (25ish miles). Right now, I've been finishing that in just under 2 hours, and I'm very curious to see if I gain any time when I switch tires. Not exactly a lab-ready experiment, but, should give some insight into how much of the perceived sluggishness is in my brain.

PaulRivers

That would be top notch for ice. 3 wheels, no ice is going to tip you over.

For snow...imagine it's the same or worse than a fat bike though...