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Tire pressure on Marathon Winter

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Tire pressure on Marathon Winter

Old 11-22-21, 10:38 AM
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jrickards
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Tire pressure on Marathon Winter

HI:

I posted earlier that I had just received great shipping service from Schwalbe (USA) and FedEx, receiving my tires just 46hrs (despite crossing the US/Canada border).

The tires are quite thick and tough, neither of which is an issue. However, the pressure range is 35-65psi and after my first hard-on-the-butt ride, I decided to reduce the tire pressure from 55 to 35psi (both of which were determined by my pump's guage, I have a separate one coming in a couple of weeks). Although I haven't yet ridden the bike yet with the lower pressure, using my hand, it doesn't feel any less hard.

The issue is that I'd like a bit more rubber on the road so softer pressure would achieve that but I don't know if 35psi (the low end of the recommended range) will help with that as it really doesn't feel any less hard. Might I consider going lower?

What do others do with winter tires? Low end of range or lower?
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Old 11-22-21, 11:01 AM
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Lower pressure is probably reasonable, but to get an accurate answer you'll need to give the width of the tires and an estimate of the weighted load (you+bike+gear).
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Old 11-22-21, 11:02 AM
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I found there seems to be no benefit to running marathon winter tires at a lower pressure. The sidewalls are quite thick and stiff so running them lower seems to just rob you of power rather than improving ride quality. On my touring bike I usually run them on the high end.

I ran a marathon winter on the back of my mountain bike one season, and I think an Ice Spiker Pro is actually a faster tire due to its thin flexible sidewalls despite being much chunkier.
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Old 11-22-21, 11:31 AM
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Usually, I'm happy with the pressures that the various "15% drop" calculators provide, but with studded tires I go a bit lower. Less for comfort than increasing the contact patch of the tires.
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Old 11-22-21, 12:48 PM
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I have these tires on 2 bikes. they have stiff side walls. so there isn't as much "softening" of the ride as you get w/ other tires. & I agree lowering the pressure will make them slower. changing the pressure will do other beneficial things tho. I rarely use them at max pressure. but an example of when I would, is riding dry roads or paved bike paths w/ little to no snow or ice. the only exception might be during a fresh powdery snow storm before it accumulates for than an inch or two. feel free to run that front tire 5-10psi lower since it carries less weight. most all other conditions I'll lower the pressure. as someone else may have already mentioned the higher the pressure, the more you'll run on the center studs & the lower the pressure the more contact you will have & the more weight will be on the outward studs. traction is a funny thing, depending on conditions you may want a narrower harder tire to find pavement under powder, sometimes a slightly wider foot print give you more tread & flotation. but they're not wide tires so don't expect "flotation" no matter how low you go

wanna know what they're not good on? this stuff. I think it's wet stone dust & soil, above freezing. feels like fly paper. excruciatingly sticky & slow


they are great below freezing, like ice covered gravel. lower the pressure so all studs make contact


they are great on water covered ice. no really. they're like magic


1"-2" of snow? eats it right up


something to watch out for:
sticky snow that compacts the treads & then you ride over ice. the compacted snow will prevent the studs from making contact & you might go down

Last edited by rumrunn6; 11-22-21 at 01:24 PM.
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