Lot of good info here! Were I live the temp change so frequently that I usually ride on frozen and badly plowed bike path and roads in the morning and in snow slush back. Like mentioned studded tires are a must here so another vote for the Nokian Mount&Ground. They are heavy and with the extra resistance far from swift. But the studs sit in a four row configuration, cheaper tires have only two, so they bite in corners making them great for MTB-ing too! Studs sit slightly off to the side so inflated to 3,5bar dry roads don't wear them down too fast (mine are 3-years and still have great bite!). The more severe conditions are the less air I use, going as low as 1,85bar. For road bikes I think the new Marathon Winter are a great tire. Four rows of studs, tighter thread and a lower weight. From what I heard they use the same make of studs as Nokian. Tried a set of studded IRC's in the 90's but they were crap as the studs disappeared into the rubber!
On 30 Jan, 18:09, John McMurry <johnmcmu...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Jan 30, 11:01 am, Sean Whelan <strummer_...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > I was never a mountain biker, so most of my attempts to ride in the snow > > usually end up either with me staring up at the sky from a cold an painful > > landing on the street, or teetering on the verge of collapse at less than 5 > > mph. > > > What do you folks do? > > > What tires at what pressure? > > IMO, there is no winter tire that excels in all conditions. I find > the Nokian Mount & Ground tires to be generally very good winter tires > for most winter conditions that I cycle in. They're sized 559x45mm > and I run them between 35-45psi, depending on conditions. They > perform very well when temps are very low (15F to -25F), with up to a > 4" snow layer, dodging (and hitting) snow cookies, the occasional > sidewalk detour (when conditions warrant), and on light snow covered > ice. In a few other conditions, they're overkill: so smaller tread > blocks, a narrower profile, and less studs would perform better. > > When snow is sticky, thickly rutted, and has a slimy base, (temps from > 20F to 35F on an unplowed, paved surface) I prefer a slightly narrower > tire at a higher pressure and less and/or negative tread. The wider > tires I've used (including the Mount and Grounds) tend to half float, > half sink in that stuff and your wheels constantly drift. > Additionally, the snow packs up into the tread, making pedaling much > more difficult, and traction minimal. These tires excel at most other > conditions though, and so, I'll continue to use them on my commuter. > > I've also had the following experiences riding these tires in the > winter: > > Panaracer Pasela 622x37mm and found them to be a great winter tire for > when roads are better maintained, but no studs meant cornering was > tricky and sometimes dangerous. Not so great getting up steep, icy > roads. > > Continental Town & Country 559x57mm and really liked that they didn't > pack full of snow and provided pretty good traction, but again, were > unstudded and found they floated a bit too much in the loose stuff. > > Nokian A10 584x36mm and find them excellent tires on most winter > rides. They're better than the Mount & Grounds when roads have been > plowed, they're worse when AOT is on strike. > > Regarding winter bicycle riding, the best advice I can give if you're > having problems getting going is to: keep pedaling. > > Momentum will get you through most everything, except corners. > > John McMurry > Burlington, VT --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
