Just switched to studded tires on my bike today (Schwalbe Marathon Winter). They make a HUGE difference. With my old tires I nearly hadn't any grip at all today. With the studded tires I can break on black ice and it feels like breaking on dry concrete.
Yes - they've been somewhat expensive. With shipping I've payed about 110 Euros. But I'll prefer investing some money in good tires, compared to crashing and landing under a car.
if you want narrow studded bike tires they're nowhere close to that much. A quick search found decent pizza cutters starting as low as $25/each. If you want studded fat bike tires you're gonna spend $400 for a set.
The narrow ones are fine for a little wet snow but suck once you get more than a few inches of dry powder or downtown slop. You're way better to go for flotation then.
Studded snow tires are louder than other tires, snow tires without studs are softer than normal tires so less noise. Modern snow tires without studs are surprisingly good on ice, which is the only place studded tires can compete.
Noise levels is one of the things tires are rated by, but a quiet tire would normally require a softer compound and softer compound wears out faster than harder tires
Once you consider the environmental and health costs of studded tyres I am not sure if salt is all that bad. It's usually combined with small stones that increase road grip as well. Studded tyres grind the road down to small particles that contribute to the fine dust problem in cities and this also requires new layers of asphalt fairly often.
Correct tread pattern and pressure for conditions will make a significant difference in rolling resistance, far more than just about every other tire property (weight, suppleness, etc). Different conditions require different tread patterns and different tire pressures. As for weight, you’ll save maybe 100g of weight per tire, which is admittedly amplified due to rolling. Drop a single water bottle and you’ll be back on top. You won’t of course find many “performance” bikes with wire beaded tires.
Most paved paths are best paired with slicks/semi-slicks, even when wet (snow/ice is a separate discussion). Yet many hybrid/city bikes are equipped with a bit of tread depth. The tradeoff is durability and puncture resistance - slicks/semi-slicks can’t compete. And for people buying these types bikes, it is far more important that they reliably get from point A to point B without any flats or maintenance costs than saving a minute off their daily commute, so it is a fair trade off.
As for tubeless setups, I would hesitate to recommend those to anyone that needs this site (not that you’re suggesting that). If you don’t know what tire you need I would be willing to bet you have no idea how to fix a tubeless puncture, top up sealant, or remove/reinstall the tire.
Ugh this is my story right now. $500 cost for a new tire. I will probably get it patched and then put on a set of winter wheels while I figure out the next step
Tire quality makes all the difference. If you value traction and safety, please don't skimp on tires. Buy the good ones, the difference in braking performance alone is massive.
Yes - they've been somewhat expensive. With shipping I've payed about 110 Euros. But I'll prefer investing some money in good tires, compared to crashing and landing under a car.
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