Spikey ice tyres

[Lazarus]

Well now it's cold and I commute on ungritted country back roads ( and declined today as everything is icey)

Are these really worth it and can you use them when it's just surface ice rather than snow

Wiggle have them at £15 ish but not sure they will work or get that much use
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-winte ... -road-tyre
Any real world experience ?

[woodsmith]

Not personally but when I lived in Denmark a good friend and co-worker used them for commuting all winter and rated them highly.

[Dyffers]

Yes these are exactly what you want for roads which may include patchy ice.

They are useless in snow, you're better off riding your MTB tyres in powder snow but when does the UK see much of that?

The impossible to ride UK days are day 2 after it has snowed then frozen overnight. You need Ice Spikers or similar for that and they are definitely not a commuting tyre, for drag, weight or price!

[thenorthwind]

I think they're the same, or very similar, to the ones I had a few years ago. They were effective when it did get properly icy, but otherwise were just noisy and felt horrible, which was most of the time. My commute is shorter and urban, so probably overkill anyway really, you might find the use:annoyance ratio preferable.

[Richpips]

Ice tyres are brilliant on ice. We've several pairs.

As you say, the difference between going out and not.

[Al]

I’ve got a pair of very similar schwalbe winter marathons. Maybe they’ve renamed them?
First time I used them on frozen compacted snowy roads I thought they felt a bit skittish, so stopped to let a bit of air out the tyre. Put one foot down and fell straight over. So yes very effective. Mine seemed very puncture resistant, but at low pressure I always worried about pinch flatting and having to wrestle them of to change a tube in sub zero conditions. With this on my mind i actually got the m to go up tubeless on some wtb rims the winter before last.

I’ve got a fairly ridiculous commute and manage it through the winter picking days carefully and don’t use them very often. They are pretty draggy and make a weird noise like rice crispies. I’ve also found they shed spikes if you run them on tarmac too much. Works well if you can have them ready to go on a pair of old spare wheels.

[Lazarus]

EDIT: the perfect reply there as i was typing, Will try to get them tubeless and use as and when required , on spare rims, as its 13 mile each way.

you might find the use:annoyance ratio preferable.

I might but then again they might just sit in the shed unused hence asking

Given the price and the feedback on here i will chance it after all its only £30 and unlikely to be doing much CX riding in the ice so they will be a wheelset to use if required rathe tthan on all the time.
Its a proper back road with twisty turns , blind bends and a few short sharp steep hills with zero chance of the roads getting gritted as I see about 8 cars in 8 miles and that is during peak "rush hour" [ that makes my urban home sound so much rural than it really is]


Cheers all for the feedback

[rivers]

EDIT: the perfect reply there as i was typing, Will try to get them tubeless and use as and when required , on spare rims, as its 13 mile each way.

you might find the use:annoyance ratio preferable.

I might but then again they might just sit in the shed unused hence asking

Given the price and the feedback on here i will chance it after all its only £30 and unlikely to be doing much CX riding in the ice so they will be a wheelset to use if required rathe tthan on all the time.
Its a proper back road with twisty turns , blind bends and a few short sharp steep hills with zero chance of the roads getting gritted as I see about 8 cars in 8 miles and that is during peak "rush hour" [ that makes my urban home sound so much rural than it really is]


Cheers all for the feedback

Have you fit them yet? How have you found them/we're they easy to fit? I just ordered a set today as with the train strikes, I am reliant on my bike the entire commute. And I can't risk coming off.

[rivers]

EDIT: the perfect reply there as i was typing, Will try to get them tubeless and use as and when required , on spare rims, as its 13 mile each way.

you might find the use:annoyance ratio preferable.

I might but then again they might just sit in the shed unused hence asking

Given the price and the feedback on here i will chance it after all its only £30 and unlikely to be doing much CX riding in the ice so they will be a wheelset to use if required rathe tthan on all the time.
Its a proper back road with twisty turns , blind bends and a few short sharp steep hills with zero chance of the roads getting gritted as I see about 8 cars in 8 miles and that is during peak "rush hour" [ that makes my urban home sound so much rural than it really is]


Cheers all for the feedback

Have you fit them yet? How have you found them/we're they easy to fit? I just ordered a set today as with the train strikes, I am reliant on my bike the entire commute. And I can't risk coming off.

[Lazarus]

Nah I remembered i had some ice spikers for the MTB in the loft and got them out
Many more spikes than those above but my feedback is
1. Great in compacted ice
2. Terrible in snow - they have to be at 30 psi and the road ones even more
3.Very draggy - the flat is like a steepish uphill- I had to walk some bits I can clean on the SS[ I had gears and 32 - 52 as my lowest] and have never walked in my life.

I suspect the ones you have ordered will be less draggy and have enough grip for the roads with care but I thought my 13 mile commute would take about 1 hr 45 in the ones I have but that would have been a MTB

Not that noisy ir uncomfortable but it was on a MTB on proper snow