Studded Tires for Snow/Ice

A favorable conjunction of fate and inclement weather brought me a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Winter 700×40 carbide-studded tires to test at precisely the right moment in time.

I live in a place where it snows and freezes. And studded tires, used by a limited contingent of die-hard, year-round commuters in these parts, are a fine thing to have now and then. For years I have used a pair of undeniably bomber 26×2.1 (53 mm) Kenda Klondikes, a threatening and authoritative tire: 252 carbide studs, painfully stiff sidewalls, an uncompromising bead seat, weighing in at over 1240 grams each. If you attempt to mount them in a cold garage with any sort of urgency they will destroy your nylon levers and make you bleed and curse; you must take your time and think happy thoughts when putting a Klondike on a rim. I always mount them late in the fall, on a bike that will become my winter commuter, ahead of major weather. Or I live without.

Schwalbe’s Marathon Winter tires, on the other hand, mounted with ease. While they are of real German extraction, the Schwalbe studded tires, with what I hoped was an honest 622 bead seat, promised a kinder, gentler sort of preseason setup. And I was not to be disappointed. The Marathons were...

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By John Coe, Commute by Bike, January 18, 2011