by Dombo » Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:21 pm
Fitted my station bike with Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tyres last night and took the steed for a spin. They are meant to be bedded in by 20 miles or so of tarmac riding but no chance of that so I headed down my hard packed snow on ice hill to test them out. Sharp turn at the bottom so braked hard, no skid, banked the bike over for the turn, no skid it went around like it was on rails.
Now I am pointing up hill, about 6% slope, similar to Box, the main route down to the main road, so the road surface is hard snow worn glassy, essentially white ice. It is dark so just for the hell of it I jump out the saddle and sprint up the road, figuring if I make a tit of myself and fall off nobody will see. The tyres just grip and away I go, passing at top speed a bunch of teenage hoodies mooching along trying not to slip over in their trainers. " 'Ow you ge' up tha' 'ill, man? You muss be superman, innit?" asked one as I passed. "Spiked tyres" I explained, slamming on the brakes and almost doing an endo on the top of an iced-over speed bump. They gathered to have a look, seemingly awestruck that someone older than their grandad could ride a bike up a hill at 20mph. "Ahh, see," the little fellow explained to his homies, " 'e got spikes in 'is tyres. I gotta get some a them. Tha's sick, well sick, respeck". I bid them good cheer and whizz home to check with my now teenage daughter that "sick" is something good. She is probably quite pleased that her papa is seen as cool by these young fellows. Fo' sho'.
In summary, great tyres on hard pack and ice. Slush and soft snow not so good. Also they're quite heavy and feel a little slower than my usual semi-slick Tiogas, especially at 30psi which gives the shoulder and studs a chance to grip. No studs on the centre so I'd pump them to 55-60psi for normal riding. An absolute barsteward to get on though, so useful to have them on a spare set of winter wheels or just pump them harder.