Winter tires for bikes

[micromustache]

I live in Toronto and am planning to keep commuting on my bike through Jan and Feb.  Does anyone use winter tires on their bikes?  Do they make a difference?  What kind do you use?

[Jojje]

I use Schwalbe Winter and Schwalbe Winter Marathon for the cargobike, both works great.

[hyla]

They are awesome on packed snow and ice.  Make a huge difference.  Not so good on more than a few inches of soft snow, but no bikes do well in that (with the exception of fatbikes, which I imagine exceed most people's budget for a winter commuter).

I have schwalbe marathon winter tires.  They are great, but there are other good ones out there too - just make sure whatever you buy has carbide studs - they will last much longer than studs made of regular, softer steel, especially if you often ride on pavement as well as snow. 

[frances]

They are awesome on packed snow and ice.  Make a huge difference.  Not so good on more than a few inches of soft snow, but no bikes do well in that (with the exception of fatbikes, which I imagine exceed most people's budget for a winter commuter).

If you ride a fat bike as your year round commuter it becomes much more viable costwise. My SO rides a Surly Troll all year and just puts different tires on in the winter. Not sure if the Troll counts as a true fat bike or not but he has fat tires year round and it rides really nice on pavement and the upright posture is much more comfortable to me. I think a Troll, or something similar, is one of the most practical purchases since you can ride in all seasons.

[vhalros]

I also use the Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires. They work great if your ride is a mixture of pavement and snow/ice (some winter tires do not work so well on pavement). I usually lower the tire pressure a bit if road conditions are worse. I also got this tool to replace studs (it seems like a few fall out every year): http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/4448

[micromustache]

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful advice.

[dogboyslim]

I ride a 26" bike and use 1.9" width Nokian Mount and ground (W106?)  They are more helpful once the freeze/thaw begins than for snow.  I have used the 700x32 A10s in the past and they are really only helpful for glare ice.  I have also used Innova studded tires.  I found the studs wore down very quickly.  I have heard that they've now switched to carbide studs rather than plain steel studs.  They only worked for one season.  The Nokians have lasted several and still show limited wear.  This is for 3days *10 mile round trip through the winter.

I have not used, but have been told good things about the 45nrth tires.

I live in the midwest and I put studded tires on all winter.  It gives me peace of mind through all the freeze/thaw cycles that seem to be ever-present here.  I sort of miss living farther north where things just stayed frozen for quite a while.