Marathon Winter Plus, Anyone?

[Stefan Mikes]

Winter has come. I wonder if I should equip my Vado 5.0 with Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus, 50-622, 28x2"
Anyone has tried?

These tyres are deadly expensive, so I would like to know if anyone has used them.

 

[J.R.]

My experience is with Nokian Hakkapeliitta W240. The 240 is the amount of studs per tire. Hand made in Finland. You can find many great reviews for these, yet they are no longer available. I believe their current model is called Nokian Suomi, I'm not sure of current specs or quality. Like the Schwalbe they were expensive.

When I bought my last set of Nokians, they were the only company offering a tire with a lot of studs, Schwalbe and Continental had versions with slightly more than 100 studs (~106?). The advice I received at the time was that I needed more. They really worked and lasted many thousands of miles. I never went down as a result of ice and I only lost a few studs over the life of the tires. Stud loss is the biggest concern and complaint with some tires.

The downside of studded tires is the noise on dry pavement. By late winter they drove me nuts! Couldn't wait to get them off. My commute was 34 miles round trip, and about a third of that was usually dry. Still the only way to survive. It's so easy to get stuck in an ice rut and I don't care how big or aggressive the tire is, without studs you can't get out of an ice rut. A regular tire just spins on the edge then slides out from under you and the bike.

If I were buying a new set today I'd strongly consider the Schwalbe. I've had great luck with their other tires. Looks like they upped their game with 168 studs per tire. I'm interested to see if anyone has experience with them.

Best of luck!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you for your extensive answer @J.R.!
P.S. Schwalbe claims they use "up to" 240 studs on their Marathon Winter Plus tyres.

 

[Dallant]

Well, the tire must have x number of holes for studs when they were formed. Can you buy extra studs and how are they replaced if there is a lost stud? Just curious because I used to install studs in car tires and we had a pneumatic gun that inserted them.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@J.R.
The tyres are here. I only need some snowing

Are you going to ride in snow?

No. I live on a hill with a winding road, and when it snows, I walk. Moreover, should I take a chance on wiping out and having to go to the hospital in a pandemic? A day's bike ride is not worth losing many weeks of rides. Of course I don't live in a place that gets snow very often, so it is not...

electricbikereview.com

 

[Prairie Dog]

Nice tires Stefan. Sorry if I’m a bit late to the game in providing input. Take it from me, you'll need more than snow to get the most efficient use out of them. Studded tires work best on hardpack or near-to or icy conditions. In either deep or sloppy/soft textured snow they won't offer much benefit. The studs need something to grab onto other than just the pavement below so it helps if the ambient temperature is below or well below freezing and that the snow is already packed down somewhat. For deep snow you would be better off with fat tires which will allow you to float on top of the fresh stuff.

We received a modest dump several days ago and I preferred to wait until the city crews cleared the trails as I knew that it would be a fruitless attempt to hit them as the narrower tires on my bike would just get bogged down. My tires are on the narrower side at 26 x 2.0.

Also, be prepared to lose a few studs along the way but they are easily replaceable. I use Schwalbe carbide studs on my Gravdals and they install and fit just fine. So far, I've only managed to lose less than a handful but the winter riding season is still young here.

Here's a short but ill edited version of yesterday morning’s ride. Temperature was -5 C at the time. Sometimes I instill too much confidence in the tires and end up choosing the wrong line. At 1:12 into the video they lose grip and I almost end up going down. Overall, ground conditions were somewhat of a mixed bag but decent nonetheless for studded tires. That being said, there's nothing more gratifying than hearing the crunch of ice and snow beneath your wheels.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

We'll see what this winter holds @Prairie Dog In case of soft snow, I can ride my 27.5 x 2.6" e-bike. For packed snow and ice, the bike with Marathon Plus Winter should be ideal... Thank you for the information!

 

[Greg Smith]

Winter has come. I wonder if I should equip my Vado 5.0 with Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus, 50-622, 28x2"
Anyone has tried?

These tyres are deadly expensive, so I would like to know if anyone has used them.

Did these tires fit under your Vado's fenders without the studs rubbing the fenders?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Did these tires fit under your Vado's fenders without the studs rubbing the fenders?

No issue with the 622 mm fenders of pre-2022 Vado (the 2022 Vado comes with 584 mm wheels so IDK there)