Schwalbe winter tyre review

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Raboa

Esteemed Pedelecer

Jan 13, 2021

#1

Hi, i just bought these tyres and here is what i think

REDUZIERT AUF DAS WESENTLICHE. Auch mit der halben Menge an Spikes bietet der Winter exzellente Kontrolle auf glatten Eisflächen. Nur in extremen Kurvenlagen ist ihm sein großer Bruder...

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Motor: Bafang mid drive 250w (no change to settings)
Size: 26 x 1.75
Pressure: 55psi
Difficulty putting on: Same as Marathons
Terrain: Cycle path and road
Distance: About 40 miles so far

Pros:
Grip well in thin ice and snow
Give you more confidence riding in such conditions
Extend your riding times during winter months

Cons:
Heavier then standard Marathons
More rolling resistance
More effort required

I have ridden these in light ice and wet conditions, so far they have gripped well in these situations, during one ride i went over a parch of thick ice and the back end did skid slightly. When going over pavement slabs and drain covers care has to be taken as these surfaces do not provide much grip, on the road i have not encountered any problems.

Would i recommend these:

Yes
If you fell confident going out in the winter
If you can be bothered changing tyres

I think the ideal situation is you have a spare set of wheels and can use them when need be, for most situations they are overkill, i would look at Schwalbe GT 365 / GT tour if you want a 4 season tyre and extra grip in wet conditions.

I hope this helps somebody. i have a pair of GT 365 coming so i will do a review of these as well.

Tour

1 REIFEN, 4 JAHRESZEITEN, 365 TAGE KEIN REIFENWECHSEL NÖTIG. Der Marathon GT 365 ist der erste Reifen der sich das ganze Jahr über in nahezu allen Wettersituationen sicher fahren lässt...

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Last edited: Jan 13, 2021

Reactions: sjpt

S

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer

Jan 13, 2021

#2

Raboa said:
When going over pavement slabs and drain covers care has to be taken as these surfaces do not provide much grip, on the road i have not encountered any problems.

Thanks for writing that. We had a slip tumble last week starting up on our tandem round a corner. Should have been a trivial event, but something just got my wife's knee and broke the kneecap. Lots of help from passers by; quickly dealt with in Winchester A&E and op in nearby Basingstoke (specialists in that sort of thing) next day. Painful but recovering.

Looking at the place where it happened I think I must have just clipped the corner where very slippy kerb edges had been pushed down almost flush with the road but tiliting; probably from lorries and big cars destroying the kerb while cutting the corner. Someone had suggested more suitable tyres might have helped (we have Marathon Plus, and lack of sideways grip is one of their weak points), but from what you say even those tyres might not have helped with that particular problem.

R

Raboa

Esteemed Pedelecer

Jan 13, 2021

#3

The GT series have a softer compound so may suit you better, I might change to the GT tyres all year for this reason and I also dislike changing these tyres. I think all the tyres mentioned have a trade off, softer compound is less hard wearing but better grip.