Do people using spiked tyres leave them on all winter no matter what the conditions?

[John_S]

Hi hemo,

Thanks for your help & advice and I'll follow your tips about the pressure. Also I completely appreciate your advice that two spiked tyres are better than one but at the moment I only have one Schwalbe Winter spiked tyre because I got one a while ago on a bit on an impulse purchase a while ago when there was just one left at a bargain price.

Hi Vorpal,

Many thanks for your feedback about the rims and wheels and this does make me think that perhaps the Rose Bike wheels are worth going for.

Hi Raph,

Thanks for the message and information. Also it's handy to hear from someone who does change wheels to suit conditions.

However for me I don't have derailleur gears because my bike has a Shimano Alfine Internal Gear Hub although the same principle could apply with a worn chain not matching up with a different far cog on a spare rear wheel.

In my case though due to the cost of having a spare rear wheel with another IGH I just couldn't justify that for a the sake of a spiked tyre rear wheel spare that in all likelihood would not see a whole lot of use.

Therefore the options that I'm considering are as follows:-

A) Stick as I am with a non-studded rear tyre and put the Schwalbe Winter studded tyre all winter as some other above do with spiked tyres without having issues;

B) Buy a second Schwalbe spiked tyre to put on the rear and again leave the spiked tyres on all winter.

C) Buy a cheap'ish spare front wheel which I'll put the Schwalbe spiked tyre on so as I can just put this front wheel with the studded tyre on when the conditions are bad enough. Because of having an IGH I don't want to go down the road of buying a spare rear wheel and so I'd put a Continental Top Contact Winter tyre on the rear to stay on all winter, although I do appreciate (per hemo's message above) that this isn't a full proof solution because you could lose traction with the rear as well if the conditions are bad enough. However I feel that this might overall be a reasonable compromise solution to suit my bike and the variable conditions that we get over the course of a UK winter.


Hi delap,

Many thanks of your message & feedback which is much appreciated.

It's great to hear from somebody who has bought one of the wheels built by Rose and you're right about adding up the cost of the components to buy separately versus the cost of a wheel itself.

Also many thanks for pointing me in the direction of the 700c wheel including dynamo hub at Decathlon. That's another bargain and so thank you for highlighting it although I don't think that this will end up being the wheel for me because I think that the Decathlon one is for a rim brake and my Genesis Day One has disc brakes so I think that the Rose wheel will be the better option for me.


Thanks to all for your advice and information sent!

John

[Vorpal]

Another alternative for you might be non-studded winter tyres, like http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/commuting- ... er-premium

They aren't as good on ice as studded tyres, but they are better in snow, and they are far better than summer tyres on ice or snow. They're designed for cold weather, so get much better grip in the cold than any summer tyre. They can be left on all winter without slowing you down.

[Raph]

Hi Raph,

Thanks for the message and information. Also it's handy to hear from someone who does change wheels to suit conditions.

However for me I don't have derailleur gears because my bike has a Shimano Alfine Internal Gear Hub although the same principle could apply with a worn chain not matching up with a different far cog on a spare rear wheel.

In my case though due to the cost of having a spare rear wheel with another IGH I just couldn't justify that for a the sake of a spiked tyre rear wheel spare that in all likelihood would not see a whole lot of use.

Whoops sorry, didn't realize it was a gear hub - then forget what I said! I have a bike with Nexus hub gears and roller brakes, both wheels are a real pain to remove and refit, I definitely wouldn't consider swapping wheels on that.

[nez]

I leave mine on the other bike all winter...main bikes retains normal tyres and i make decision which bike to use after looking outside in the morning.

I did try putting the studded tyres on spare wheels but changing wheels too much hassle on cold dark mornings when sant to get into work quick.

Ditto [emoji53]

[[XAP]Bob]

Intuitively I suspect that a front wheel studded 'spare' to be swapped in is a reasonable compromise.

You still want to avoid the ice, but you get warning of black ice (it all goes quiet) and you will tend to lose the back, which is often rather less dramatic than losing the front end.

[John_S]

Hi All,

Thanks for the extra messages above.

Hi [XAP]Bob, I am sort of coming to the same conclusion that although having only a studded front wheel doesn't offer the same protection as having studs both front & back it does seem a reasonable compromise especially if combined with one of the Continental Winter non-studded tyres on the rear wheel.

Although obviously swapping wheels regularly is a bit of a pain it's not something that I intend on doing on a daily basis. I do try to clean my bike at least once a week on the weekend if I can and it's something whereby I'd plan on looking at the forecast for the week ahead and I could swap the wheel just on the weekend when cleaning it because it's not too much extra work if doing it at the same time as cleaning.

For now I'm just leaving the studded front on all of the time as others have done without problems.

If I go down the route of the spare front wheel I'm now just having a think to work out if the DT Swiss 545 disc rim is suitable for the tyre.

https://www.dtswiss.com/en/products/rims/trekking/545d/

My hunch is that this rim which has an inner width of 21mm and an external width of 27mm will be fine for my Schwalbe Winter tyre which has the size 30-622 (28 x 1.20, 700x30C).

Thanks,

John

[gregoryoftours]

Wow those dynamo wheel prices are crazy cheap! Even the decathlon wheel had a Shimano Dyno hub, although a single walled rim.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my Redmi Note 4 using hovercraft full of eels.

[jeatsy]

I put a 'new' rear mech, cassette, chain, gear cables and bar tape on it on Saturday, the lot cost a total of just over £18 or 3 drives to work.

How did it cost that little?!

[whoof]

I put a 'new' rear mech, cassette, chain, gear cables and bar tape on it on Saturday, the lot cost a total of just over £18 or 3 drives to work.

How did it cost that little?!

The 'new' rear mech was a Shimano Acera one. Bought it from someone at work, they had bought a new bike and upgraded the mechafter one month so it cost me £4. All the other stuff was new from Planet X and I got it whilst on offer. 8 spd cassette £6.50, chain £4.50, tape £1.25 & gear cables 0.99 p each. Total £18.23.

[gaz]

Took off the studded tyres today, back to the M+.

[horizon]

Took off the studded tyres today, back to the M+.

Quite a lot happened between the last post and yours. But I think it was covered in other threads.

[SA_SA_SA]

What about a winter spiked front wheel for permanent winter readyness safety with rear 'chains' added as needed:
eg
https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicycle-tires-and-inner-tubes/bicycle-snow-chains/tirewraps-snow-chains-for-bicycles-dutch-glory-orange/
http://www.slipnottraction.com/bike-tire-chains.html

Anybody know any more or easy DIY/MYOG versions?

Or is there a UK source for this sticky snow spray type stuff:
https://www.costco.ca/Snow-Grip-Liquid-Chains-Traction-Spray-.product.100249795.html ?

[tatanab]

What about a winter spiked front wheel for permanent winter readyness safety with rear 'chains' added as needed:
eg
https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicycle-tires-and-inner-tubes/bicycle-snow-chains/tirewraps-snow-chains-for-bicycles-dutch-glory-orange/
http://www.slipnottraction.com/bike-tire-chains.html?

The former would be very exciting with rim brakes!!!! It is not clear how the latter are attached.

[gaz]

The former would be very exciting with rim brakes!!!!

Indeed, even with disc brakes punctures would become, err, challenging.

It is not clear how the latter are attached.

See the instructions section in the link.

[SA_SA_SA]

.....Indeed, even with disc brakes punctures would become, err, challenging.

Surely the zip tie style ones* are meant to be removed(if releasable ties) or cut off(if not) to fix punctures?