Cycling UK Forum

philg wrote:More importantly, the studs fall out with use.

My experience is that Marathon Winter studs fall out only when the tyres are used aggressively in non-icy conditions. But I agree with PhilG they are best used when needed and an additional set of wheels is the ideal solution.

No worries, I have a single speed for non icy days. Good to have two bikes than one if you have divorced the car!

Two bikes would be great - but I'm not sure Mrs Kevin K would agree

philg wrote:

More importantly, the studs fall out with use .

We've been using Schwalbe Snow Stud and Nokian Hakkapeliitta tyres for three winters now and have not had a single stud fall out. We only use them if conditions threaten to be icy, but that was quite a lot last year, we use the road bikes if the weather is warmer, so don't know about everyday use.
I'm just off to put them on this afternoon in anticipation of ice tomorrow.

Funny enough shcwalbe manual that came with the tyre suggests that the new tyre should be ridden on dry tarmac for 40miles before usage on ice. I wonder if this this first "dry" ride will cause stduts falling off. Another question is what sort of pressure is best for this first consolidation ride. Too hard or too soft I imagine will wiggle them off..?
Any ideas?

The key thing is not to ride aggressively with studded tyres on tarmac, otherwise studs will be dislodged.
I lost one stud when I was using my tyres for a protracted period and couldn't be bothered to switch when it wasn't icy.

I bought my Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyres from Dotbike last month and fitted them to my old winter bike. I have used the bike daily since fitting them and have had no stud losses.
The tyres have certainly quietened down after the bedding in period and last week in the frost/ice, they were excellent with no signs of slipping, several of my colleagues who cycled the same route carried out tarmac inspections. Even managed to frighten/surpise a dog walker who was struggling to say upright at one stage of the route and he was walking.
They are heavier, not as sharp in the handling department as the Marathon Supremes as fitted to my other tourer which is laid up for the winter period.
My journey time is only 3-4 minutes more but I enjoy the journey as I take my time now.

An update on my last post, I have been using the bike for the last week setting off from the house about 0630hrs each morning in freezing temperatures and latterly snow on the ground. The tyres have performed admirably and I have not had any scary moments. The only time I realised how bad the conditions were , was one morning when I got off the bike for my paper and milk and nearly went on my backside as the pavements were so icy. It makes you realise just how good these tyres are. Checked them when I got home tonight and there are no stud losses. Running them at 3.5 bar in the front and 4.5 bar in the rear at present with no problems. I have had stories about workmates falling off their bikes all through the week, fortunately with no serious injuries only hurt pride.

stupid enough I had only one chance to try mine on ice with incredible confidence. next day it was supposed to be non icy and my thermometer showed 1C. I went out with my audax bike with 28c tyres (with a false confidence from previous days studded ride perhaps) and after a 20 minute non icy ride i fell on my face! I have swollen face and fractured arm! There must have been thin ice on the road.
Yes studded tyres do work!
.. but I wont be cycling until spring according to the wife!

Just been out around North Shropshire on my Marathon Winter's. The unsalted lanes were just a total sheet of ice in places - almost impossible to walk on. Although I was in a state of constant fear, these tyres did the business and I didn't feel any loss of traction. Money well spent to be able to enjoy the winter sunshine

I decided on these tyres last winter (after three falls on ice). I've got the winter bike at last and have the spare wheels ready but the Winter Marathons are nowhere to be found. The available alternative is the Snowstud with fewer studs. Does anyone have any views on the relative merits of the two tyres (either you need those extra studs or you don't?)? And has anyone heard when the Marathon winters might be available? (I expect in these recessionary times the Schwalbe factory will be short of staff and running at full capacity .)

Hi julk, thanks for that. I had already read the aptly named peterwhite but not in great detail. What I have found out though is that he sees the Marathon Winter as an improvemnt on the Snow Stud. This isn't as far as I can see strictly correct. Both tyres are still avaliable (Wiggle only sells the Snow Stud) but are actually different. The Snow Stud is a wider tyre (1.9) with chunkier tread and fewer studs. The Marathon Winter is narrower (1.75), appears to have a less chunky tread and certainly more studs. This means (and peterwhite accords with this) that the Snow Stud is, yes, better on snow and the Marathon Winter better on ice. Ar least one reviewer concurs with this as well and says that the MW is poor in snow. With the MW you will get less rolling resistance, less noise and better ice grip. So for general winter conditions I would plump for the MW but put the bigger original MTB tyres (no studs) back on for real snow. Peterwhite also says keep them on all winter which for us means just the occasional changeover for snow. Schwalbe don't really say much about the differences on their website so I am surmising all this. What I do know is that I have hit the ground on ice but not when riding in snow (on 700 x 35s). Now the tricky bit...MWs aren't currently available...

I have Schwalbe Snow Stud on the rear wheel and Nokian Hakkapeliitta 106 on the front wheel. I don't think the Snow Stud would be very good on the front as it doesn't have any studs near the centre line, they are all out towards the edges, this is to allow you to use them at higher pressure when its not icy/snowy and not have any studs contacting the road, but when it is icy/snowy you reduce the pressure and allow the studs to then contact the surface. Thats the theory from Schwalbe anyway. For the front tyre I think you would want to be sure that the studs are in contact with the surface for control so you need them nearer the centreline.
The Nokian Hakkapeliitta has studs nearer the centreline, it a slightly narrower tyre too.
The Marathon Winter has a good spread stud pattern with studs both near the centre and towards the edge so should be ok for front or back use.

After 3 winters of commuting on my road bike (20 mile country lane round trip), last year I fell off twice and spent 6 weeks recovering from a sprained wrist and cracked rib. So this year I've bought some studded tyres (Schwalbe Snow Stud) and put them on my neglected mountain bike. I'm sorry to say that I haven't yet found the confidence to try them out!