What are the best winter tyres in 25 size?

[Graham O]

.... but most people use them (winter tyres) now.
Willem

Sorry, I don't see evidence of that. A quick question to a few colleagues here and no one has winter tyres. How many forum members change their car tyres apart from Willem? Not doubting you Willem, just surprised.

[Mick F]

I'm with Valbrona on this.

A tyre is a tyre when it comes to bicycles. I can understand the car analogy, but bike tyres are narrow and bikes go slow. I use the same tyres all year and never have a problem.

I don't go out when it's icy and I don't go off road, but wet weather is the same as dry weather to my tyres no matter what temperature or season.

Vittoria Rubino Pro 23mm.

[meic]

.... but most people use them (winter tyres) now.
Willem

Sorry, I don't see evidence of that. A quick question to a few colleagues here and no one has winter tyres. How many forum members change their car tyres apart from Willem? Not doubting you Willem, just surprised.

Willem is one of our foreign members, he doesnt live on these isles and so his "most people" are not the same as our "most people".

[mig]

as for changing then i do change both my bike and car tyres for winter. believe me the grip from winter car tyres far exceeds that of a normal tyre in cold/snowy conditions. completely different level. same sort of thing from a winter marathon on a bike.

[Graham O]

Willem is one of our foreign members, he doesnt live on these isles and so his "most people" are not the same as our "most people".

I had thought that, but when he said he wouldn't drive in central England without winter tyres, I assumed he lived over here.

[Graham O]

as for changing then i do change both my bike and car tyres for winter. believe me the grip from winter car tyres far exceeds that of a normal tyre in cold/snowy conditions. completely different level. same sort of thing from a winter marathon on a bike.

I do believe you. Please, don't think I'm having a go at anyone, it's not the helmet forum. I'm sure that a winter tyre has loads of grip, but I've never found any problems with grip from my normal tyres which is probably due to my style of driving. But I do live on top of a cold wet and snowy Welsh mountain so I do get to experience winter conditions.

[Mick F]

Winter tyres on cars?
Why?

A mate has a 4x4 (and uses it), and he swaps his tyres for winters and swears by them and I don't doubt him in the least.

Me?
We drive a Clio and we use the same tyres it came with brand new and see no reason to change them each season.

My bike?
As I've just said, I use the same ones year in year out. Absolutely fine in all year round.

[Brucey]

in the winter, if you want the best grip etc, you need different tyres to those that are 'best' in the summertime.

Car or bike.

You can run 'perfect summer tyres' all winter, and they are not really very good.

You can run winter tyres all summer; you will likely be slower, and they will probably wear out quicker than they should.

Or you can run something that is 'sort of all right' all year round, and it won't be as good, but it mightn't be too bad either.

In most parts of the UK if it stays below 0 C for a whole week it is rather unusual, and in some parts of the country it is almost unheard of. By contrast at similar latitudes elsewhere it often stays at -10 C (or lower) for weeks on end.

I don't think you necessarily 'need' winter tyres, but you might well benefit from them on a bike, especially if you run lightweight 'summer' tyres.

(BTW I own a land rover, and it is fitted with 'mud and snow' rated tyres; they are hopeless in the summer, but you can drive quite safely in floods, mud, fresh snow 2" deep etc in the winter. If fact there is so much grip you can't really run with the diff lock on until the snow is more compacted and slippy).

cheers

[stewartpratt]

A tyre is a tyre when it comes to bicycles. I can understand the car analogy, but bike tyres are narrow and bikes go slow. I use the same tyres all year and never have a problem.

Reluctantly wheeling out the world's least popular analogy, that's a bit like saying you've never bumped your head therefore helmets don't work. It's a false syllogism.

If your tyres work well enough in winter for the way you ride then great. But that doesn't have any bearing on the matter of (a) whether some tyres grip better than yours in winter, or (b) whether some tyres grip well in summer but very poorly in winter, or (c) whether some tyres grip exceptionally well in the cold and wet but wear quickly or are draggy in summer.

The narrowness is relevant when it comes to cutting through standing water, but not to the mehcanical adhesion of the tyre and the road surface, which is all about the rubber compound and the ability of the surface of the tyre to push fine parts of its structure into the surface. (Think of dragster tyres and spiders' feet respectively.) The former is temperature dependent, though admittedly is probably the lesser of the two factors, and even though the temperature variation on a bicycle isn't anything like that for a racing car, it's still a factor.

I don't go out when it's icy and I don't go off road, but wet weather is the same as dry weather to my tyres no matter what temperature or season.

Pretty sure it can't be; wet gives less grip than dry, that's pretty unavoidable.

[willem jongman]

Indeed, I live close to the German border, and we have rather cold winters. Winter tyres on the car make rather a difference in our conditions, and they may also do so in the UK, depending on where you live/drive, of course. The point where winter tyres are beginning to be better is apparently around 7 degrees Celsius, and most certainly when you approach freezing temperatures. When the Conti Winter II for bikes came on the market I bought a set for my son after he had fallen of his bike twice in one week in freezing weather. A five minutes ride persuaded me that the other family members should also have them. There is just no discussion once you have tried them, and particularly with the wider 26 inch version.
Willem

[Mick F]

I don't go out when it's icy and I don't go off road, but wet weather is the same as dry weather to my tyres no matter what temperature or season.

Pretty sure it can't be; wet gives less grip than dry, that's pretty unavoidable.

I don't doubt it, but it makes no difference in a practical sense to me and my bike ................... or even me and my car.

Consequently I don't (a) worry about it, and (b) do anything about it.

[The Mechanic]

I don't go out when it's icy and I don't go off road, but wet weather is the same as dry weather to my tyres no matter what temperature or season.

Pretty sure it can't be; wet gives less grip than dry, that's pretty unavoidable.

I don't doubt it, but it makes no difference in a practical sense to me and my bike ................... or even me and my car.

Consequently I don't (a) worry about it, and (b) do anything about it.

How do you know if you have never tried winter tyres on either bike or car.

I have to admit that I don't change my bike tyres in the winter but I do my car tyres and have done for at least 10 years now. If you drive a rear wheel drive car, as I do, you will find that winter tyres transform a car especially in snow. I have also seem numerous 4x4 with big, fat, low profile tyres struggling in the snow, mainly because they have the wrong tyres on. four wheel drive is no use if all four wheels are spinning.

PS We get lots of snow up here in Scotlandshire. Perhaps they don't in Cornwall?

[Mick F]

No, I've never tried winter tyres.
So what? I've never felt less secure in the winter than I do in the summer. Snow and ice probably yes, but not just coz it's "winter". I avoid driving in snow or ice, and if I do get caught out, I'd drive accordingly.

Please note that I'm long enough in the tooth to have been driving since 1969 and riding a bike since I could turn a pedal. I'm not speaking from a position of a newbie to either.

If you want more grip, change your tyres. I've had some rotten grip on tyres in the past - Pirelli Cinturato on one of my Minis for one, and they were the worst purchase of tyres I've ever made. I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole now.

Perhaps if you want to ride a bike when it's muddy or in snow or off road you would need a nice chunky tread or even studs, but for the vast majority of normal road riding, a decent quality tyre will do you fine all year round.

[meic]

I am inclined to agree that the days when you need the studded tyres are few and normally other factors will put you off going out on those occasions anyway (like getting frostbite).

Yet on those days the studded tyres are such an improvement and probably prevent a fair few broken helmets.

[stewartpratt]

No, I've never tried winter tyres. So what? ... I'm not speaking from a position of a newbie to either.

Newbie or not isn't really pertinent. You're speaking from the position of someone who's only ever tried "normal" or "summer" tyres. (As it happens, so am I.)

Even if it is/were as simple as "a grippy tyre is a grippy tyre in all weathers", consider the case where an extremely grippy tyre also, by its nature, has high rolling resistance. That's probably a poor choice for the summer, where grip is plentiful and speeds are higher and rides are longer, but it's probably a great choice for commuting in freezing conditions where grip is the absolute priority.

And on top of that, as I mentioned above, I find punctures more likely in the winter, meaning a sturdier tyre may be a wiser winter choice. It's not necessarily solely about grip.