How much of a speed penalty do studded tyres cause?

[Jon in Sweden]

Just curious.

I have put studded tyres on my gravel bike (which will be my main winter hack) and did my first ride on it today. 100km of at times quite technical gravel.

The tyres in question are Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus. They are quite heavy, very stiff and look like you could run over anything without getting a puncture.

But they are slow. You can really feel the extra rolling resistance. Off the top of my head, I think they probably cost me 1.5kph off my average (23.5 versus 25 - the gravel was at times very rough and technical).

Does anyone have any more scientific data for the penalty I'm paying?

Of course I have no option. It's due to be sub zero with snow for the next ten days. If I want to cycle, studded tyres it is!

[mig]

how much climbing is on your route? you'll notice them there!

[Nearholmer]

Having taken marathon plus off my bike, which fits the description “gravel bike” and is frequently used as such*, and replaced them with tubeless tyres, I can tell you that the marathon plus add multiple penalties even without studs.

There is something about those tyres that absorbs energy, far more than the very similar continental contact plus, and I think it might be the sheer stiffness of them.

*Although a fair bit of the “gravel” round here is either sand or mud, or both together.

[Jon in Sweden]

how much climbing is on your route? you'll notice them there!

1435m on this route (14m/1km), which for gravel in this area is a bit below average. Not many long climbs, just a lot of up and down. I did actually get one KOM, but it's mainly because it's very steep and whilst the studded tyres are slow, they have good traction, which I didn't have before.

Having taken marathon plus off my bike, which fits the description “gravel bike” and is frequently used as such*, and replaced them with tubeless tyres, I can tell you that the marathon plus add multiple penalties even without studs.

There is something about those tyres that absorbs energy, far more than the very similar continental contact plus, and I think it might be the sheer stiffness of them.

*Although a fair bit of the “gravel” round here is either sand or mud, or both together.

I did notice how stiff they were! I actually partly deflated them in the long, lumpy gravel section at around 70km in.

The gravel here is very much gravel. Generally hard with minimal mud.

[pwa]

The question about a "speed penalty" is a good one, but I'd be more itnerested in the "effort penalty". I don't have figures so I'll leave that to others who know more than I do, but even within the range of "normal" tyres, the effort required to push them along varies in a way that you can feel. My expectation would be that studded tyres are hard work.

But even harder is picking your bruised body up off the road after a spill on ice. And once you have had that experience, cycling with normal tyres on potentially icy roads can make you feel tense.

In an ideal world you would have two bikes to choose from, one for icy days and one for other days, with tyres for the specific conditions.

Perhaps a more practical alternative is to see the studded tyres as a training aid. When spring comes and you put faster rubber on, you will fly!

[Dingdong]

Having taken marathon plus off my bike, which fits the description “gravel bike” and is frequently used as such*, and replaced them with tubeless tyres, I can tell you that the marathon plus add multiple penalties even without studs.

There is something about those tyres that absorbs energy, far more than the very similar continental contact plus, and I think it might be the sheer stiffness of them.

*Although a fair bit of the “gravel” round here is either sand or mud, or both together.

I think the weight of them really slows the bike down, the ones I have on my hybrid weigh a ton. Also the sidewalls are extremely rigid, which probably does no good either.

[peetee]

It depends to a noticeable extent on which studded tyres you fit. Over the years I have used a variety of tyres on my mountain bike and the different drag can definitely be noticed. The ‘fastest’ wide knobbly tyre I have tried so far is the Schwalbe Black Jack.
I have Schwalbe CX Pro 700x30c on my cyclo-cross bike and they are barely noticeable as studded tyres when on the road.

[Cugel]

Just curious.

I have put studded tyres on my gravel bike (which will be my main winter hack) and did my first ride on it today. 100km of at times quite technical gravel.

The tyres in question are Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus. They are quite heavy, very stiff and look like you could run over anything without getting a puncture.

But they are slow. You can really feel the extra rolling resistance. Off the top of my head, I think they probably cost me 1.5kph off my average (23.5 versus 25 - the gravel was at times very rough and technical).

Does anyone have any more scientific data for the penalty I'm paying?

Of course I have no option. It's due to be sub zero with snow for the next ten days. If I want to cycle, studded tyres it is!

The Marathon tyres are generally sold as tough, puncture resistant, long lasting etc.. They aren't sold as gravel tyres and certainly not as some sort of "competitive" tyre. I have the winter studded items and they are great for frost & ice but no gravel tyre. They're stiff, heavy (near 1kg each) and slow. Tough, though.

However, Schwalbe (as well as many other manufacturers) make a large range of gravel-specific tyres, many of which are marketed as not only "fast" but also good for the road. Merlin seem to offer the lowest prices on Schwalbe, although you might find them less expensive elsewhere during short-term sales.

https://www.merlincycles.com/cyclocross ... res-75333/

Personally I have Schwalbe G-One all-rounds on my winter bike, which also serves as a gravel bike in summer (i.e. on mostly dry gravel and dry hrd-pcked mud). But if you want something more "sticky" in wet and muddy gravel, as well as fast on the road, these sound promising - although I haven't tried them personally - yet:

https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-g ... 79562.html

Cugel

[thirdcrank]

The question about a "speed penalty" is a good one, but I'd be more itnerested in the "effort penalty". I don't have figures so I'll leave that to others who know more than I do, but even within the range of "normal" tyres, the effort required to push them along varies in a way that you can feel. My expectation would be that studded tyres are hard work.

But even harder is picking your bruised body up off the road after a spill on ice. And once you have had that experience, cycling with normal tyres on potentially icy roads can make you feel tense.

In an ideal world you would have two bikes to choose from, one for icy days and one for other days, with tyres for the specific conditions.

Perhaps a more practical alternative is to see the studded tyres as a training aid. When spring comes and you put faster rubber on, you will fly!

I doubt studded tyres serve any useful purpose other than enabling a rider to cope better on ice, when I fancy they are invaluable. They arrived too late for me to use them on my winter commuting but if I reflect on the time spent walking down hills to avoid a tumble the time saved in icy conditions would have been considerable. I've left the bike at home and walked the 10kms to work for an 0545 start, because wheeling the bike most of the way would have been a hindrance.

[mjr]

About 30% I reckon but I can't pedal fast in winter clothes anyway, else I sweat. I try to nearly double short journey times on ice because puncture repair and pulling snow-hidden branches out of wheels is slow.

Schwalbe Snow Studs roll better than Marthon Winter but are not as wide availability.

[ChrisButch]

I wonder how far north you are in Sweden? I've done a lot of ski-touring in Scandinavia, where winter roads are regularly ploughed leaving a smooth surface of hardpacked ice, which is a pain when you have to cross them on ski. But cars with studded tyres cope fine, and in Arctic Finland you see plenty of people riding about happily on ordinary commuting bikes in temperatures below -10. Roads aren't salted, as salt is ineffective below -10. But in the south I guess you're more likely to get frequent freeze/thaw cycles, which would make the surface far more unpredictable.

[Dingdong]

About 30% I reckon but I can't pedal fast in winter clothes anyway, else I sweat. I try to nearly double short journey times on ice because puncture repair and pulling snow-hidden branches out of wheels is slow.

Schwalbe Snow Studs roll better than Marthon Winter but are not as wide availability.

I'd like to try studded tyres in really fresh snow!

[mjr]

About 30% I reckon but I can't pedal fast in winter clothes anyway, else I sweat. I try to nearly double short journey times on ice because puncture repair and pulling snow-hidden branches out of wheels is slow.

Schwalbe Snow Studs roll better than Marthon Winter but are not as wide availability.

I'd like to try studded tyres in really fresh snow!

No point. You can ride anything in deep fresh snow because it helps hold you upright. The problems come when it's been compacted, melted and refrozen a few times and that is when the studs can save you.

[Jon in Sweden]

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

I'm not worried about being fast, in all honesty. I just want to maintain and hopefully build on my fitness.

We are quite a way south in Sweden, but still subject to full winter conditions. We're due 22cm of snow between now and Sunday evening. Much of it will compact hard and the studs will be vital.

[tenbikes]

What on earth are you guys talking about?

Studded Tyres.......[Crocodile Dundee moment coming up.....]

...these are studded tyres....

Terrrene Johnny 5, 26x5"

you guys are just playing about...