[Le Acemen]

I commute 20 miles each way on a Genesis Equilibrium Disc from 2014. Its 99% country roads, 1% cycle path. If I see 5 cars, it’s a busy morning. As anyone whose ridden here (south-west UK) will know if it’s not up, its down round here. I gain/lose near 2000ft each way. I’ve done it in wind, rain and sun, but not really cold yet. There is little time to react on a downhill and I’m a bit concerned about coming off on my morning commute, 6.50am, dark, 2 degs or less.

As its starting to get icy in the mornings I am considering changing out my tyres from Conti GP5000, to something a little better if these here roads are troublesome. Struggling to know what is right though – I really want something stable and that I can be confident in almost regardless of the starting temperature.

So far considered Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Ritchey Alpine JB WCS.

Does anyone have a view on something that is super helpful in the morning, but given the distance, not a total drag on the evening commute, should that be a bit drier? Ta muchly.

Topic

[Captain Badger]

Le Acemen wrote:

Sadly not captain. Well, unless I buy a car I guess…

Ah, there’s the rub!

Trouble is that no matter how good your tyre is, ice is to all intents and purposes (this example at least) frictionless. There are studded tyres available – I’ve not used them, but it might be worth investigating. Here is an older forum post on them, and CRC carries them.

[Le Acemen]

Thanks. I have some Fend Off

Thanks. I have some Fend Off mudguards on there as well so think I can get to about 30s. Appreciate the note on Schwalbe’s.

Thats mad, so mountain bike tyres don’t grip better bad conditions on road? Despite the fact that they all have them and some people revert to a mountain type bike to ride in winter? I don’t understand how something slick, can grip more – surely the surface area is less?

Vittorias look good, maybe that’s an option.

[Le Acemen]

Sadly not captain. Well,

Sadly not captain. Well, unless I buy a car I guess…

[Captain Badger]

I don’t know whether this is

I don’t know whether this is an option for you, but when I’m commuting I don’t ride if there’s frost on the ground. Call me a wuss, but coming off the second time to ice was enough to tell me I didn’t want a third. In my part of the country that still only curtails riding to work a few times a year, and I understand that not everyone has the option of using a  car. 

[OnYerBike]

I think the most important

I think the most important thing for grip is the widest tyre you can fit. On roads, you don’t want a chunky tread (as this actually reduces the amount of rubber in contact with the road) so the widest slick you can find/fit will give the most grip.

I would also recommend a “winter training” style tyre rather than a “city” style tyre. Schwalbe Marathons and their ilk use a hard wearing rubber compound, which is great for longevity but actually not great for grip. A softer rubber will be grippier (at the expense of longevity).

I’ve got Vittoria Corsa Control G+ on my road bike and find them pretty grippy, although you can probably afford to fit something wider. Rene Herse do a range of well-reviewed nearly-slick tyres up to 2.2″ (albeit at a price!) so one of those might be a good shout? They also shouldn’t drag too much when the conditions improve.

[Le Acemen]

Agreed. Broken bones to be

Agreed. Broken bones to be avoided. Trouble is, the alternative for me is to buy another bike or a car – neither of which I have the pockets for at the moment. So tyres seem to be the only option…

Definitely a vote against keeping the Conti’s on…!

[Daveyraveygravey]

I can’t suggest a better tyre

I can’t suggest a better tyre, I still use Conti GP5000s on my road bike but at this time of year I am more likely to go on the mountain bike, even on the road.  It has 2.25″ knobblies which I run at 40 psi, and I have never had a sketchy moment on road with it, even at -2 or -3. 

My road bike can’t take anything wider than 25 mm, but I probably should look into a  better winter tyre that fits, will be interested to see what others suggest.   I’m nervous about riding the road bike when it gets to 3 degrees or lower, I’ve had two crashes on ice on it.  The first I got away with a long slide along the road, I was probably doing around 15 mph when I hit the ice.  The second I was doing about 2-3 mph as I was trying to turn into a drive, went down hard on my wrist and broke it.  I do quite like riding in the proper cold, but if you break bones it just isn’t worth it.

[Author]

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