Spikey tyres anywhere?

mayan

Anyone know of anybody selling some ice / snow tyres? either 26" or 700c.
Or has anyone diy'ed a set with any real sucess?
Seen a few websites showing how to's with 26" knobblies, but was thinking more of running some on the cross bike, and the knobbles dont seem big enough to support screws of any length, and I'd be worried about either the screws ripping out or folding and pinching the tube.

blorg

There are a fair few if you search on Google, for [url=http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=1033;pid=104;group=71;menuid1=2;menuid2=103
]example[/url]. A lot of the UK sites are out of stock though.

You can get these in 700c but bear in mind that even a non-studded 26x2.1 tyre at low pressure could well be grippier than a studded 700x32 or 35c on the cross bike.

mfdc

Chain reaction have these for 50 quid a pop. Labeled as 28" x 1.6", but they're 700x42 according to continental's website. Ordered a pair myself last night as I'm sick of this bloody weather. Expensive, but worth it if this goes on another week or two imo, can't stick the bloody bus much longer and walking home yesterday was the last straw.

mayan

So,
given that i want to use them tomorrow, and no local shops have any, the general opinion is that the mtb with knobblies and dropped pressure will be better then the cross bike?
my route is along the canal towpath, so mixture of surface from normal rodas to singletrack dirt / gravel.

blorg

mayan wrote: »

So,
given that i want to use them tomorrow, and no local shops have any, the general opinion is that the mtb with knobblies and dropped pressure will be better then the cross bike?
my route is along the canal towpath, so mixture of surface from normal rodas to singletrack dirt / gravel.

I would think it would be grippier although slower on clear tarmac. Lumen has studded 700c tyres and he reckoned they buy you an extra 10 PSI, e.g. studded tyres at 40 PSI = unstudded at 30 PSI. You can run wider MTB tyres far lower than most cross tyres.

Greyspoke

I find Panaracer Trailrakers to be really good in the snow on an mtb. The 1.95s I have actually seem narrower than that and they seem to give great grip without clogging. I went for a short spin in the snow around the fields at Castletown House, Celbridge this moring - great fun!

penexpers

mfdc wrote: »

Labeled as 28" x 1.6", but they're 700x42 according to continental's website.

I (usually!) find it's better to go by the ETRTO guide.

billy.fish

Conti twister cross tires at 30PSI for a 72kg bloke = mutts nuts

Great on everything

mayan

surely you can only use them if you have a proper full CI licence !!!

(only messing, really sorry to hear you've had to cancel, and i dont think i'll be around for the 31st, otherwise i really would have tried to come along)

billy.fish

mayan wrote: »

surely you can only use them if you have a proper full CI licence !!!

(only messing, really sorry to hear you've had to cancel, and i dont think i'll be around for the 31st, otherwise i really would have tried to come along)

Funny man. Always good when a national event gets cancelled.

BostonB

Has anyone tried to get 26" knoblies recently?

billy.fish

BostonB wrote: »

Has anyone tried to get 26" knoblies recently?

Yup, but mostly in the mountains

Run em low on the tarmac and you'd be fine, but slow

BostonB

You bought them in the mountains? I've slicks on my MTB commuter. Can't find the original tyres. As they were about 16yrs old, I might have chucked them. I'll try get down to a bike shop see what they have. Maybe I'll ring them first. While I don't need the tyres today, I'm thinking might be handy to have the option next week if its still bad.

Gavin

Any reasonable bike shop will have knobbley 26" tyres

Gavin

Schwalbe Ice Spikers arrived in the post yesterday. I need to run them in with a longish spin on tarmac road first, but they seem pretty good so far.

Greyspoke

Gavin wrote: »

Schwalbe Ice Spikers arrived in the post yesterday. I need to run them in with a longish spin on tarmac road first, but they seem pretty good so far.

They look the biz! How much were they? and let us know how you get on with them. Why would you want to wear them in on the road - won't you wear the studs out prematurely?

Gavin

They were expensive, 50 quid each from CRC. There are a few different brands making ice tyres, Continental, Schwalbe and Nokian. Apparently the Nokian and Schwalbe ones are the best, largest number of studs, best designed tread and hardest material for the studs.

They are hard wearing seemingly and can be ridden on tarmac roads for a good long while without wearing down. The tyres come with a note saying to ride em in for 40km on tarmac to ensure the studs are seated firmly into the tyres, it helps prevent losing studs in the ice. Might be a bit difficult to find a clean road that long at the moment though.

I figure they are handy things to have, the bike is the only way I can get to work and ice does seem to happen at least once a year!

edit - a review http://www.bikemagic.com/bike-reviews/schwalbe-ice-spiker-tyres/4630.html

Blowfish

BostonB wrote: »

Has anyone tried to get 26" knoblies recently?

Grabbed some today from the LBS to get back up and running on the BSO. Cheap and cheerful, but should keep me going.

BostonB

Blowfish wrote: »

Grabbed some today from the LBS to get back up and running on the BSO. Cheap and cheerful, but should keep me going.

Had a look in Halfords, couldn't find a matching set of tyres, but plenty of choice otherwise. I'm not sure I'll bother yet, though as not over my man flu.

biko

To add a bit of grip, try zip ties.