Finally finished building my winter bike , a cyclocross frame , cantilever brakes,mix of ultegra , sora components .
Looking to put 700x28mm tires on the wheels, are treaded cyclocross tires the best for riding on the.road in late winter when there is still salt, gravel, snow on the roads of Southern Ontario.
Any recommendations ?
If you’re on the road, then something like the Michelin Jet is all you need. One thing: the rubber on many cross tires is softer, so you might not get as many miles out of them as with road tires.
Right now I am using Kenda Small Block 8 rear/Slant 6 Front and love them (rear is a 35 mm, front is 32 mm). They are pretty fast rolling and provide very nice grip. Also, they were well priced. Highly recommended (and the 35 mm SB8 also comes in a narrower 32 mm).
Schwalbe Marathon is ideal for something like that.
Agreed, the marathons are a great training tire for this time of year.
This winter, I’ve enjoyed commuting on a wider cx tire with a very modest center tread and playing with the tire pressure depending on conditions. (I’m using a Bontrager CX0 38mm; the tread is like a Michelin Jet) I’ve been surprised at how much traction I could find in snow when I went down below 30 psi.
I have a pair of the Marathons on another bike, and while they are a great choice on paper for wet commuting, every time I hop on that bike I think “man, these tires are dogs…”
If you have a pair of used cx tires in your basement, I would use those, no matter the tread. Otherwise, go as wide as you can!
cross tires have a softer compound and get cut up in the winter. If you are riding in places with a lot of conders and slag and sharp stuff, you need one of those awful winter tires like an armadillo,(specialized) hard case (bontrager) or refuse (maxxis).
you should be able to find one in a 25 or larger size which works great.
some people like the conti gatorskin, i find the sidewalls to be cut prone, but they ride nice
any of those tires is like riding on a frozen garden hose, but they don’t go flat in the worst conditions
After the cx season I swapped out to Conti’s Top Contact Winter II (http://www.conti-online.com/www/bicycle_de_en/themes/city/winter/topContactWinter_en.html) for my daily commute and they have been awesome. No slippage at all no matter how cold it got (-12C was the lowest I rode in) but I did avoid the days where black ice was a major problem for everyone.
I have generally kept the PSI in about the mid-50’s and have had no issues at all with handling or flats and have even ridden them on some pretty burly trails on Vancouver’s North Shore (well, burly for a cx bike). Only negatives are the greatly increased rolling resistance (much more noticeable than even cx race tires) and cost - they’re not cheap. Nonetheless, the grip is worth it.
Wait on the Gatorskins until the temperature climbs a bit - they’re great tires for puncture resistance but have nowhere near the traction of the Winter II. In early to mid-March (or when morning temp is regularly above ~+5C) I do swap out to the Gatorskins (it’s also my rainy day training bike) because the rubber compound is so soft that it would wear unnecessarily.
Seems like the Contis may be my best bet,Michelin Jets and Schwalbe Marathon both seem to have bad reviews in regards to puncturing easily .
No issues in managing flats but would prefer not to do it early in the year in bad weather
Yep, it’s pretty irritating. Not sure about price comparisons but MEC usually has them in stock.
I’ve had some great success with file tread tires for Winter riding this year…such as Vittoria XN tire. Good luck. Hope Winter hurries up and goes away.
I’d suggest you take a look at the clement X’PLOR USH. It is a long-wearing tire with almost a continuous center tread and perfect mini knobs on the side. For winter riding (on roads), you want to have lots of small knobs and a gradual transition from center-to side tread. That is why pros ride file treads on the snow/ice vs. a mud tire. They roll really fast straight ahead and hook up well in slick, and the 60 tpi verson is pretty cheap.
Many good options. If mostly road, I think the Clements mentioned above or another file tread like the kenda happy medium are both good options.
For a nice cheap mostly road and some cross like conditions tire, the kenda kwicks are decent and generally can be found for about 20-25 dollars. They are 30s, so good for a mixed use commute, not great for a sandy cross race. For what you are describing, they are a nice option…
I’d recommend a set of Nokian Hakkapelitta W106s. The advantage of the Nokians is they are lightly studded tires so if you happen to hit a patch of ice you’re still ok. I rode in the winter for a couples years when I was in Ottawa and they worked like a charm.
+1
Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires have been great. Been able to ride in some rough conditions is year, they are heavy. Makes it a good tempo workout.