Studded tyre: Schwalbe Marathon Winter 29 x 2.0

I allready have the Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro 29 x 2.25 which I wrote about here: Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro 29 x 2.25"
The Ice Spiker is awesome on real winter contitions, but not on long rides on asphalt where I find it a bit twitchy and not really good to ride (even if I said so earlier).

The season between fall and winter seems to be getting longer - it can last 2 or maybe as much as 3 months. The conditions are rain that freezes, then melts, then a little snow and so on. This means that I ride a lot on bare asphalt that can be icy with some snow occasionally.

So what I wanted was a studded tyre that is good on bare asphalt and ok on ice.

The Schwalbe Marathon Winter 29 x 2.0 is narrow, low volume and rolls really great on bare asphalt. It looked almost too narrow when I unwrapped it, but it did fit my KH rim. It is also good on hard packed snow, but not so good on a loose surface - then it gets slippery and a bit difficult to ride. Bumpy surface like frozen footprints is also difficult due to the low volume (I ran approx. 45 psi).

I have a pretty good grip on icy aspalt, but on PURE ice the grip is not good enough. I tested it yesterday on a 5 km icy section through the woods. It was a nice and even trail, I think it would have been possible to ice skate a lot of it. Tyre was fine on the flat parts, but I did not have enough grip on hills. I had to be really carefull not to loose traction up hill and downhill was a bit scary. Fell on my back at one point, and even the dog fell on the ice. I’ve ridden this section before on the same conditions with the Ice Spiker, and I don’t think it slipped once.

My conclusion is that I am happy with the tyre as it does the job I got it for.

It‘s been a while since your post… Have you revised your opinion, or is it still valid? Also, given your additional experience with the tire, do you think that by lowering the pressure it would’ve mastered the pure ice conditions significantly better?
I‘m looking for a studded winter tire and this could be it, since winter where I live seems to be comparable to what you described as the season between fall and winter (fall and a half? :wink:): mostly dry or wet tarmac, occasionally some snow that melts soon thereafter only to freeze again in the night.

I think my review from 2016 is spot on, but it turned out to be too narrow for that rim after all. I rode it for years, but in december 2021 it blew off the rim - not a big bang, more like a puncture. I couldn’t use it after that. As for lowering the tire pressure, I can’t really say, but it will probably help.

After the Marathon Winter, I got a 45Nrth Kahva 29 x 2.25 with 252 studs. It’s not nearly as good on bare asphalt, but better in all other winter conditions. The problem on asphalt is that you can really feel the knobs, like it’s vibrating.

Thanks! Since I will mostly ride on tarmac the Marathon Winter seems reasonable.

And it was indeed. As long as the ice is not too bumpy the tire provided enough grip. So, a good choice to ride on tarmac.
Why do I write this when summer has really gotten started over here? I just found a deal for a 20x2.15 Marathon Winter by chance. Less than 10 bucks… Very tempting!

I just spent more for a jar of Branston Pickle! :grin:

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