Knobblies or Slicks

Topaxci

I commute all year round and 90% of the time on my road bike.
But when the weather turns bad and the roads get frosty I switch to the mountain bike.
I don't ride it off road much anymore and get frustrated by the drag my 2.35 knobblies create. I want to switch to some faster rolling tyres without sacrificing the whole point of switching bikes in the first place.

Considering either moving to either1.95 knobblies or mountain bike slicks.
Seems like a safety vs speed trade off to me.
What does everyone else do for the winter?

meanredspider

Switch to the CX bike with studded Marathon Winters for the ice.

Temps down to 1C next week. Winter tyres on the car today

cookdn

When I commuted by MTB I used slicks all year round without a problem [honesty] well once I came off on black-ice, but I was going rather (too) fast and the corner was tight [/honesty].

These look like they have a similar tread pattern to what I used and slicks are certainly a lot quicker than knobblies:

Schwalbe City Jet MTB Tyre

Best regards

rolf_f

cookdn wrote:

Schwalbe City Jet MTB Tyre

Best regards

The tread isn't really used on those - which is as it should be! Decorative only. I use them on my MTB for road work. They last forever! And are cheap. I use them until ice becomes an issue and then I put on Marathon Winters.

cyberknight

I did all of last winter on 23 mm slicks and i only fell off once on a low speed corner when i hit some black ice.
When it got down to - 10 it was a bit fresh though...........

For this winter i have got a BSO full susser off freeccyle and i have fitted conti travel contacts.Unless you r going for studded tyres like marathon winters slicks are better on icey roads than knobbiles.....

http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/ice.html

roger_merriman

there are other advantages to a MTB which is normally discs, which normally gives much better braking.

to be honest I've not found problems with normal road tyres, this said the MTB with soft compound rubber and low pressures is totally unfazed by winter roads. the soft rubber is truly remarkable. this said they are heavy and slow far more so than studded tyres.

Topaxci

Thanks for the advice. Will be getting myself a set of slicks for the MTB.
Brakes are definitely part of the reason I switch too. The road bike brakes are lethal when it is seriously wet.

Long_Time_Lurker

I ride an MTB all year, just switch between knobblies in winter, semi-slicks in autumn/early spring and onto full slicks, for summer (and my annual trips from Edinburgh to Newcastle and the C2C).

Aerozine50

Definately a set of commute slicks for the MTB.

I have a st of narrow slicks on mine and I can imagine they will be good on the winter surfaces having a much higher pressure of contact with the ground. However stopping may be a bit more of an issue.

Regards

Paul

janwal

I've had these on my Full sus as my only tyre for 2 years nearly all road use and only one puncture.Brilliant go anywhere tyre as the 'holes' in the tread grip off road like reverse knobblies,if that makes sense.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=12385
may be cheaper on other sites.