Winter tyre choice

tablatom

Hi i am new to cyclocross.

I have a Boardman Team CX.
It came with Schwalbe Rapid Robs 35c. They weigh 480g

I bought Some WTB Nano 40c's going cheap. They weigh 530g

Now they have arrived i'm not sure they will serve me better in the wintery conditions i ride.
40% muddy forest tracks, 20% wet grass, 20% cycle track thats a mixture of gravel and wet hard pack , 20% tarmac.

Which of the 2 would you go for?



For the summer i have bought some Conti Speed Ride's, at 42c (apparently they often measure around 38-39mm after fitting) and a file tread with small knobblies on the side, they will be great when it dries out. They weigh 420g
I use the Conti cyclocross speed on my hybrid/commuter (35c - 340g), great for winter paths and roads, very fast. Same tread as the Speed ride.

robertpb

I have the same bike and tyres as you, I replaced the wheels for a wider rim and they come up at 42mm.

Staying with this width of tyre there isn't much else out there at the moment, if you want something with a bit more mud orientation then it's the Schwalbe X one bite, which is narrower.

I run mine tubeless with 26psi rear and 23psi front, but I only weigh 62kg, over pressure will make them feel skittish on some surfaces, so have a play with the pressures.

The Rapid Robs are OK but not on the same level as the Nanos.

tablatom

robertpb wrote:

I have the same bike and tyres as you, I replaced the wheels for a wider rim and they come up at 42mm.

Staying with this width of tyre there isn't much else out there at the moment, if you want something with a bit more mud orientation then it's the Schwalbe X one bite, which is narrower.

I run mine tubeless with 26psi rear and 23psi front, but I only weigh 62kg, over pressure will make them feel skittish on some surfaces, so have a play with the pressures.

The Rapid Robs are OK but not on the same level as the Nanos.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm 88kg's, would love to be in the 60's lol.
I'm leaning towards the Nano. It will probably be more universal?

Thanks.

gethinceri

Lithion 2

tablatom

Gethinceri wrote:

Lithion 2

Looks like a great choice for wet wintery roads, but i can't see this being any good at muddy tracks and wet grass common land.

roger_merriman

tablatom wrote:

Gethinceri wrote:

Lithion 2

Looks like a great choice for wet wintery roads, but i can't see this being any good at muddy tracks and wet grass common land.

Indeed but what sort of tyre are you after i.e. Do you favour durability over speed? I use fairly lightweight Higher end versions of the Rapid Robs, namely specialized tracer pro/schwalbe Racing Ralph and now X-one.

But these types not to last that long, I've yet to wear a tyre out, I tend to tear the sidewalls, though the X-one doesn't feel fragile. They all are intermediate type tread and reasonably grippy rubber, so jack of all trades, in terms of grip. Remarkably fast as well, close 23mm slicks at least comparing my strava times on some suitable segments.

robertpb

The new kid on the block as far as 40mm tyres go will be the Maxxis Ravager 40, when it gets to these shores.

tablatom

robertpb wrote:

The new kid on the block as far as 40mm tyres go will be the Maxxis Ravager 40, when it gets to these shores.

Looks very good.

For now i have settled with a tyre that seems to have gone under the worlds "bike radar"
The newer version of Schwalbe's Marathon Cross.
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader ... cross.html
I'm quite surprised that its hardly ever mentioned on the web or sold in so few stores.

Below is a review i have posted in Amazon.co.uk
Look at its specs and its a great choice for low rolling resistance, road traction, off road traction, puncture resistance.

I have a Boardman team hybrid and a Boardman team CX.

The Schwalbe M-cross is a perfect all round tyre for both of them.

At 560g its quite light considering fully inflated its around 39mm wide on the Mavic 319 rims that come with the Boardman bikes.
And your getting more puncture protection than other CX tyres that maybe 100 grams lighter.
But 560g is way lighter than the other Marathon tyres.

I just went for a ride with my 3 year old in the child seat.
At 40psi the ride is very smooth and on wintery broken tarmac / gravel / muddy tracks there is plenty of grip, and you move along effortlessly.
Later on the same ride i pumped up the tyres to 70psi. On the same tracks there is obviously less traction, but if you take it easy no problem. Remember i have my child on the back, so i really can't afford to crash. There is still decent grip though.

On the road at 70 psi, the tyres really are VERY fast.
The contact patch on the road is about 8 -10mm, so the knobblies don't come into play. Thats great.
Go to Schwalbe and look at the stats. The Marathon cross is one of their best ROLLING tires, thats including the road tires too!!.

So if you are into speed, but not racing, on mud, road, gravel, grass
or
want to go touring with a very fast tire that has good puncture protection, and great grip for everything except the deepest mud,
LOOK NO FURTHER.

robertpb

I hate to burst your bubble but Schwalbe on their comparisons only compare for like tyres, so there are touring, which you are talking about, road and offroad. So when you are looking at your tyres and Schwalbe give it 5 out of 6 for rolling resistance that is only against other touring tyres not road or offroad, the same goes for offroad grip.

These touring tyres are made of hard compounds to give them robustness and long life which lowers the grip on road to some road tyres and lowers the grip offroad to some CX tyres.

Don't get me wrong they are excellent tyres for their purpose, but you won't see many reviews from users here because they are not generally in use unless you are a commuter or on a touring bike.

Jterrier

Given what i have seen in the last two filthy slippery races i did, schwalbe x-one bite. Or whatever has the most enormous knobblies on if there is anything bigger.

tablatom

robertpb wrote:

I hate to burst your bubble but Schwalbe on their comparisons only compare for like tyres, so there are touring, which you are talking about, road and offroad. So when you are looking at your tyres and Schwalbe give it 5 out of 6 for rolling resistance that is only against other touring tyres not road or offroad, the same goes for offroad grip.

These touring tyres are made of hard compounds to give them robustness and long life which lowers the grip on road to some road tyres and lowers the grip offroad to some CX tyres.

Don't get me wrong they are excellent tyres for their purpose, but you won't see many reviews from users here because they are not generally in use unless you are a commuter or on a touring bike.

That makes sense.
still, the Marathon Cross has a rolling rating similar to the Marathon Supreme and Almotion.

And going by http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com
that puts the M/Cross along side tyres like Conti GP 4 season.
In any ones book, a 38mm tyre that is good on all surfaces that can roll like that is superb.