I can finally get back on the road in 3 weeks from now, and right on cue, the temperature in my area has dropped to single digits, with hail and rain for good measure.
In 2020 I started using winter tires for winter riding, and liked it quite a lot.
The biggest advantage of Winter or all season tires like the Bontrager AW3, Pirelli 4S, Continental 4 Season is:
they are more puncture proof than normal tires
what separates these tires from Cinturato or other more puncture resistant tires, is the rubber compound. It stays more supple in cold weather and therefore more grippy.
However, this year, I am all on TL and HL in 2022, and as far as I understand. Neither of these tires are compatible. Additionally, The Pirelli and Conti are pretty old now. I wonder if winter tires for road bikes are a dying breed, or if there are good choices of tires that I don’t know about.
Would love to get your input on what you guys and gals can recommend for winter riding, while not sacrificing puncture protection and not have something mega slow to ride (like maxxis re-fuse).
I haven’t used them yet, but I’ve been thinking about trying Vittoria Corsa N.Ext TLR for winter riding. They look to be reasonably durable and still pretty fast according to BRR testing.
I’m in Ohio and for road just will run the same thing in the winter months - GP5000S TR’s. I’m on Enve wheels so have the same issue with needing something HL compatible. I typically don’t run a deep wheel set in the winter and will use a set of 3.4AR’s instead of my summer Enve 65s, and mount GP5000S TR’s in 32mm. I’ll ride on wet and dry days, but not on snow.
At least on the roads I ride, I haven’t had problems with additional flats in the winter.
Thanks for the replies.
I am running STR since their release and really love them. However, they are at least missing the part with the rubber compound for colder temperatures…
If I won’t find anything compatible + suitable, STR it is.
Regarding gravelkings. Never used them, and that’s certainly not a bad idea to go gravel. I guess they are generally suited to bad weather riding.
Not a real road tire, but possibly the next best thing.
My go to winter tyre is the classic sleeper tyre - the Conti Grand Prix GT - always cheap, nearly as fast as a 4S and a long wear rate with great puncture protection.
Yeah, HL definitely was super limited, and I didn’t like it for road either. But then came the STR, and basically rendered most of those concerns void.
Not all though, hence the topic here
Re Gravelkings:
I just had a look at them, and the thread profile looks very similar to the that of the Challenge Strade Bianche HTLR. While those are a favorite for all-road, their grip is crazy low. Never have I ever slid so much on a tire, when braking. Don’t know if that makes tires with such thread a bad choice for winter road riding…
I ran the P Zero 4 S last year on my old Tarmac with full fenders as a winter bike here in Canada, mainly wet roads, sometimes in active snow, wet, muddy gravel. They performed fine, took a bit of a beating but felt they did well. This year I will keep the Tarmac on the trainer (where it has been all summer) and let my summer road bike sit for the winter.
This year I’m planning to use my gravel bike as a winter bike with full fenders so going to mount up the Corsa N.Ext 32s on it tubeless and see how that goes, sounds like they have great wet grip and puncture resistance.
If I show up to a group ride with some of my friends might get blown out as my gravel bike is heavy as F (alloy frame) but it will be more about big ol Z2 rides this winter for me.
I like Vittoria’s Corsa Controls, they are great. They have a herringbone tread on the side, which gives you extra traction in the corners. I never punctured in them despite riding a lot on rough and substandard roads.
Still, they retained a lot of the suppleness that the regular Corsas are famous for.
Corsa NEXT don’t Sound so Bad. The weight weenie side of me had completely abandoned they existed in the first place…
Has anyone mounted these to wide wheels and measures the real width? 34s might be quite a stretch in my Aethos, although it handles 34mm width tires well.
I live in an area with absolutely zero climbs, so it isn’t even important in summer.
What I meant is rather, that when the Vittoria next first released, I saw the weight, and deemed it „not for me“.
For a winter tire it might be a good choice.
And besides, don’t you know that aero is much more important than weight?!?
PS Both, the regular Corsa and the Corsa Control are the most supple tires I have ever had on a road bike. I have Pirelli PZeros now, which are good, but they don’t stand out.
For freezing temps, the right rubber compound would make traction way better - so proper winter tires or a super soft compound. For on/off snow or wet season, you’re going to get a bunch of crud on the road - some knob or thick rubber helps more than anti-puncture stuff. Some of the ‘roubiaix’ tires actually make it easier to get a puncture - the Corsa Control has little slits that pickup and hold tiny bits of glass.
If you can find them, the PRIOR version of Schwalbe g-one speed 30c (onestar/microskin). These rolled like the One TL v-guard (it had the same rubber, casing, and weighed the same), but had gaps for sharp points to escape. The new version has more durable casing and is made for heavy ebikes.
I haven’t had good luck with the Corsa Controls and the Challenge Strada Bianca Pros. Without anything else hitting the market, when the G-One speeds dry up, I’ll look at the GK SSs (note- take 3w off the BRR rolling resistance # to get the equivalent road number due to the tube he uses).
I love the Challenge Strada Bianca’s in the UK winter. The only thing to be aware of is that they need cleaning with petrol before using for the first time. The mould release agent they use is extremely resilient and it totally changes the tyre once it’s scrubbed off.
