UKH

Going to splash out on some tyres more suitable for winter roads this year and wondered if anyone had any advice or recommendations. At the moment I'm running 23mm bontrager tyres that were on the bike when I got it, they're really hard and no tread on them so quite uncomfortable and skiddy.

Was looking at the schwalbe marathon and marathon plus , not sure whether to go 25mm or 28mm. Has anyone used them? They seem pretty well priced. I've measured the space between the tyre and the frame/brake callipers and the smallest gap is 8mm on the back. Looks like plenty of room for 28mm tyres?

The bike's used for an 18 mile commute on quite bad Scottish back roads with a few miles of decent road surface I can make up some time on. Priorities are comfort, grip and puncture resistance but I don't want to lose too much speed. I've not ridden on anything other than narrow slicks before so if anyone has any advice on whether the schwalbe's are a good compromise or anything else I should be looking at that would be much appreciated.

You can't go wrong with marathon but I've had bontrager aw hard case 28mm which have good puncture resistance (not as much as marathon? ) and are fairly slick if you prefer that. 

Marathon plus are pretty bomb proof so should take any worries of punctures out of the equation 

Depending on rims, marathons can be really hatd to fit. I had to give up trying to fit some to my daughter's bike

Have a look at 28mm 4season continental.They are a little more expensive but are excellent.25mm tyres in winter; I wouldn’t bother. 28mm are meant to roll better and are supposed to save you watts. I have commuted to work all winter on 28’s. If it’s too bad for weather try a mountain bike- I do.

I hope this helps.

Jim

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to go with 28mm marathon originals, they're £18.90 which seems like a bit of a bargain. I had a look at the continentals and they certainly look a lot less "tready" so might have performed better but as a Yorkshire man living in Bcotland £35 was a bit too steep!

I'll get ready for a fight putting them on, hopefully they don't have to come off again in a hurry!

Looking forward to getting out on something which tones down the vibrations a little.

I've had 2 punctures on Conti GP 4 seasons 28mm.

They're also known to be tight on some rims. F'rinstance getting them properly seated on mine requires pumping up rock hard and leaving overnight!

I've heard this down the years, but having had two pairs of Marathon Pluses (32 and 35 mm I think), Marathon Plus Tours and Marathon Winters, I've never found them particularly difficult, and I've fitted them on to maybe five different types of rim over the years. But I was reminded of other people's stories of woe fitting Marathon Pluses just having had at two week long fight to fit tubeless Gravel Kings to my current bike's wheels. It was ridiculous! So I fully sympathise with anyone who has had fight to fit any tyre to a wheel. How can something so simple become so infuriatingly simple? I won tonight finally (I think. As I write this I suspect out in the garage the front wheel tyre is probably quietly leaking air, just ready to make me cry in the morning when I need to go to work...)

Ben, I'd cough up the extra and go for Marathon Pluses. They aren't necessarily the most comfy of tyres (a bit stiff) but I've only ever had a puncture once with mine. I had the first pair for something like 6 years and probably rode over 10,000 kms on them - a lot on gravel cycle tracks. I only got ride of them as the sidewalls started to crack. Tread was still fine. The second pair have been used a lot over the last 4 years - maybe not quite as many kms but getting there. I recently swapped for different tyres, mainly down to peer pressure and fashion trends - wanted to go tubeless on my gravel bike like all the cool kids - but in the hassle of trying to fit these Panracer tyres up tubeless, I had to run one with a tube in it for a couple of weeks of commuting - this seem to help in then setting them up tubeless - and of course in that time got my first puncture in years. Basically as soon as I stop using Marathon Pluses, I get punctures. Put them back on, and I don't.

I was in an independent bike shop on saturday looking at winter road tyres and the owner strongly recommended Vittoria Pro Rubino Endurance. He said it's the only tyre he rides in winter on his bikes, never had a puncture and said the grip in poor weather is the amazing.

I respect his opinion as he is an ex racer, runs his own bike club, has his own shop, and sells all the leading brand tyres...so i figured he should know I was looking at Continental gatorskins and he said go for Vittoria's. (he did say they can be hard to get on the rims though)