Hutchinson All-Weather Road Tires
Bike Hugger scooped up a photo of some pending Hutchinson All-Weather Tires, but so far nothing of the sort is available for sale. A tire that would work better than a slick during winter months is too good to be true. I made a pair of studded tires in high school and only succeeded in ripping a bunch of paint off the chain stays of my sweet Iron Horse. Snow tires on cars work better than those low-profile setups you see on Lincoln’s with gold rims, but you can’t expect that much of a difference when you’re riding on a square cm of tire pumped up to 105psi.
via Bike Hugger
By- rockythompson
This entry was posted on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 - 3:34 P.M. and is filed under Gear, Cycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Not entirely sure of what you mean by “too good to be true”, but these stud tires are regarded as VERY good during winter months in Norway:
http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=441
If you want to rely on your bicycle every day during winter you MUST have stud tires! You won’t belive it until you’ve tried it! Other brands and types exist, but these are viewed as probably the best ones.
Rei has the whole Nokian product range http://www.rei.com/search?query=nokian&button.x=0&button.y=0
To summarize, the “mount and ground” model is viewed as adequate for commuting - with enough traction to handle those patches of ice and snow with adequate traction. The Nokian extreme is MUCH better on ice and snow, and probably the best all round choice if you happen to like to play in the snow/ice and also use your bike as transport. If you are die-hard off road / dirt road / track cyclist and don’t want to go inside in winter, the third model (Freddie Reverenz, coined “fat Freddy”) is probably the logical choice. The downside to increased ice/snow traction is higher weight, roll resistance (try “fat freddie” on hard pavement!) and wear resistance. You typically also deflate the tire somewhat to make it “softer” so it clings more to the ground, further increasing roll resistance.
BTW: The nokian web site (nokian.com) will tell you absolutely nothing about bike tires - their main product is car tires, especial for winter driving.
Did you know that the Finnish telephone company Nokia has origin as rubber boot and tyre manufacturer? Yes, it is these same guys. The tire manufacturer changed its name into to Nokian some years ago because nobody associated Nokia with tires anymore ….