Winter tires for your bike

Are winter tires on bicycles just a money-making scheme or do they really offer advantages? With your car, the decision is made for you; winter tires are now mandatory here because they have been proven to make public road traffic significantly safer from "O to O" (October to Easter). But what about bicycles? Is it sensible to put winter tires on your bicycle for the winter?

One thing is certain: winter is a challenge for bicycles and cyclists! Snow, black ice, or wet conditions require special caution but can be managed well with some practice and preparation. As long as the bicycle rolls straight, everything usually goes smoothly. It gets exciting in curves or when you need to brake – then difficult road conditions can become truly dangerous.

But does a bicycle really ride more safely with winter tires and which tires do you need?

Here's the short answer: It is definitely sensible to prepare your bicycle with special tires for winter use! You have better grip with winter tires, and you can brake reliably.

We also don't want to withhold the comprehensive explanation from you:

How a tire becomes a winter tire

How does a bicycle tire become a winter tire? Bicycle winter tires usually differ from other tires in three properties:

The rubber compound is adapted to cold.
Winter bicycle tires have a special tread.
There is a puncture protection layer.
There are also winter tires with "spikes" for bicycles, but not every winter tire has these metal pins (and they are not sensible for every rider).

Winter tires with puncture protection layer

Winter tires for bicycles roll safely and have a puncture protection layer. Image © Schwalbe

A winter compound for bicycle tires

Winter tires for bicycles are made from a special mixture. On one hand, the rubber compound (English "compound") is softer. This ensures that the winter tires grip securely on the road, even if its surface is cold and smooth. The second important point: The material must not change adversely in frost, meaning it should not harden, become brittle, or fragile.

However, this mix is also the reason why winter tires are not particularly popular among ambitious cyclists. When the tire "sticks" better, it produces more rolling resistance. More rolling resistance makes moving forward a bit more strenuous and a bit slower, you ride less efficiently. However, for this additional effort, you are rewarded with a significantly better driving stability, better braking properties, and a secure cornering position .

Winter tires for bicycles have a different tread

To get better grip, winter tires for bicycles have a special "pattern," that is, an adapted, grippy siped tread. It improves traction on slippery roads and ensures stable driving characteristics.

Winter tires can offer improved puncture protection

Winter roads tend to hold more unpleasant surprises for cyclists, including more small debris that wants to pierce the tires. Some cyclists even go so far as to call the constant wetness a lubricant that first sticks thorns or pebbles to the tire and then smears them into the carcass. For this reason, many winter tires for bicycles have even better puncture protection than other tires.

Bicycle winter tires with spikes

For the really nasty days of winter, winter tires with spikes are available. Numerous metal pins are embedded in the tread of the tire, giving the bike more bite on smooth ice. Tests show that they work really well on solid ice surfaces and allow safe handling of the bike. However, they are no longer necessary on reasonably cleared roads , so you should carefully consider whether you really need them.

If you are not traveling on icy surfaces, you should leave the spikes at home. On asphalt or gravel, the metal pins of these bicycle winter tires wear out quickly, they are really only meant for ice and snow. They are also loud and roll worse, some riders even find them "bumpy." You can compare them to snow chains for cars. They help you over the snowy mountain pass road, but elsewhere they are rather impractical.

Depending on the weather and your training plan, bicycle winter tires are not really necessary. All-weather tires can also get you through the winter well. Image © Luca J on Unsplash

Are all-season tires an alternative?

Why not just ride all-weather or all-season tires over the winter? It depends on where you ride your bike, but there's really nothing against it! All-weather tires certainly work better in winter than regular training tires or summer tires!

In many parts of Germany, the winter is now very mild, and you can get by most days with all-weather tires. However, if you live in the Alps, the foothills of the Alps, or the low mountain ranges, it's a different story! Where heavy snow and severe frost are expected, special winter tires are the better choice.

Winter tires on the bike - yes or no?

Whether you can fully utilize the advantages that bicycle winter tires offer depends on two factors: How you use your bike and where you live.

If you train regularly or commute to work even in winter, winter tires are a sensible purchase.
In some regions of the D-A-CH area, the purchase is more worthwhile than elsewhere. If you live in an area where a lot of ice and snow are expected, winter tires will certainly pay off!
You should definitely also consider your individual circumstances. Whether you live on a street that the snowplow rarely visits or in the well-salted city center can make a real difference!

So... do you need winter tires for your bike or not?

It depends on the conditions under which you use your bike from October to March.

Which bicycle tires for which weather conditions?

❄	❄❄	❄❄❄
Do you mostly ride on dry days? Frost is rather rare in your area? In this case, all-weather tires are sufficient.	Do you plow through the winter forest? Winter tires! Do you ride training rounds in all weather? Winter tires! Do you cycle to work every day? Winter tires!	You ride in deep snow and even ice surfaces can be encountered? Then your bike needs winter tires with spikes.
It doesn't really snow much in your area, and if it does, is working from home the plan? All-weather tires are still a good idea!	If you have to master inclines and declines, bicycle winter tires will help you. You won't fly out of the curve so easily with them!	If you really rely on your bicycle every day and live in an area where icy conditions are a frequent occurrence, tires with metal pins can be a really good investment.
If you are on dry, well-cleared and gritted roads, all-weather tires might be sufficient. The surface also makes a difference. Are the roads smoothly paved and without inclines or declines? Then you can try your luck with all-weather tires.	Do you often find yourself leaving before the snowplow and then rolling through a few centimeters of fresh snow? Slush or wet sections can also be on your path? On loose or compacted snow, your bicycle should have winter tires.	When wet roads freeze (“black ice”), winter tires with spikes on the bicycle provide more grip.

Does YOUR bicycle need winter tires?

Citybike, E-Bike or Rennrad – does it matter which bicycle you ride in winter? Or do you even need a winter bicycle?

Not everyone is lucky enough to have multiple bicycles available, but a common recommendation is to equip one bicycle for deep snow tours with winter tires (maybe even with spikes), and another with good all-weather tires. Declaring a bicycle permanently as a “winter bike” is also a popular method, protecting the summer fleet from road salt and moisture at the same time. If you have several bikes to choose from, this is certainly a sensible measure. If you only have one bicycle, like with a car, a tire change is due in autumn and spring, unless you leave the bike parked over the winter.

There is only one approach to winter that would be truly grossly negligent: You should not pretend in autumn as if nothing is happening... Simply continuing with worn-out tires or starting with summer tires in truly wintry conditions is dangerous for you and others!

Winter tires for your everyday bicycle

If you ride every day with the Citybike on your way to work, good preparation for winter is a really good idea. The more you rely on your bike, the more precise you should be about it. If you can still get by with a bus, carpool, or walking, a rest day for the bike is certainly bearable, but good all-weather tires would still be a sensible purchase. If you regularly get on the bike and cannot take the weather into account, you should definitely install winter tires on your bike!

Here is the rule of thumb: Many city bikes and trekking bikes today have all-weather tires that are good to ride even in wet conditions. If you rarely get on your bike in winter, and only on dry days or temperatures "above zero", these tires may be sufficient. The more winter you have in your area, the better winter tires you need!

Do trekking bikes and gravel bikes need winter tires?

Many trekking bikes and gravel bikes are office commuters, and the same rule applies to them as to a city bike. If you also ride them a lot in the cold season or live in an area with a lot of winter, winter tires for these bikes are a good idea. Touring bikes and gravels usually have off-road tires or all-weather tires anyway, but in cold weather, an unsuitable rubber compound just can't perform optimally, winter tires are safer here. Even if you want to take bike tours in winter, suitable winter tires are absolutely recommended!

Winter tires for performance bikes

Those who use their bike not just as a means of transport but to rack up training miles might have a slightly different opinion on winter tires than a commuter. What about winter tires for road bikes and MTBs?

With the road bike through the snow? With winter tires, no problem... Image © Dimitrii Vaccinium on Unsplash

The road bike with winter tires?

Winter tires – are they heavier? Are they slower? These are the two central questions in road bike circles. Like other winter tires for bicycles, road bike tires consist of a softer rubber compound, they have a puncture protection layer, and they have more tread. After this information, most road cyclists will probably politely decline. But you shouldn't dismiss the idea so easily. Winter tires and their properties also have real advantages on the road bike!

Whether winter tires for your road bike are too heavy are (or at least heavier than "normal" tires), depends on the model. Due to the puncture insert and the tread, expect a bit more weight.
But how fast are winter tires on a road bike really? Do they slow you down? You read above – winter tires for bicycles are made from a softer rubber compound, so they stick better on difficult surfaces. Sticky also means: More rolling resistance. This means they might be a bit slower on flat stretches. However, you can take wet, slippery corners faster. Depending on your route, they might not be that slow in the end.

Our conclusion: Road bike winter tires might be a bit less speedy than normal slicks. But look at it from another perspective: A slightly slower but steady training ride is still better than an uncontrollable wobble course or even a fall, right?

Winter tires for the MTB?

Does an MTB need winter tires? Actually, mountain bike tires already look like they're made for catastrophic weather at first glance, so why change them?

It's actually worth installing winter tires on an off-road bike because here too a cold-resistant compound gives better grip. These winter tires are also called "Mud-Tires" or "Wet Weather Tires", and this beautifully describes the difference between MTB winter tires and summer tires. Dirt is the natural habitat of an MTB, but in winter you deal with the luxury version of loose ground: mud, sludge, mire... And that's exactly what MTB winter tires aka. Mud Tires are designed for because they have a brilliant feature: The tread of the winter tires is arranged so that mud cannot permanently get stuck in between, rather these tires are "self-cleaning". If "Anti-Mud-Tires" wasn't such a cumbersome word, it would describe the situation well.

Winter tires for your E-Bike

Tires for E-bikes often have a special marking. If you ride a fast E-bike or S-Pedelec , you are required to fit special tires. They must meet the ECE-R75 standard. There are winter tires that have the corresponding approval and meet the required standard and are absolutely recommended, especially at higher speeds on the E-bike! With an E-bike with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h, it's up to you which tires your bike has, here the same advantages/disadvantages apply as for all bicycle winter tires.

Finding the right winter tires

Before you can mount winter tires, you must of course buy the right tires. They must match the diameter ( = tiresize) and the Rim width (= tirewidth) of your wheels fit. A detailed explanation would go too far here, but you will find two posts in the Bike Blog that will help you with the selection of the appropriate tire width and the correct tire size . Since winter tires tend to be a bit thicker due to the puncture protection and tread, you need to pay attention to the tire clearance , meaning how much tire fits into the rear triangle and fork of your bike.

Winter tires are also often chosen a bit wider than the usual summer tires. More contact surface with the road simply means more grip. Here too, the tire clearance is crucial.

Who makes the best winter tires?

It is advisable to choose really good bicycle tires in winter. Well-known manufacturers invest a lot of money and time in development work, so it is worth relying on well-known brands here. No-name products may cost a little less, but whether they deliver what they promise is questionable. It is often recommended to rely on manufacturers for bad weather tires who do not only produce bicycle tires. Behind Continental or Pirelli are decades and millions of experiences with car tires, which is certainly a good basis. Also at the bicycle veteran Schwalbe they know how to roll a bike safely through the winter.

How does a fat bike help you through the winter?

This is about winter tires and not winterbikes, but off-road or through the city – there is a bike that is perfect for a winter with lots of snow. If you really want to ride a bike a lot and regularly in winter and want to buy a winter bike, you can get a fat bike . Especially in areas with lots of snow, such a bike is a good alternative to any other bike. While fat bikes actually only make sense on the beach in summer, they are particularly safe and reliable in winter. The thick balloon tires sink in less, so you can simply glide over loose snow. Besides, they have (almost) as much rubber on the road as some cars, which significantly increases the grip.

Attention! In summer, the winter tires have to come off again!

Conversely – putting winter tires on the bike and simply riding them all year round – is not a good idea either. The softer compound makes life unnecessarily difficult, requiring more legwork to get them rolling on (summer-warm) roads. Moreover, you would be throwing money out the window, as the softer tires wear out faster. So it’s worth switching back to normal tires in the spring, even if you’re not keen on doing the screwing work!

How do you get through winter safely on a bike?

Winter tires on the bike are certainly half the battle, but there are other important measures you should take to prepare yourself and your bike for cold, ice, and snow.

You can lower the tire pressure a bit. This creates more rolling resistance, but on the other hand, you get more rubber on the road and thus additional grip.

If it’s really slippery, you should use the front brake as little as possible and with caution. A locked front wheel would cause the bike to skid, posing a real risk of falling!

You definitely need good bicycle lighting, because even if you ride during the day, the visibility conditions in winter are not really favorable for cyclists.

Gloves... you need gloves! For an active winter on the bike, windproof and waterproof gloves specifically for cyclists are highly recommended! They also protect your hands in a fall if it gets too slippery!

Since the risk of falling is particularly high in winter, you should definitely wear a suitable bicycle helmet !
One of the most important tips for everyone who spends their everyday life on a bike in winter is: Allow enough time! This may not have anything to do with your bike’s tires, but it can save you a lot of trouble. In winter, you should never be in a hurry. It’s better to push a few meters than to fly out of a curve. Winter tires are not made for top speed, and you also have to ride slower and more cautiously in some places. Do yourself and others a favor and allow enough buffer so you can ride carefully and considerately!

Read on – with this information, you’ll get through winter safely, warm, and dry on your bike:

Winter tires for the bike? Is it too complicated for you, your trusty steed can take a winter break? If you don't want to use your bike over the winter, you should prepare it accordingly. In our article “Everything you need to know about bicycle storage” you will learn how to prevent storage damage. Especially important is the storage of your e-bike battery!

Cover image: Denise Jans on Unsplash

Do you need winter tires for your bicycle?