[OneTrustMan]

I ride Woolfpack Enduro tires 29x2.4 on my ebike.
Those tires are surprisingly good at almost all conditions. They remind me kind of the older Schwalbe Magic Mary's.

Yesterday I rode some extremely steep rocky frozen trails up and down. The tires reached their limit on some very steep climbes. But overall I'm really happy with their performance.

 

[Jayem]

We call those "rut tires" 'round here...

 

[cwoodffr]

Sporting studded 45Nrth Wrathlordes in 26x4.2 and loving them. Not going to win any rolling contests but man do they go over ice and varying conditions beautifully and they hook up on climbs like crazy.

 

[cookieMonster]

2.5 Minions or 2.35 Magic Marys (actual size about the same as a 2.5 Minion). I ride foot-packed trails trails that stay just barely softer than a rock from December to March, and I generally only need to wait 2-3 days after a storm for the trails to get packed down again by hikers. I’ve never seen a need for a fat bike or studs. In fact I regularly need to pass fat bikers both up and down.😉

 

[Organ]

Front range rider (at the moment anyway) here. Studded Wrathchild 4.6. I rode for a few years on studded 29er tires but some trails/days just weren’t rideable that way. With the fat, studded wrathchild, the steepest, icey-est, trails can be ridden, often all to yourself. Anything less than 6” of fresh snow and I’m good-to-go.

But yeah, at the moment it’s still t-shirt conditions and I’m not sure the wrathchildren will make an appearance this season.

 

[Josh Patterson]

I’m not sure the wrathchildren will make an appearance this season.

As much as I enjoyed riding in 60° weather today, I know we'll be paying the price next summer if we don't get rain and snow soon. Please, think of the WrathChildren. 🙏

 

[sgltrak]

I don't run different tires in winter. I just air down whatever is already on the bike for a bit better traction. Last winter I had 2.4 Trail Kings on the front of all three bikes I was riding, and on the rears were a 2.4 Ardent, a 2.3 Hutchinson Cougar, and a 2.35 Ikon.

 

[vikb]

Maxxis 29 x 2.6" DHF and DHRII work well. I've also used Conti Trail Kings in 2.4" width in the past with good success. 🤘

 

[Jayem]

I keep going back to the Dillinger 5. It's not the best at anything, but it's decent at everything and big enough for the soft days. I tried to get along with Dillinger 4s and they just sucked bad IME, I think a lot of people buy them because it's all we had as a studded winter tire for a long time, but there are so many better offerings now. The D5 is much better than the 4, just being able to air down more because you have more volume to work with...

 

[jabrabu]

I typically ride a Minion DHF/DHR2 combo. I initially thought that the MaxxGrip compound would give me the best grip in winter conditions, but I found that the Dual compound seems to work better in sub-freezing temperatures. Has anyone else found this?

 

[RickBullottaPA]

Wrathchild (studded) for me, on the fatbike and the plus bike. Mostly on the fatbike. I usually run 3-8 PSI depending on conditions (4.6" tire).

 

[North woods gal]

I do as much winter riding out on our snow and ice packed winter roads as I do warm weather riding on those roads. While there are some tires without studs that I've used that do well under the right snow and ice conditions, if I want to ride consistently day after day, regardless of conditions, I have to use studded tires. I've simply had too many falls on slick ice and snow with the non-studded tires to take chances, anymore.

Most of my winter riding is with fat bikes, but if the snow is packed hard and not too deep out on the road, I sometimes ride my FS 29er with Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro 29er studded tires. Makes a nice change of pace from the fat bikes. If there is any doubt about conditions, though, I go fat bike with studded tires and I've used most of them. Studded Cake Eaters are a nice balance of rolling speed and traction for our roads after the plows have gone through. If I ride the deep stuff with the fat bike before the plows arrive, though, my favorite has been the Wrathchild.

 

[fmendes]

I'm trying the Vittoria Bombolini for the first time this year. In South Texas almost never snows nor freezes, so the tires are irrelevant related to the season.

But to the folks that switch tires frequently, do you ride tubeless or with tubes? I'm finding much easier to use tubes, although these Bombolinis are almost impossible to be open on the trail.

 

[mikesee]

4.5" Cake Eaters when I need float plus all-day efficiency, Johnny 5s when float, float, and more float are de riguer, and 3.8" Gnarwhals when things are slippery and snowy but not deep or soft.

All studded with a blend of Terrene and 45N Studs.

 

[BansheeRune]

I'm trying the Vittoria Bombolini for the first time this year. In South Texas almost never snows nor freezes, so the tires are irrelevant related to the season.

But to the folks that switch tires frequently, do you ride tubeless or with tubes? I'm finding much easier to use tubes, although these Bombolinis are almost impossible to be open on the trail.

I change tires based on the planned ride destination and the terrain at that location. Nothing irritates me more than making a career of a tire swap. Many will go to the unicorn that never flats thing but frankly, it has been many decades since I pinched a tube and years since I punctured a tire.
Not a bull in a china shop riding style and weight is 165 under normal conditions. Right now just isn't normal with chemo being a part of life.

On topic of the thread...

Plus Bike!
I have a pair of Wrathchild 3.0's, if you can call em that, not studded originally. They managed to become studded later on. Use em when it is nasty/icy. When it is real snow and not Ice Capades, I run my Nobby Nic with a minimum of 60% of the tread in contact with a concrete surface.

Fat bike, fatbike or how ever Mirriam Webster says to spell it!

Two wheelsets that are from ~2014 era. Bud/Lou for snow with a minimum of two wrinkles front and three wrinkles rear!
Sand and general trail warm weather, Jumbo Jim 4.8 Liteskin for better fuel economy. It's a fatbike, don't confuse it with a freeride/DH! Fatbikes already have a weight prollem so not interested in tires heavy as a semi tire...

 

[BarryR]

I live in Western MA so winter conditions include dry hard dirt, snow, ice, slush, mud. Although this isn't a Fat Bike Tire question, I do use a Fat Bike for ice & snow & put Wrathchild Studded tires on last year. They're great but, as stated, I only use them on snow & ice. If the conditions change then I use my regular 29er DS.
Not sure what I'd get if I had to pick one set of tires for one bike for the whole winter.

 

[cwoodffr]

recent experience as we shift from fall to winter riding here in Ontario. I chose my DS 29er on maxxis minions for a weekend ride where it was just below zero and light snow cover. Grip started out tenacious and almost as good as dirt. 3/4 of the other riders were on fats with studs....no initial advantage. As it warmed a bit and got more packed/wet, there was an advantage of the fat....and studs for climbing over slippery elements like wet roots etc. If I had to pick in Ontario....with freezing coming and staying below freezing.....studs are incredibly important. Even if on skinny.....you are just asking for injury without them. Quality studs are not going to wear out if you are traversing pavement or such....but will save your bacon.

 

[Hrodulf]

XC/trail here on the Forekaster v1/Ikon for thr winter.

Thinking about throwning a High Roller II MaxxTerra up front for increased traction on wet roots.

 

[MTB Engineer]

Depends on what your “winter” is like. Maxxis 3C becomes a bar of soap when the temps drop to 0 and below Celsius. Schwalbe and Vittoria work fine and generally for hardpack snow pretty much any tire will be great. Loose snow and you’ll want wider rubber and eventually studs for ice.