Choosing the best tyre for winter ridnig, no matter if you are just popping down the road to the shops or if you are putting in some long base miles ready for the next season of riding, is an important decision to get right. Therefore this guide will help you pick a tyre that is suited to your needs and is essential to carry on enjoying cycling this winter and getting the most out of your bike whilst being safe.
Below you can read about our top 3 picks for Road, Gravel and Mountain bike tires. All of these tyres will help you perform well in different conditions so take a look at our handy star rating for each tyre as well.
Road Tyres
Road tyres have improved and changed a great deal in recent years with tires getting wider, faster and tubeless. It’s led to the development of new and exciting materials which help summer tyres but also more importantly for winter riding with greater puncture protection, more grip and weight reduction.
Winter tyres have always been heavy, rock hard compounds and slow rolling. Which leads to a bike feeling sluggish, and skittish in cornering, but also you having to put more effort in! but modern tyres have changed this trend and started to turn it on its head.
Road Choice 1 - Bontrager AW3 Hardcase
The AW3 tyre is a proper fit and forget tyre, with its class leading puncture protection, fast rolling design and lightweight feel, you will be riding into those winter months without a worry in sight (well tyre related anyway). The AW3 has a light tread pattern to help with water dispersion, to gain grip round those back lanes and sharp corners when its wet out (when isn’t it in winter?!).
Sizes vary from 25c all the way up to 38c for those road bikes with more tyre clearance.
Winter riding can be one of those activities which you can forma a love-hate relationship with, but the Bontrager AW3 tyres will help make your experience much more enjoyable and fingers crossed puncture free. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tire chance to move more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Road Choice 2 - Vittoria Rubino Pro Control
Vittoria Rubino Pro Control is the perfect offering if you are tired of getting punctures in the winter and want a more reliable tyre, without losing control and feel, thanks to its supple casing constriction. These tyres benefit from Vittoria’s Graphene 2.0 protection to help stop those punctures in their tracks. Also to help increase the wear life of the tyres it is made of 3 different compounds including a specific Nylon Casing to help the life of the tires.
Sizes vary from 23c all the way up to 28c.
The Vittoria Rubino Pro Control tyres will give you the confidence you need throughout the winter with the reasonable price point. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tire chance to grip more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Road Choice 3 - Bontrager R3 TLR Hard-case
The Bontrager Hard-Case lite the the tyre for you if you want a light weight fast rolling yet tough tyre. This tyre from Bontrager is ready to be fitted tubeless for greater puncture protection along with great ride feel and extra durability. We have had great success with this tyre for offering someone that summer tyre feel for those long winter base mile rides.
Sizes vary from 25c all the way up to 32c.
The R3 Hard-Case lets you ride fast no matter the conditions. With its lightweight tubeless design and lightly treaded design gives you the ability to ride fast even round corners. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tire chance to grip more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Gravel Tyres
Gravel tyres have had to constantly evolve over a short period time to meet the evolving demands of the new bikes. With tyres getting faster and faster at one end of the scale then someone people also want more and more aggressive tyres for more exploring that unused path or trail. Yet they haven’t moved away from what is essential in a Gravel tyre; grip, high volume and puncture resistance (normally in the form of Tubeless – to prevent pinch flats and allow you to run at lower pressures still).
Gravel tyres have been evolving over time so have a look below at our top 3 winter gravel tyres.
Gravel Choice 1 - Bontrager GR2
Our first pick is the Bontrager GR2 Team Issue. This gravel tire is a step up in grip and mud displacement from the GR1 with the beneifits still of Tubeless set up and a fast rolling tread. This fast rolling, consistent and predictable tire gives you traction right were you need it and a variety of conditions.
From our experience of riding this tyre it is perfect for those fast mix terrain days where you need one tyre to do it all no matter if you are riding through deep mud or fast single track. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Gravel Choice 2 - Vittoria Terreno Mix
Our second pick is the rapid Vittoria Terreno Mix. This tyre provides you will excellent traction and confidence across even the roughest of roads and tracks. With its fast rolling and ultra light weight build it makes for the perfect winter speed tyre to keep you riding at summer speeds throughout the winter. This tyre is tubeless and has the Vittoria’s Graphene 2.0 Compound to deliver ultimate grip with amazing puncture resistance.
From our experience of riding this tyre the grip was second to none of the rough off road sectors, no matter how much power we put down this tyre just didn’t slip. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Gravel Choice 3 - Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M
Our third and final pick is the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M. The M in the title stands for mixed terrain and that’s exactly what it does. Where the surface varies between compact and loose this tyre will deal perfectly with both with the tread consisting of knobs with average height with perfect spacing to guarantee performance and mud clearance when its needed most.
From our experience of riding this tyre the speed and confident around the corners was amazing. We found that the hard and close patterned centre tread line was great for those fast and compact trails along with the aggressive side knobs for grip around any corner. We would always recommend running 10psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and absorb those slightly rougher roads.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
Mountain Bike Tyres
Mountain bike tyres haven’t just taken a step forward in recent years they have taken a rather big leap. Gone are the days where a winter mountain bike tyre used to just be big knobs and tough rubber. with new innervations and technology coming through you can now nearly be as fast as you are in the summer with the same if not more grip.
Take a look below at our top 3 winter mountain bike tyres.
MTB Choice 1 - Vittoria Barzo
The Barzo is the big brother to the summer Mezcal tyre, the magic in this tyre is in the center tread, where it has alternating ridge design with progressive angle. The result of this is the tyres rolls as quick as a summer tyre with the mud shredding capabilities of a big downhill tyre. To help the puncture resistance the Barzo has the Vittoria treatment with their Graphene 2.0 compound which delivers the ultimate puncture resistance with unparalleled grip in the wet.
From our experience of riding this tyre the mud clearance ability was amazing. We would we riding through some really thick sticky mud and this tyre would just grip the whole way through it and then just clear itself straight after that section was done. We would always recommend running 5psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and grip onto those slightly looser trails.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
MTB Choice 2 - Bontrager XR3
The XR3 Team Issue MTB tire is perfect for riders who want traction and speed in a variety of trail conditions. It has a fast-rolling centre tread and aggressive side knobs to keep you rolling fast and confidently around corners, plus advanced rubber compound with inner strength casing.
From our experience of riding this tyre it was a fantastic fast rolling tyre with ample grip and cornering abilities. Due to the tread being quite close together we struggled on a few of the more boggy sections to clear the mud after but apart from that it was a super fast and capable winter mountain bike tyre. We would always recommend running 5psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and grip onto those slightly looser trails.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
MTB Choice 3 - Maxxis Forekaster
The new Forekaster slots into the Maxxis mountain line between our XC options that prioritize rolling speed (Aspen, Rekon Race, Ikon, Rekon) and our gravity-focused treads (Dissector, Minion DHF, Minion DHR, Assegai) which emphasize cornering and braking traction. We envision the new Forekaster as the perfect companion for long, pedally rides in a variety of terrain. When an Aspen isn’t enough tire but a Minion is too much, choose the new Maxxis Forekaster.
From our experience of riding this tyre it was great aggressive tyre for all a winters ride had to throw at us. Any corner, berm, or decent this tyre gripped onto the ground and didn’t let go. We would always recommend running 5psi less in your tyres in the winter to give your tyre chance to move more and grip onto those slightly looser trails.
Work out your ideal tyre pressure with this handy tool – https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
Speed
Grip
Puncture Protection
Weight
Price
