How easy the tyres were to install was an important factor for us – you don’t want to be wasting time you could be spending on the road (iStock/The Independent)
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Season specific tyres might just seem like a marketing gimmick created by cycling brands to make a quick buck, but trust us when we say they’re well worth the investment.
Picking a good quality set of winter tyres will not only give you extra grip for icy conditions and added puncture protection, they’ll ensure you can ride and train all year round, whatever the weather. But knowing the difference and benefits between these types of tyres can be puzzling, so we’re going to try and simplify it.
The first, and biggest difference, between winter – or four season – tyres and summer ones is their tread pattern. Unlike a mountain bike tyre, where the knobs or file-like patterns can make a big difference with grip, a road bike tyre’s details are generally stylistic, which helps with speed on smooth tarmac. Come winter, we need to have the best of both worlds, and even something as simple as the rubber that your tyres are made from can make a huge difference.
Generally, a soft compound has better grip but wears quickly, while hard offers durability but sacrifices control. The best winter options manage to combine the best of both by using multiple compounds on the same tyre – generally hard in the middle for mile-munching capabilities and soft on the edges to boost control on wet or frosty tarmac.
When buying, we also recommend paying close attention to puncture protection. Glass, flint, thorns and grit are all common objects that find themselves washed to the side of the road and right into the path of you and your bike. Most four-season models include a protective belt to counter this. Although they make each tyre heavier, the slight sacrifice in speed is better than having to replace an inner tube at the side of the road in the cold.
The final thing to be aware of is whether the tyre is tubeless or not. A technology borrowed from mountain bikes, it allows you to forgo an inner tube completely, run tyres at lower pressures for better grip and comfort, and benefit from even more puncture protection thanks to sealant’s hole-plugging properties.
It’s worth noting that you need tubeless-ready wheels (a feature that’s becoming more and more common on newer road bikes). If your wheels aren’t tubeless-ready, you’re best sticking with “clincher” models as they will be easier to fit and, often, cheaper.
To help you find the right set, we put several of the best winter tyres to the test and shared our findings below. From road-focused training tyres to ones that can handle the odd gravel detour, these are the best winter tyres for road bikes to buy in 2021.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
Continental grand prix 4 season folding road tyre
The German tyre specialist Continental’s winter tyre is marketed as something that could be ridden year-round, and is a slightly beefier version of its race-focused GP5000. The added sidewall protection gives you peace of mind when rattling along the dirtiest country roads but the extra weight isn’t overly noticeable, leaving you with a fast and smooth-rolling ride.
Potholes were absorbed rather than bounced off during testing, while the tyres stay firmly stuck to the road – even when hitting a patch of black ice one particularly cold morning. Easy to install, they’re a tyre you stick on for winter and end up leaving them on long into summer.
As the name suggests, the “GravelKing” from Panaracer is geared at cyclists who enjoy pushing their drop-handlebar bikes to their limits (whether that’s on or off-road). This ability to handle the odd bit of gravel makes them an ideal companion for the British winter, when roads can often resemble dirt tracks.
A slightly filed centre tread is flanked with a chevron design on the shoulders and some puncture protection has been integrated into the tyre’s construction. Although they felt slightly weighty, the fear of puncturing was low. Plus they have a bonus point for coming with on-trend tan sidewalls.
The Rubino Pro utilises three different compounds to try and give you real value for money for a winter tyre. The result is a tyre that is not only long-lasting, but rolls smoothly and leaves you feeling in control. There were no hairy moments during testing, even in cold and icy conditions and we love that they’re available in five different colours of tyre stripes. The only reason this didn’t make our best buy was because of how tight they are to install – increasing the risk of puncturing your inner tube before you’ve even started.
Another model that targets itself at the year-round market, the P zero velo 4S from Italian manufacturer Pirelli is a slightly adapted version of its non-4S namesake (£35, sigmasports.com). Outside of a modified tread design, which the brand claims will improve water drainage, there’s not a lot of difference between the two when it comes to compounds.
The outcome for the 4S, though, is a fast, light set that’s lacking in the puncture-protection department. Although we weren’t left deflated throughout the miles of testing, other sets left us feeling more secure. That said, if it is a toss-up between the P Zero Velo and its four-season cousin, those water-dispersal qualities of the 4S should come in handy on damp UK roads.
Named in honour of the iconic Paris-Roubaix road cycling race and its numerous sections of pavé (aka stoney, bumpy Belgian farm tracks), we expected Specialized’s offering to be able to handle anything we threw at it. Less than ten miles into our testing though, a piece of flint had pierced through its middle after a short sojourn through a puddle.
Ultimately this can happen, regardless of the claimed puncture protection. However, their ease of installation (no tyre levers required to put on or take off) made the repair a seamless experience, and we were soon back in the saddle. The ride felt like that of a summer tyre and there was no discernible sluggishness. Tested in wet and damp conditions, they instilled confidence in the corners while remaining fast on the flats. One of the cheaper winter tyres on the market, the Roubaix Pro could be a good choice if on a tight budget.
If you want a winter road bike tyre that you can install and forget about, the durano plus is it. Sturdy and secure, the tyres felt almost unbreakable and would simply bounce off of any potholes that lay in their path. While some would mark them down for not absorbing the blows like some of the more supple sets we tested, we felt confident throughout that we were never at risk of a pinch puncture and were happy to slightly sacrifice comfort on rougher roads for added peace of mind.
The downside of this protection is that they did feel noticeably heavier but safety often trumps speed when riding in the depths of winter. Available with a reflective strip around the sidewall, we think they would make an ideal tyre for those looking to commute by bike throughout the year.
Like the Panaracer (£49.99, panaracer.co.uk), the Exposure from American company WTB is targeted at those who don’t want to be constrained to asphalt on their road bikes. It does so by combining a smooth centre with filed shoulders, which provided us with low rolling resistance on the road but added bite when venturing off the beaten track. When combined with a tubeless set-up and lower tyre pressures, we were left with a comfortable ride that felt fast on all terrains.
It’s worth noting that the narrowest width that WTB offers the Exposure in is 30mm, which might be too wide for older road bikes or those with rim brakes – it’s best to check with manufacturers before buying if you’re not sure.
Although well known amongst drivers, Goodyear only re-entered the road bike market back in 2018. The vector 4 seasons is part of its ultra high performance range, which promises both low rolling resistance and weight while keeping handling high in the wet and dry.
The tyres certainly lived up to these claims on test, feeling like an out-and-out summer tyre even when the conditions were Baltic. It’s also worth noting that tubeless tyres are often given a bad reputation for being difficult to install but we didn’t have any issues when switching our attention to Goodyear’s vector 4 seasons. Although they required a tyre lever to get them onto the rim, we managed to get them seated using only a track pump, and there was no noticeable sidewall sealant leakage.
The Continental GP 4 season was literally a tyre for all seasons, but it was run close to the top spot by a number of contenders. The Schwalbe durano plus would be our choice for road bikes used predominantly for commuting with the odd weekend excursion and the Goodyear vector 4 season tubeless is a great pick if you’re ready to do away with inner tubes.
A final notable mention goes to the WTB exposure, which is a great pick if the UK’s byways and bridleways start to look enticing as the weather improves.
