20 inch Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tyres review

I recently fitted a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyres to my folding bike, in size 20x1.6

These tyres are suitable for use in icy/snowy conditions and generally when the temperatures drop below 3C.
Compared to the Schwalbe Ice Spiker I use on my hybrid, the Marathon Winter are intended for road use only, and are meant to be run at higher pressures.

When riding on ice clear roads, a pressure of about 60 to 80 psi is recommended, since that will ensure the studs make minimum contact with the tarmac. Even at those pressures though, these tyres are quite noisy.

The studs look very similar to the ones on the Ice Spiker, but in just under 20 miles I had already lost two studs:

The picture above was taken after covering more than 100 miles at temperatures between -1C and 6C.

I am told Schwalbe send a set of spare studs free of charge to whomever happens to lose some. I don't think two studs out of 160 is really significant. Incidentally, I only lost studs when I was running the tyres at higher pressures, and only from the tyre fitted at the front.

UPDATE: When fitting them again in January 2012, I noticed one of the studs was about to fall off the rear tyre too.

Riding Impressions
The Schwalbe Marathon Winter, on dry or icy surfaces, behave very similarly to the Schwalbe Ice Spiker. Therefore I invite you to read my review of that tyre to know more about these wonderful safety tool!

Fitting to a folding bike
The size is similar to other 1.6" wide tyres such as the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme fitted as standard to my Dahon Mu P8:

Once fitted, the mudguard clearance on my Mu P8 is quite good:

I just had to make sure that the front mudguard stays didn't interfere with the studs and avoid the consequent  rattling: