Like a lot of GCN’s recent video, this one is probably more driven by marketing than facts. That’s not to say that I don’t agree with where they end up; it’s better to use different tires in the winter than the summer. Where they fail, is by not going far enough…
As someone who now lives in an area where “winter” means riding in temperatures below the freezing point for water, personally I ride studded tires if there’s a risk for ice, when there’s not, I use a wider, grippier (shown above) road tire than I would normally run in the summer time. In either case, I use a non-carbon rim. Why expose the fancy wheels to salt? Running a wider, heavier tire, on heavier rims means you’re working harder to go slower (and if something does happen, you’re destroying a cheaper wheel). While this is a bad thing when it’s nice outside. When it’s proper cold, going slow means your face hurts a lot less, and your body still stays warm. This is also a great reason to head out to the trails, instead of the road. No salt, and slower speed-at-effort = win-win.
