Ingenious Solution reTyre Lets You Ride Your Bike No Matter the Season

reTyre is a little-known company that offers bicyclists of all types, the ability to extend their riding season far beyond the summer sun. Even further, this team produces a tire system that allows you to cover whatever terrains you want, when you want, without ever having to drop your wheel. Simply put, with the same bicycle you’ve been riding for years, you can tackle asphalt, trail, snow, ice, and gravel, all without ever having to change your tire/tube or wheel system.

How this is done is quite ingenious and may surprise you. This team produces a tire known as the reTyre One. This base tire is one made specifically for asphalt riding and includes a slick tread to ensure a smooth ride, but also a tread pattern that has been optimized to remove water.

If you paid close attention to that last paragraph, you may have picked up the words “base tire.” Aside from being just a regular old road bike tire, the One includes an ingenious system that allows you to change your tread based on whatever terrain you want to ride on.

Do you see that blue strip in the side of each tire? Look closely and you’ll see that it’s a zipper. Yes, like the kind you have on your jacket of backpack, well, almost the same. It’s here that the reTyre system shows you what it's all about. Take one guess what you’ll zip to that base. If you guessed different treads and patterns, you may just be a genius.

The moment you want to go out for a ride, no matter your terrain, just grab the appropriate skin and zip it onto the One. reTyre is currently on their third-generation system which includes a skin for trail riding, gravel, ice, winter/snow, and the obvious road base.

You're already aware of the road tire, but let’s say you feel like hitting the trail for an hour or two. The trail skin is composed of a slightly softer rubber, designed for optimal grip whenever you encounter roots, rocks, or wet surfaces. Large knobs ensure braking and accelerating, while shoulder knobs offer “predictable” handling.

The gravel skin is composed of a dual rubber compound with shorter and harder central knobs to keep you rolling along better, while softer side knobs keep grip on hard surfaces, dirt, and gravel. These skins are designed with a focus on wet, dry, and loose ground traction, plus cornering.

As for the most dreaded time of year for bicyclists, winter, the team offers you the liberty to ride through snow and even light ice with a winter skin. Here, a rubber suitable for winter conditions is used, along with studs and siped knobs for enhanced traction.

The final skin, the one designated strictly for ice, uses a rubber meant to remain soft during freezing temperatures. Here, you’ll also find special knobs meant to flex under loads and allow the studs to grip ice; 300 studs in total.

To run this setup, you’ll need a couple of things. The first is the One tire, which will run you €29 ($34 at current exchange rates), and then, any one of the skins. These will range anywhere from €38 ($45.5 at current exchange rates) for the gravel and trail, all the way to €56 ($67 at current exchange rates) for the winter skin, and €74 ($88.5 at current exchange rates) for the ice skin.

And that’s all of it. You have any other seasons in mind? Didn't think so. With the explosive growth happening in e-mobility, ingenious solutions such as these are bound to keep popping up.