Winter bike - hybrid or just new tyres?

[phoebemcpeepee]

As I get older I've become increasingly more nervous on my bike in winter with wet, slippery roads, debris after a windy night and pot holes covered with said debris making rides seem far more treacherous than they used to. I managed to get a puncture 2 out of my last 3 rides (despite sliming my tyres) which is really off-putting so now considering investing in a more robust hybrid type bike or will some decent winter tyres do the trick? My typical weekly ride c.20/25 miles plus one a bit shorter but am in a very hilly area and the few times I've been out on mountain bike it's been waaay harder going.

New hybrid or winter tyres?

A hybrid won’t keep the puncture pixies at bay. Decent tyres will. I use Schwalbe Marathon Plus (but do quite a bit of gravelly trail riding). Gatorskins are good too but slightly lighter. Use both on winter conditioned potholed roads which are generally covered in mud and other debris off tractor tyres, with no issues. You just have to be mindful you can’t Chuck the bike about like you can on other tyres when the roads are damp.

That should say I use both sets of tyres and not at once obviously. That would be weird! Never punctured with either - average annual mileage 7,000 ish. Also super hilly where I live and I pick the little narrow lanes to ride which are always in poor condition and worse in winter.

You’ll always slip if you turn a wheel or brake on wet ironwork. It sounds like you might benefit taking that mountain biking off road to help with your bike handling skills? Pick some muddy routes, then if you fall it doesn’t hurt. You get to learn what the limits are on the bike and instinctively correct stuff. It’s huge amounts of fun. It massively transfers back on to road bike handling and confidence. I race cyclocross and do a reasonable amount of riding off-road, so I’m speaking from experience here about how it improves road riding. I can honestly say winter road conditions don’t phase me (it’s pretty rural here, which probably makes the road conditions worse). The only I time I won’t go out is if it’s icy or extremely windy.