Snow Riding to Stud or Not?

donnie murdo

Well, even if you haven't looked out the window the news hasn't stopped going on about the snow.

Do you ride in the snow and if so do you use regular tires or ones with snow studs? They seem like a good investment to me now?

u05harrisb

judging from you being in scotland yes good idea, this is likley to happen every year for you guys isnt it? i woulldnt bother for me up im in the east midlands so for me snow isnt too bad and if it is its a soft landing and im not out on a propper ride

nicklouse

studs for ICE, mud tyres for snow.

Laurence25

I just use my 2.4 nobbie nick on 25psi up front and a 2.25 on the rear at about 30 psi work a treat but they roll really slow !

Adrian Waine

Bought a pair of Schwalbe Ice Spiker tyres for my MTB. After doing work, visits etc I've just been out for a ride on the snow packed lane I live on. They were absolutely fantastic.
Grip was great on ice and hardpack. I did think about trying an endo, but common sense got in the way.
Climbing hills was event free, standing on the pedals did produce some gentle slippage, but nothing to worry about. Descents were a blast.
The tread cleared snow, which is just as well because there isn't much clearance with the chainstays (tyres are 2.1").
I just wonder why I left it so long to get some - would have been great for last winter - I managed that on city bike with Marathon Plus, they aren't too good even on wet roads.
One downside is that you should run ice tyres on tarmac for 25 miles to bed in studs.
A positive is the weird noise they make on tarmac!

ESHER SHORE

I rode every day in the Winter snowfall

on Specialized Control Captain 26" x 2" tires - no problems to report



plenty of grip and control on my XC rides during the snowy conditions

Northwind

For snow I just carry on as usual, and pedal with a wee bit more finesse Certainly don't need studs for snow, they don't do anything, they're purely for ice.

mossmotorsport

I've been out today in the snow with Specialized (?Model) 2.0 tyres - no problems to report here either. Wasn't very deep mind, but there was quite a few ice patches.

ride_whenever

If you've got a bit of money to burn then a set of ice spikers or nokians are good for a laugh, even if you only need them a for a bit each year.

If you're serious about doing it regularly and have a lot of money to burn get the ice spiker pros in the new year once they're back in stock as they're pretty lush!

nicklouse

Spikes are NOT needed for snow.

Do you want to know how many Ice Spikers we sell a year? None.

but for the commuters we sell hundreds of studded commuter tyres.

ride_whenever

They're not need for snow, but if you've got a bit of cash to spend on something frivolous and want to ride in the snow (where there is likely to be ice) then they're certainly worth a splash!

If you've only riding on snow, and aren't worried about ice, then a set of really really soft compound mud tyres would also work as they should stay grippier in the low temperatures.

EnglishChris

I've just ordered a set of Schwalbe Marathon Winters for the commute to work (London), mainly with icy roads in mind. If it really snows and the snow stays for a few days I might just use my Meta with its High Rollers and a wee bit less pressure than normal...

Charles2215

Whats the downside of not bedding them in with 25 mile ride?

Adrian Waine

Downside seems to be that you may loose some studs. The noise is pretty cool - you don't need a bell to warn people you're coming
I fell on black ice two years ago and narrowly avoided serious damage to my elbow. My new Hi Vis jacket and skin on my hip didn't fare too well though. It must have been a good stack though as the bloke in a white van asked if I was OK.
As far as I'm concerned, the investment is well worth iit as if I damage myself the lost overtime is going to cost a hell of a lot more.

Whats the downside of not bedding them in with 25 mile ride?

arthur_scrimshaw

I've been using mud tyres for the snow (Maxis Medusa 2.1) and they've been great so far, just ride more cautiously on the ice.

EnglishChris

Someone gave me the following link
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

in a similar thread:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12744703

Really good in-depth advise on winter tyres (for snow and ice).

meanredspider

400 miles on roads on Ice Spikers last winter - fantastic on ice and snow. For the Strathpuffer (off-road 24hr enduro) last winter, they simply couldn't find enough Ice Spikers in the country. For pure snow, you don't benefit from them - but if you ride long enough and far enough, you WILL hit ice and Ice Spikers work as well as any tyre in snow. Noise, cost and weight are the downsides - lack of tarmac faceplants are the upside.

Mental Mickey

Spiked tyres whether or bought or homemade are great for black ice on roads and commuting, but they offer no real advantage over good mud tyres with wide spacing between lugs when riding off road, I've tried both at Cannock trail centre and the mud tyres are far better.

While spiked tyres do grip ice well, they don't seem any more effective in powdery snow and the steel studs on mine struggle with wet rocks/stones whereas the mud tyres don't.

On_What

I've got Maxxis Minions (2.3") and I run a front and rear specific, not two fronts. They are good on snow and compacted slush. Ice is a bit dodgy

EnglishChris

My Schwalbe Marathon Winters turned up yesterday so I used them on the commute (7 miles from south to west London). Initial thoughts:

Harder work than my normal commuting tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus). Could be due to the spikes, bigger tread or more likely, lower pressures. I've been running my usual tyres near the max pressure (c 65 psi) until recently when I've dropped them to 50ish for the slippier roads. The Winters are meant to be run near the low end for icy roads so I've got them at 40 psi initially.

The do make a noise on tarmac, kind of like listening to rice crispies - its not that bad though, just sounds like it would if you were riding over crispy snow.

I took it easy and didn't hammer into any corners but even on the smaller non gritted roads they seemed to grip well when turning. Similarly on the tarmac I took the corners very easy but didn't feel any slippage.

When accelerating on tarmac of ice / slush they gripped well too - no rear wheel slippage at all.

I'll post an update when I've used them a bit more and got a bit more confidence in them but for now they seem ideal for commuting on mixed gritted / ungritted roads.

ollie_lucas1985

I unfortunatly i took advice from the forum and didnt get any snow tires.. I am regretting this now after stacking it big time today