andrelam

I had these on my bike last Winter. I never lost a stud, but the steel studs just don't last more than a month or two during a daily 10 mile (RT) commute.

I also had a tire failure. I had the bead fail on one of the tires while the bike was sitting next to me in my office... that was a LOUND bang! I called up Tire Direct and they were backordered for a few weeks. Since this happend in mid December I could not wait a few weeks as the snow was falling every few days. I then called up Peter White and got a Nokia W106 as I had to get a tire immediately.

The difference between the Innova and the Nokia were kind of interesting. The tread between the tires looks just about dead identical. From a few feet away there would be no way to tell the two appart. The studds, now there is where all the difference lies. With Steel studs ground down even with the tread after having been on the bike for about 8 weeks. I put the Nokia on the Front and left the remaining Innova tire on the back. I could tell no difference in traction on snow. In February we had a nice ice storm and I rode home. Part way home I went around a bend, and the rear end just slipped right out from under me. The Nokia were holding on fine, but the Innovas has very little traction. I tried to get my foot down, but it was so icy that my boot slipped and I hit the ground hard. I had a hard time getting up and slip slided my way accross the street to out of the road. I was far enough home that I rode the rest of way. The Innova just didn't do its job.

Innova cost about $35 the Nokia cost about $50. The difference in traction caused me to whipe out and need to take nearly 2 weeks off the bike. I will NOT run the Innova tires again. If you need studs, then get the Nokia or Schwalbe tires. If you don't need studds then get some Cyclo Cross tires with some tread. Don't waste your money on slightly cheaper, but clearly inferior Innova studded tires, the savings are not worth it... they will let you down when you need them most.

Happy riding,
André