Winter Cycling - Who said Nokian Extremes were slow?

http://xs322.xs.to/xs322/07520/IMG_6408.JPG:beer:

21 mph - that's pretty slow... ;)

21 mph - that's pretty slow... ;)

Maybe so, but on snow/ice it isn't bad. ;)

That's moving! were you running 55+ pressure?

Urm....I think YOU said that Home Slice :rolleyes: HeHe You really had me gun shy on the Mount & Grounds. Last meeting I had with Terra Firma broke my ribs and put them thru my lung. I'm here to tell ya 294s are CHEAP:o Slow and steady like a Mt Goat is OK. 21 is even respectable. I did put 12 miles on the Mount & Grounds thru patches of black ice today. 6 miles with a 50lb load. Not bad at all really, I could feel the studs grip,no slippage but still like some extremes:D

Are you sure its 20 miles and not 20 kms?

20 miles seems a bit fast on a mountain bike on snow, but I could be wrong.

He's being pulled by a skidoo.

Or maybe a dogsled team.

He lifted the wheel and spun it real fast.:rolleyes:

This thread was meant to be more humorous than anything. Of course 21 mph is not a sustained speed. I was on a downhill and i was very stable with the 294's on snow packed gravel. I just snapped a shot because i had the camera with me.

More realistic averages for these tires are around 11-12 mph on snow packed dirt/gravel. I think they are a bit slower on pavement than the M and G's but am certain that they are faster on hard pack snow.

Your estimates are right on with what I get. They may be slow, but at 21 mph, they sound like they're going 70.

But these guys are over the top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRiYXaMZAg&feature=related

Last meeting I had with Terra Firma broke my ribs and put them thru my lung.

Me too.
Four broken ribs and a punctured, collapsed lung.

Since then I've wintered through with Innova's, Nokian 106's, 240's, and now this winter, 294's.

Surprisingly, the 294's seem to have the least rolling resistance.

I can feel the weight of them when accelerating, but otherwise I consider them the best snow and ice tire imaginable; and much better than I ever expected.

I cruise around at about 10-12mph, but I can do 15mph if I feel ambitious.

This thread was meant to be more humorous than anything. And it is :p Portis buys Nokian extremes so he wont fall down... Then he takes a picture of his puter going 21 mph downhill on a sheet of ice! :lol: 'Extreme' confidence.

Ken: (owner of many Nokians) Whats the story on the 240's? They look like a great tire. Everyone: Lung tubes (5-6 days) hurt like L. Broken ribs take 18 months to heal, hurt everytime you take a deep breath or try to laugh :cry:

But these guys are over the top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRiYXaMZAg&feature=related

What do I have to do to get to ride there? :D

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4048/img6408qv5.jpg

Put an asterisk next to that feat, like Barry bonds Ball!!!

Whats the story on the 240's? They look like a great tire.

I started out on Innova's version of the Nokian 106's, but it threw too many studs.

I switched to the Nokian 106's and they worked much better than the Innova's by every measurement, not just retaining studs.

However, I noticed in refrozen rutted snow, the 106's wouldn't climb ruts at any kind of angle other than almost perpendicular to the rut, and so I switched to the Nokian 240's for the side studs.

The 240's represented a huge improvement over the 106's because they would climb not only the sides of steep ruts, but they would ride on the side of rounded ice ridges safely; a huge safety improvement when encountering ice or raised surfaces at an angle.

On the downside, I commute in the winter mostly on bare pavement, with only portions on significant ice or snow, and I found the increase in rolling resistance on pavement depressing.
I mean, it really bummed me out.

This summer I decided to apply everything I had learned over the past three years of winter commuting to a dedicated winter fixed gear bike.
My lbs told me about the 294's (not released at the time we started putting the bike together), and he said all the fat tire manufacturers had learned a lot about fat tires and rolling resistance in the past few years.

I took the gamble.

For some reason, the 294's have less rolling resistance than the 240's, and feel more like the 106's in that regard.
The 294's do weigh more and have more inertia (less acceleration) than the 240's, and they cost significantly more.

I think if a person spent the whole winter, or the majority of the winter on ice and snow, with less time on bare pavement, he might prefer the 240's for cost-effectiveness.

As far as breaking trail in fresh, deep snow, I don't do that kind of riding so I can't compare the two in that capacity.

I just came back from my normal training ride that takes me about an hour, with about half on pavement and half on crusty, broken, rutted snow and ice, and I felt completely secure on my 294's the whole time, including a long, steep downhill on a bike lane into which the cars and snow plows had ejected their icy crud.

But these guys are over the top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRiYXaMZAg&feature=related


I've always said:

The day they let me ride my DH bike on a ski hill is the day my snowboard goes on ebay.