Winter Cycling - Nokian 294 - break in miles?

I am told that you should have 30 road miles on pavement to break in the tires and I guess to set the studs, (I am not really sure)

Anyway, where I am we have not had any snow to speak of this winter and I have only got approx 15 miles in on the road with them (a few miles here and there after work) I was resigned to the fact that it would never snow this winter and stopped getting the break in miles.

Well, low and behold, we are getting some snow and ice this weekend.

If I take them out on the trail with only 15 miles on them, what kind of damage am I going to do to the tire, if any?

Should I really try tonight to get another 15 miles on them?

thanks

Don't worry about it, seriously.

seriously?

I am told that you should have 30 road miles on pavement to break in the tires and I guess to set the studs

Who told you that?
All I know is, I rode my studded tires on snow/ice, right out of the box, three winters ago.
They're still going strong...

I rode mine 5 miles on the road and lost probably 10-15 studs on the rear tire on my first trail ride. An experienced rider I know says that's the result of not doing enough break in miles. His well worn Nokains are not missing any studs, which he says is the result of following the 30 mile recommended break in. He says it's not a big deal to be missing studs and certainly I haven't noticed the difference. I did more road miles and haven't lost a stud since (that I've noticed).

my wife got em for me for xmas and there was a card in with the tires (from the retailer) that said the manufacturer recomends 30-40 miles on pavement before riding off road.

I guess that's not the case.

I am happy. thank you.

I ended up riding mine in snow the first day they were on my bike. I think they still have all of the studs- even after a couple of mild panic stops on them.

What is the difference between a mild panic stop and a panic stop you ask? How long the tire was locked up on pavement before I let go of the brakes :D.

I would rather replace the tires a little early than crash because I did not have them on.

Enjoy the tires!

Here's what I think the road riding does:

The stud is made of an aluminum cup with a carbide pin in it. If you don't road ride the carbide pin can come out and relieve pressure on the cup, allowing the cup to fall out of the tread. I've found one stud on my tire with the cup but no pin, and that stud went missing after my next ride. Anyway, I think the road riding essentially shot peens (mashes) the edes of the cup around the edge of the pin and seals it in there.

But that's just a guess...

thanks all. I might try to put a few more dry pavement miles on them, but I'm less worried now.

I did my 30 miles on a couple of rides, and I was in awesome shape afterwards! It sucks, but is worth it for the stud retention.

My Schwalbe Marathon winters came with factory suggested 25 miles on dry pavement which I followed.
See this thread for more about the Marathon Winter.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=371210&highlight=

Here's what I think the road riding does:

The stud is made of an aluminum cup with a carbide pin in it. If you don't road ride the carbide pin can come out and relieve pressure on the cup, allowing the cup to fall out of the tread. I've found one stud on my tire with the cup but no pin, and that stud went missing after my next ride. Anyway, I think the road riding essentially shot peens (mashes) the edes of the cup around the edge of the pin and seals it in there.

But that's just a guess...

I'm pretty sure that's correct. The softer aluminum "seats" into the tire treads.

Anyway, I put about 50 autumn road miles and have pushed my Nokian's hard without a single stud loss this winter. It was the most monotonous riding I've ever done, but well worth it. I've read plenty of posts of people who don't "break in" their winter meats and lose plenty of studs.....but, I've also heard from some who haven't lost any. I think it comes down to what type of riding you do. I ride aggressive trails, so I didn't want to take a chance.

I bought the Nokian Mount and Grounds, put them on my mtb and rode up and down the street in front of the house, making u-turns in the road. After about 1/2 hour of playing around like this I noticed a good number of the studs had floated out of their holes and were laying sideways on the surface of the tire, barely hanging in. I completely lost one and the carbide stud had fallen out of the aluminum cup on another. I took a small screwdriver and reseated the hanging studs into their holes.
I called my lbs. I was told to air the tires up to 60 lbs and give them their 30 mile break-in. I did that and haven't had a problem since.

This is off of Pete White (http://peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp)'s web page:

Q: Why do Nokian tires have a tag stating that you should ride the tires on paved roads for 30 miles before using them on ice?

A: It's because Nokian is very sloppy in how they manufacture their tires, and doesn't take the time to ensure that every stud is fully seated in the tire tread before shipping it. With some studs partly hanging out of the tire tread, if you ride them hard, the studs can easily fall out. Riding them "easy" is supposed to help seat the studs. Of course this as all just bovine excrement, and those half seated studs can still easily fall out.

But don't worry. Before we ship any studded tire, Nokian or Schwalbe, my staff carefully check every stud on every tire to be sure they are all correctly and fully seated in the tire tread. Any tire with studs that are not fully seated, or missing, are given to me and I, Peter Jon White, then seat or replace any missing studs personally. We'll ship no tire with missing or partially seated studs. That means you don't have to fool around riding slowly. Ignore the silly and misleading message from Nokian when you buy tires from me.