Winter Cycling - nokian studded tire and fit questions

this morning was a very tense ride home from work. I have Nokian W106s 700x35 front and back. Part of my commute was a partially plowed road that had a layer of 'hard' pack. It seemed that building any speed would cause me to break through the pack but in such a way that the tires slipped from side to side. It was a battle keeping the bike upright. Going slower than normal, I was usually able to control the bike pretty good with a few cases of slip. I did just inflate to max PSI (65) Sunday and don't really like to run at really low PSI; am usually between 40 and 60.

The bike: Raleigh Detour 3.0 comfort hybrid with suspension front fork.
Fenders: SKS P50
Tires: currently Nokian W106 700x35; Stock Kenda Kourier 700x40,
Rims Weinmann CN520 with a sticker that says 700x28/35
Got a few extra bucks and am interested in the Nokian W240 700x40 but will it fit?
Does the sticker mean the rims are designed for 700c tires in the 28-35mm width? I ask because the bike came stock with 700x40 tires and I may be interested in narrower slicks this summer.
Lastly the sticker says something about a safety line. I assume that means the rim can wear to the edge of the sticker before needing replacement? Seems like a lot of metal to wear away.

As far as the front wheel slipping around like that, it might be because it isn't contacting anything solid to gain traction from. You might want to consider going with a narrower tire up front. It's counter-intuitive, but the narrower tire will push down into the snow more effectively than a wider tire, which will "float" on top a bit more. When I was using a 2.1" [~52C] studded tire, my front end would wash out constantly in the sloppy crap made of snow, salt and sand that we have here in the winter. I switched to a 38C tire this year, and now I "cut" into the slop much more effectively. YMMV...

If you're worried about fit, how about the Schwalbe Marathon Winter? 700x35, 240 studs, and I think does a great job of tracking in the snow and ice.

Given a choice, I would go with thinner tires.

My 2.1's ride me up on top of snow and it gets tough really quickly. On "deep" snow days, I have to drive.

My NEXT bike will have thinner tires to overcome that. I used to ride my road bike through deep snow when I was younger and it worked great with the thin tires.

Plus less rolling resistance does not always sound bad either :D.

The conditions you describe are about the worst to ride on. I too thought maybe wider tires would help, but following MTBers with fat, aggressive tires around in it one night, I found they were having the same troubles.

Last year I ran my W106s near max pressure all season. Earlier this year, on this very forum (but I'm too lazy to search), I challenged a rider who said that in the worst conditions, he deflated the tires to about half. He said he had no troubles with pinch flats and the grip was greatly improved.

I tried it. He was right.

This season I've run my W106s as low as 25F/30R with no tire, tube or rim damage. And they are much grippier at the lower pressure. If there's no snow or ice, I pump them right up. When it gets sketchy, I let some out.

thanks for all the advice. will try the lower pressure method instead of fatter tire with more spikes. maybe next time will try the SMW since they have reflective sidewalls.