Winter Cycling - New Nokian problems?

My brand spankin' new Nokian 294 Extreme nobbies are sliding all over the place. My last set wasn't near this bad. Anyone else having problems? New rubber formula since the company was bought out? Perhaps it's just the odd mix on the roads this year, but even 2" of churned road snow is proving a remarkable problem for me. WTF?

http://media.rei.com/media/gg/30ef419d-76d5-4da2-b089-9fcfaab4a6f9.jpg

I'm betting it's conditions. Rain followed by snow, wind, and bitter cold makes for tough going in the Twin Cities today.

a) Other people (at least two) DO seem to be having a few issues: Click me! (http://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wheels/Tire/nokian/extreme-294/PRD_413218_151crx.aspx)

b) Found online. Forgive me if you already knew this:


IMPORTANT! Break-in advice for Nokian studded tires: 1.Ride for approx. 50km (30miles) on road surfaces. 2.Avoid rapid acceleration and braking. 3.Only careful break-in will ensure that the tires and studs are optimized. (You still might lose a couple of studs during the normal use due to great friction, but that won't effect tire performance)

It's my second set of this model. I wore out the first. This set seems different, like the rubber compound isn't the old cold weather specific stuff. Greasy underwheel. The studs themselves work as always.

My Nokian W106's were quite squirlly for the first 100 miles or so. That was on dry roads. I think the flash, the little bit of rubber that squeezes out between the mold halves, was contributing to the instability. Most of it's gone now after ~400 miles.

You may be having problem with some remnants of the release agent that is used to let the rubber come cleanly out of the mold. I have dry weather the 1st week with my new W106's. I've experienced this with car tires, where the first 25 to 50 miles they felt slippery, then as they got just a little bit of wear on them the release agent was completly rubbed away and they they gripped just fine.

Happy riding,
André

I know it's not the precise topic here, but I've also noticed that Nokian uses two different shapes of stud pins: pointy, like my Extremes, and cylindrical, like the Mount & Ground models I've seen (plus some others). I'm guessing the cylindrical ones must have more bite, since they have bigger edges.

You may be having problem with some remnants of the release agent that is used to let the rubber come cleanly out of the mold. I have dry weather the 1st week with my new W106's. I've experienced this with car tires, where the first 25 to 50 miles they felt slippery, then as they got just a little bit of wear on them the release agent was completly rubbed away and they they gripped just fine.

Happy riding,
André

+1 on the release agent. Give it a little time.