Winter Cycling - Studded tires in NYC?

I just moved to New York City from San Diego. I've been using my bike to go pretty much everywhere and intend to keep doing so all winter. I asked the regional forum if they thought studded tires make sense, and they by-and-large seemed to think they weren't necessary. I'm wondering if y'all think differently?

I agree that they are not necessary. The roads are well plowed and salted. All studded tires will do is give you a rough ride and wear down quickly.

I live in Portland, where we only get ice/snow a few days a year, and studded tires are cheap insurance for me. $120 for a pair of Marathon Winters is a lot cheaper than a broken collarbone or lost time from work. The event that precipitated me getting studs was when I was riding down a long, gradual downhill in the bike lane - no more than 20 mph. It was about 20 degrees and bone dry, except that someone watered. I didn't notice the ice until I was getting passed in the nearest lane by a garbage truck. I didn't go down, but if I had, it would have been over.

You never know where patches of ice will creep up. Even plowed roads have ice patches.

Good studded tires will not wear down quickly, even if you run them on bare pavement 99% of the time.

I find that well cleared roads are exactly the ones you need studs for. This may not be the case in NYC, but this is what happens around here... Snow falls, gets churned into mush, gets pushed to the side by plows, (so far so good) sun melts just a little of the berms of snow, water runs out into street, water in street freezes, city doesn't salt because they only do that when it is precipitating or about to. Cyclist hits 10 foot swath of ice on otherwise clear road and goes down. Cyclist goes through 6 months of rehabilitation before he can raise his left arm over his head again.

I disagree with the 2 comments above in terms of NYC riding, but my advice is to check out the roads you're planning on riding after it gets really cold, and make your decision based on that.

I think I've decided to wait and see. A couple years back I decided to do that & it seemed like Nokians ran out of stock everywhere. Hopefully that doesn't happen this winter with Marathon Winters, if I go for them.

I think I've decided to wait and see. A couple years back I decided to do that & it seemed like Nokians ran out of stock everywhere. Hopefully that doesn't happen this winter with Marathon Winters, if I go for them.

You could always buy a pair now, and punt them at a higher price when the stores run out. ;)

My winter may involve 2 weeks of freeze, or not. Studded tyres are a significant cost and I dont need the durability of carbide studs so last winter I made my own. They works very well and I tested them on the slickest of ice. My main worry was that other riders would see me and follow.

I commute year round in NYC. When the snow hits for the first time, or we get serious ice, I put on studded tires. It's overkill for most of the season, but when it's icy they are awesome.

What's your commute? The bridges can get really icy, and stay so much longer than the roads. Sometimes the Williamsburg will be a sheet of ice all the way across, and without studded tires you have to walk it.

My commute is the Kent/Flushing bike path & lane from S. Williamsburg to Dumbo, so there are no bridges involved. The city hasn't been doing the best in clearing the leaf buildup in the protected lanes so I'm a little concerned about how they'll do at snow & ice.

With the beating Bloomberg took last year over lax plowing, we may all be replacing our frames come spring due to salt corrosion. They gonna overdo it.

I just ate it coming around the corner of Stanton onto Suffolk on my way to the Williamsburg bridge tonight, where a hydrant had leaked out a nice puddle that froze into an ice slick. I didn't suffer any damage other than a scraped knee and a small hole in my jeans, but some folks who checked on me said that something like four people had wiped out in the same spot the previous day, and things could have been way worse in more traffic.

I'm putting in an order for Marathon Winters now.