Winter Cycling - While I Wait for My Studded Tires...

My LBS is ordering studded tires, so while I wait for them to come in, I was wondering what optimal PSI might be for some snowy conditions. I'll stay off the unbeatan paths/trails until I get studded up, but on wintry plowed roads with some snow and ice, what would those that have gone before me suggest? I'm on a MTB with 26x1.9 tires for a 20-25 minute commute.

I like to put my tires as high as they should go, so I can pierce snow and slush to get some traction.

Ice is the thing to be watchful for, no tire pressure change is going to help. But that's why you are getting the studs. In the meantime I would ride the unbeaten paths and trails actually they are less likely to be icy. And in that case I'd reduce the pressure on a wider knobby tire for traction. Think about fat tire snow bikes, they are running 15 psi or less for traction and float.

I wonder if you have seen the bike hack style homemade studded tires. If you have a backup bike try them. You will be amazed how well they work. I used them on a 26" tired MTB. It worked well and is my backup to the Trek 520 I usually use. In defensive tactics the fastest reload is another gun - loaded. In cycling to work the fastest tire change is the spare bike. When you go out the door with no spare commute time, regular bike tire is flat,just grab the spare.

Good idea. Always trying to procure a new bike, regardless of the shape. It takes some convincing of the better half to do so!

go full pressure and stay on the road. fight the urge to deflate and ride sidewalks. it doesn't take much deflation to affect performance

I like to put my tires as high as they should go, so I can pierce snow and slush to get some traction.

Thus proving that winter in Flagstaff, Arizona is very different from winter in Madison, WI.

Higher tire pressure makes traction worse in winter conditions. The higher the tire pressure, the smaller the portion of tread that is in contact with the road surface, or whatever is covering the road surface, and the less the tire conforms to uneven surfaces. In icy, rutted conditions or in trampled snow you want the tire to conform more so you need lower pressure.

I speak from experience here. There have been many times where I'll begin a ride after or during a snowfall and have to stop to release some pressure from the tires. Otherwise they just spin and slip around.

With a full studded tire, run at normal pressures regardless, for a semi stud, e.g. Schwalbe snow studs, they have a suggested range for dry conditions, and a lower one for ice. It is necessary to run lower pressures to get the studs, which are only on the outside edges of that tire, to bite when running straight.

My LBS is ordering studded tires, so while I wait for them to come in, I was wondering what optimal PSI might be for some snowy conditions. I'll stay off the unbeatan paths/trails until I get studded up, but on wintry plowed roads with some snow and ice, what would those that have gone before me suggest? I'm on a MTB with 26x1.9 tires for a 20-25 minute commute.

See the long involved discussion here. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/786201-Lowering-the-PSI-Pinch-Flats-a-Worry) My recent experience with deep snow says to me to lower the pressure to float over the snow rather than dig into it. And looking at studded tires, I'd say that you need to reduce pressure to keep the studs in contact with the road.

I like to put my tires as high as they should go, so I can pierce snow and slush to get some traction.

I run the same pressure winter and summer too. I use 700 - 32 tires and don't have traction problems. They are less difficult to push through snow than wider tires, maybe that helps?

Besides ice, I've had maybe a couple of times a winter going over packed snow climbing a steeper incline when it would start to spin. Just jump off and push the bike a few steps to clear the problem.

I'm not going to lower the tire pressure and slow down every ride for the sake of avoiding that.

I like to put my tires as high as they should go, so I can pierce snow and slush to get some traction.

That's my experience as well. I will run hi psi to cut to the more solid ground rather than floating on top.
Also it runs faster when the conditions are less sloppy. And with the added rolling resistance any decrease in
effort is greatly appreciated.

I just did 20 miles of a practical skating rink yesterday. Saw a few cars do some sideways slides on the street.
The snow was just deep enough to hide the frozen ridges running parallel to me so I had a few moments.
Studs really help in a straight line, but you always have to be cautious on the turns.

The thing that really gets me are the bicycle couriers up here that ride in the winter. They ride on 19-23mm 100+ psi tires
and i don't get how they stay up. But they rely on the hi psi to "get to the ground" for the traction.