Fifty Plus (50+) - Studded tires saved the day

On a ride with a friend. We were headed down hill with a sharp right turn near the end. We both hit the same patch of ice. He went down fast and hard. I went down too, but because of the extra time the grip from the studs gave me, I was able to unclip and break my fall quite more than he was. He's got road rash and a nasty bruise on his hip and elbow. I lucked out with minor hip and shoulder impact. No bruise visible five hours later. I'm so glad I was riding the studded tires today.

Glad you and your buddy are both OK...

I just put a new set of tires on my winter ride -- but I sort of wish I had gone with studs for the reason you just gave: expect the unexpected.
... Next winter!

Don't get enough Ice over here to warrant studded tyres and I normally ride on the flat if Ice is expected. Last week there was Ice about so I used the MUP with long straight sections and not many curves and even fewer corners. There was one bit where sense took over and I walked but MTB soles that work in mud were a bit dangerous on the ICE. Never realised how little grip hard rubber has.

Glad you got over the fall without damage.

20 miles the other day...done entirely on glare ice. nokia 294 and forget it....

Since, at least during the week if I have a Sub job, I have to be careful of the temps outside. If the temps are at a certain threshold, I have to avoid this one downhill section and take a detour instead. For some reason, there is always some water across the road(I suspect either a natural spring or someone's watering system always runs or leaks.). So I have to be vigilant. Last week after we had some days of rain and a snowfall, I rode a trainer since at 0400, there would likely be several areas that had ice patches. Ice patches or black ice would be nasty at that time in the AM, in the dark.

...... I'm so glad I was riding the studded tires today.

:thumb:

Glad you got away with some minor scuffing NOS, hope that your buddy isn't too stoved up this morning with that road rash and technicolour skin tone.

Don't get enough Ice over here to warrant studded tyres and I normally ride on the flat if Ice is expected. Last week there was Ice about so I used the MUP with long straight sections and not many curves and even fewer corners. There was one bit where sense took over and I walked but MTB soles that work in mud were a bit dangerous on the ICE. Never realised how little grip hard rubber has.

Glad you got over the fall without damage.

Even on the flat I will avoid ice. I will do some -- like crossing a bridge. But, the other day I got to a section on the trail and it was ice for as far as I could see (over 100 yards). I saw no point or glory in challenging it.

But I worry more about the unexpected patch that shows up now and again.

Next year I will try a set of studs...

I'm riding Nokia A10s this winter, and I have yet to go down despite riding over, literally, miles of ice. They only have studs on the sides, but for the most part that's what one needs when your tire begins sliding. I've found that they're not much good on loose snow, though - My MTB with fat knobby Kenda Klondikes is better then.

I'm riding Nokia A10s this winter, and I have yet to go down despite riding over, literally, miles of ice. They only have studs on the sides, but for the most part that's what one needs when your tire begins sliding. I've found that they're not much good on loose snow, though - My MTB with fat knobby Kenda Klondikes is better then.

I'm also riding the Nokian A10 32's with 72 studes. I agree, their real value is not with snow, but on ice and hard packed snow. I absolutely believe that had I not had those studs, I'd be nursing a pretty sore body right now.

As a SoCal'er, I've never even seen studded tires in person, but we coulda used them last weekend on the TdF. The obviously icy parts weren't so much the problem ... it was the parts that looked clear and weren't.

Whaddya call that? Gray ice? :eek:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/Photo395/185563_10200430147782533_962166691_n_zpsae5766ea.jpg

As a SoCal'er, I've never even seen studded tires in person, but we coulda used them last weekend on the TdF. The obviously icy parts weren't so much the problem ... it was the parts that looked clear and weren't.

Whaddya call that? Gray ice? :eek:


Slippery... ;)

Slippery... ;)

Lol ... you're telling me! I got off and hoofed it over some of those sections. My broken bones don't heal the way they used to. :50:

Those surfaces wouldn't be an issue at all with studded tires, but of course, you can't be expected to ride studded tires for those rare icy encounters in your neck of the woods.


As a SoCal'er, I've never even seen studded tires in person, but we coulda used them last weekend on the TdF. The obviously icy parts weren't so much the problem ... it was the parts that looked clear and weren't.

Whaddya call that? Gray ice? :eek:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/Photo395/185563_10200430147782533_962166691_n_zpsae5766ea.jpg

Those surfaces wouldn't be an issue at all with studded tires, but of course, you can't be expected to ride studded tires for those rare icy encounters in your neck of the woods.

One of the really nice thing about having an extra set of wheels is that during the winter I can have one set with the studded tires ready to go at all times. Then, I can simply swap them out when needed.

As a SoCal'er, I've never even seen studded tires in person, but we coulda used them last weekend on the TdF. The obviously icy parts weren't so much the problem ... it was the parts that looked clear and weren't.

Whaddya call that? Gray ice? :eek:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/Photo395/185563_10200430147782533_962166691_n_zpsae5766ea.jpg

Snow changes quite a bit. Typically, if you live in an area that snows two or three times each winter (such as the Pac NW), you can ride the first day of snow. It's usually soft, and the tires just cut right thru it. Where the snow is wet, like near the coast, you have to be careful on the corners.

But by day 2, it's packed down by cars and gets tricky to ride, but still ridable on 23mm tires with no studs. Usually by day 3, the snow has melted and refrozen, and you get what x-c skiers call "klister conditions." This is really hazardous to ride in, and you have to pick your way thru all the garbage on the streets.

The photo above looks like packed-down snow. You can pick your way thru by riding on the bare sections, and riding as straight as you can on the short sections of icy snow in your way.

Once the snow starts melting, it turns into soft slush, which is fun to ride thru, as your tires again just cut right thru it.

Once I was racing on the indoor velodrome one winter, and a rider crashed right in front of me. He slid down, but his bike was still right in my way. I rode right over the top of his bike. It felt just like riding over a section of packed-down snow. Because I had been doing a lot of this at that time, I managed to stay upright. Riding on snow on narrow tires without studs turns you into an awesome bike-handler!

But then I expect to crash twice each winter; I think that's my average, although I think it's been going up. I've had one crash on black ice so far this season.

Luis

Black ice is the term they use for it here, for ice that you can't actually see on pavement surfaces, but is fully as slick as the sheet ice you CAN see. I like "slippery" though! ;)

Glad your not hurt too much. Speed is always an issue in winter. Even with studded tires, you have to keep the speed down. I have ridden hundreds of mile so far this year on all kinds of icy conditions. Have never had a slip. I use the Nokian W106 which have the studs alternating down the middle only and those are for glare smooth ice or black ice on good roads. The Nokian A10's have the studs on the sides only and those are for highly ice rutted roads with frozen car tracks etc where you need studs on the sides to climb in and out of them. The W106 are also much better for loose snow but have more rolling resistance as they have a more aggressive knobby on them. The Schwalbe Marathon Winters are also good all around studded tires.

Gracious. I was thinking about riding tomorrow morning, temp predicted to be around 20F. I don't know if this thread psychs me up or just scares the hell out of me.

One of the really nice thing about having an extra set of wheels is that during the winter I can have one set with the studded tires ready to go at all times. Then, I can simply swap them out when needed.

+1

Although the benefits of a second set of wheels are often overlooked by cyclists, the option of swapping to studded tires in under two minutes cannot be overstated when you commute by bike and live in an area where snow/ice can appear with little or no warning. During the summer months the second set of wheels often have a different tire/gearing choice so that in minutes I can change the entire character of the bike to better suit my needs for each ride. IMO, this is one of the most often overlooked upgrades when building a bike.

+1

Although the benefits of a second set of wheels are often overlooked by cyclists, the option of swapping to studded tires in under two minutes cannot be overstated when you commute by bike and live in an area where snow/ice can appear with little or no warning. During the summer months the second set of wheels often have a different tire/gearing choice so that it minutes I can change the entire character of the bike to better suit my needs for each ride. IMO, this is one of the most often overlooked upgrades when building a bike.

It probably doesn't even require an upgrade. There's surely no point in putting studded tires on light expensive wheels. Most of us have some heavy old, maybe OEM, wheels lying around - these are what you want for your studded tires. You're not going to go fast on them anyway! In my case, my 32 mm Nokian A10s are on Weinman XTR16 rims that I had lying around. In fact, I tried putting them on a slightly "better" set of Bontrager SSR wheels that were OEM from a different bike, but the tires didn't seat well (sit well?) on those thinner rims.

But though I have more wheelsets than bicycles, I don't have more usable casettes - to swap wheels, I have to change the cassettes too, and that's a bit of a pain. So swapability, in my case, would require the (relatively easy) purchase of a second cassette that matches the 8 speed Sora I use on my winter bike.