unterhausen

I have a studded tire on the back on it's own dedicated wheel. Only having the studs on the front seems like it keeps me upright most of the time. Of course, now that I've written this, maybe that's why I feel safer on my fatbike when it's really icy.

TenSpeedV2

I am running a Nokian Gazza Extreme 294 on my SS 29er only on the front. Why? Was too much of a PITA to get just that one on. Didn't feel like messing with the rear to be honest.

CrankyOne

Our bakfiets does quite well with just a studded front. Other bikes not so much. I tried just a studded front one year and had two incidents of my rear wheel sliding out from under me. My foot found a grip both times so I went down somewhat gracefully and didn't get hurt but now is none or both. I've actually not put any on this year yet as the city has kept the bikeways completely clear so far which seems the case about every 5 years or so.

Bizman

I have always used front & rear Nokian Hakapalitta studded tires in the winter. They work so well and have always had traction on ice and snow that I would not want to go to only one in the front and lose the confidence both front & rear studded tires provide me. My Fat Bike does not have studded tires but I don't commute on it. It does go good on snowy trails!

unterhausen

I bought studded tires with my fatbike, buy once, cry once. I really bought it to do gravel roads in the winter, so studded tires is important to meet the main objective of the bike. But it makes a great commuter around here, we can have weeks on end where the ice just continues to build.

I'm starting to think about putting the rear studded wheel on my main commuter, maybe tomorrow I'll try it.

Leebo

I only run 2 studded tires, makes no sense to do otherwise. You have ice or not. I find pavement to be rather painful to bounce off of. YRMV.

bikemig 

I guess the question is why not run 2 studded tires. Obviously there is a costs saving to just one and it may be a bit less work to run a non-studded tire in the rear but I wouldn't want to give up the traction in dicey conditions.

2manybikes

If you need studs for ice you need both. One hard fall could cost more than another tire. Don't try and justify only one.

jrickards

I have DIY studded (outward facing metal screws) tires and I've put more in the front tire than in the back. I seem to be ok but the nice thing about DIY studded tires, I could always add more. However, as I said, I seem to be fine with them as they are and don't feel the need to add more to the back.

volvostephen

I am not sure why this plagues me, but I find my rear tire will end up with the area behind the stud rubbing enough against the tube to wear a hole in it. This happened twice. In the winter, flat tires are horrid. I did try running a Mr Tuffy but I found that too rubbed against my tube and again caused a flat. I am 6'5" and 230 lbs and maybe this is my dilemma but in any case, I run 1 studded tire on the front and I am perfectly content. I don't mind losing traction on the rear - this does not happen often - and I can usually correct for it. I cannot correct for losing traction on the front.

I rather like my 2 studded tire setup. I have a 700 x 35 Schwalbe Marathon on the front and a Clement XPlor 700 x 40 on the rear. I am quite happy with this setup so far (half of last year and all of this year).

As for the studs causing flats, I did contact Schwalbe, I sent in pictures and they sent me a replacement tire. I still have issues though so it wasn't just one tire. I will stick with just a studded tire on front, until I find I need otherwise and than maybe I will try Nokian this time.

Leebo

Studded tires causing flats? What kind of psi are you using? I'm about your size and weight, using the hakkapelitta 700x35 at 35 -40 psi.

volvostephen

70 PSI maybe? Too high maybe?

fietsbob

Suomi Nokian mount and ground W 26 1.9 tires I got in 90 are still fine.. I break out MTB they're on every once in a while.

so far when its below 0C its been Dry this year.

unterhausen

I have a friend that has a long commute, and he has troubles with the studs wearing through. He puts another tire inside.

It's not a matter of money in my case, I bought a whole new wheel and cassette to put my back studded tire on. So all I have to do is put it on the bike

fietsbob

I put a thorn-resistant tube in .. pump it up once a season. but the Finnish made tires are Robust.

i bet that was not what your friend used .. maybe it was DIY screws ? then the approach seems reasonable.

loky1179

That is really interesting. Last winter, I got 4 flat tires on the rear, running studs. The first couple I chalked up to a defective tube, but all four holes were in the same place relative to the valve stem, and for the life of me, I could find nothing on the inside of the tire that would have caused the flat. I was actually going to post about this, but admitting that I couldn't figure out a flat tire, after 45 years of working on bikes, seemed just a little too humiliating.

They were all slow leaks, and I made it home from 3 of them by just pumping up my tire. Also found out my pump doesn't really work @ -5° F. The last flat I hopped the train home.

This winter, I'm going with studs on the front only, and not because of my flat tire issue. The big problem is that putting on studs instantly adds 30 minutes to my 90 minute ride. I figured running studs on the front might add only about 15 minutes.

The only issue is turning; as long as you are riding straight, that front tire will grip the ice and keep you from going down. On turns, I always ride like an old granny anyway. This year, I just make sure that I take turns like a great-granny.

Edit: Studded tires are 26" x 1.95 Nokian Mount and Ground, 160 studs. The tire I'm having a problem with might actually be defective. When you spin it, you can see that the tread (and studs) do not track straight, there is a noticeable wobble (the rim is true).

Gresp15C

I decided to go with studs just in front this year, until a health issue knocked me off the bike for a while, a couple weeks ago. The reason is simply that this winter and last have had some cold weather, but very little snow. The roads are practically bare, and a lot of riders have been just using their street tires. The studs are there, to keep control on relatively small patches of ice, and to avoid getting stranded at work if the weather changes unexpectedly during the day.

This decision is based on a pretty intimate awareness of my riding conditions and the local climate. Thus it's not something that I can recommend as a universally good idea. As for the rationale, I just prefer to have less rolling resistance. Studs in front seem to contribute a lot less resistance, probably because the front tire bears less weight. On the few days when there was actual snow, I had good enough control and traction to manage the commute OK.

fietsbob

casing may have broken threads ..

if you want it I have an old shipping invoice with the Companies phone number, in Finland.

Although you may get quicker service contacting the Retail Seller.

https://www.suomityres.com/

volvostephen

I was running an extra tube as a liner to deal with it as well but the added weight (very very heavy tire with 2 tubes) is super noticeable. The benefit is that when you change to your summer tires - you feel really fast

randallr

I run Continental Top Contact Winter 37 x 700 front and rear studless during the winter here in arid Colorado, but recently bought one Schwalbe Winter 30 x 700C for the front with studs for use when things get more nasty. Mounted it on a spare rim. I thought I'd work my way into studs gradually, just use when necessary, and so far this is working. But then, my rear tire is not a summer tire, it's a Continental Winter. For me, the purpose is same as some others, to limit the huge weight and rolling resistance penalty from studs.

loky1179

Funny update to my winter of riding with front studs only. It warmed up here this week, so when I rolled out of the garage @0455 AM on Monday morning, I looked at the wet street, and thought to myself "How nice - no ice!" Threw a leg over my bike, rolled down the driveway into the street, and two seconds later hit the deck as I found out that the street was NOT wet, it was solid ice. I was thinking about this thread as I was sliding down the pavement.

I really hit my hip hard. Of course, I still got up, rode to the bus stop, and rode 22 miles home later that day. But I've kind of been limping around like a granny all week.