Studded 700 hybrid commuter vs. studded 26" TREK 830 commuter
 

I realize the proof is in the pudding (as in..'get one together and see how it rides...' but I thought I'd ask.
My winter commute here in Madison has been the normal icy/snowy/sloppy. 7 miles round trip. I've been using an early 90's Trek 830 with Nokian studded tires. Perhaps it's just the switch from dry pavement to the ardurous washboard iced path. Or maybe the bike is just a dog (2nd year).
I'm wondering if going to a hybrid with 700C NOkians will give me a little easier mobility.
anyone go from a 26" MTN winter bike to a Hybrid/road with studded tires?

And did it make a diff?
I work in a volunteer bike repair shop (earn a bike) and there usually is a pool of schleppy Trek Mountain Traks et al that I can pick from.

I'm not sure of what you're asking. Are you asking if 700C snow tires are faster and easier to pedal?

If so, good luck with that. I run 700x28 on my Trek Portland in the three-seasons. My average speed for the year on my commute is 16.8 mph. In winter, I run Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 in 700x35. I immediately drop 3-4 mph in good conditions, just by changing the tires. In this week's snow, one day my average was 9.6.

Near as I can tell, my experience is pretty typical with studded snow tires. They're heavy, hard to pedal, and just plain slow. On the other hand, they keep me from falling down in traffic. For that, I can live with the minuses for a quarter of each year.

Thanks for your experience. I rekon Rochester is about as rough right now as Madison (we've had about 20 inches of snow this month).
What I was saying was... I'm running 26" Nokians on a steel 90's MTN bike. And it's slow (it's gonna be that way)
Just wondering if 700C nokians on a Hybrid might be a wee bit more fleet

I have the studded 2.1" Nokians on my 29'er, they are really slow. I bought a set of studded 700cx35mm Kendas for my 700C commuter, much better, almost OK.

I think the first thing that I'd want to know is which Nokian's you are using now. W106's will likely be different from W160's which will in turn be very different from 240's, 294's or WXC 300's. I'd say that the last three are overkill (and overslow) for street riding. Even when it got up to 18 in the middle of this week, and the hardpack got soft the W106's were OK and the W160's would have been ideal. On the whole, I think that the 106's are the right choice for Madison. If you are already using them then I don't think that a change in bicycle and wheel size will do much. On the other hand, if you are using the off-road studded tires then switching to the 106's (or the equivalent Marathons) will make a difference.

I have two setups for winter commuting, a cx bike with 700c w106 and an old rigid mtb with Nokian Freddies lite (2,3"). The wider tires are a lot slower but with the cold weather we,ve had so far this winter they are much safer. They handle the very uneven roads with bumpy ice and this weird slippery brownish mix of salt and snow. Especially the mix of bare tarmac and ridges and patches of ice are scary with narrow tires.

It all depends which type of studded tires you are using. I used to run nokian extremes in a 26x2.1 size and the rolling resistence was pretty high. Now I have two different set ups. I am running Schwalbe Snow Stud in a 700x38 size on one of my bikes.. and I have another bike with Schwalbe Snow Studs but in a 26x1.9 ( measures 2.1 on my fat rims) . The schwalbe's have much less rolling resistemce then nokians and that is because they don't have studs along the centre on the tires,.. only along the sides ( no need for centre studs when the roads are clear and dry). When I run these tires at higher pressure the studs don't make any contact with the pavement unless I lean sideways, these tires are very fast and have very little rolling resistence. For icy and snowy conditions I run them at very low pressure and then the rolling resistence increases a lot. And then I have a set of homemade studded tires, these have the best traction and I can ride as fast and as agressively as I want on ice and never loose traction but the rolling resistence on pavement is horrible. Very very slow.

So, is the bike a dog or not? If it's not, then why switch?

I think you will find out that studded tires cause rolling resistance, new bike or not.

Thanks to Wolfdog, plodderslusk, Mr IGH, and Qualla for your suggestions

The Nokians I am running are Mount and Groungs
Qualla may have a point: The 106 might be better for this area - adequate grip and a little less rolling resistance
I rekon I'm also experiencing a drag from the early season of biking on ice on studs with rolling resistance.
I'll stick with what I have.
thanks
ME