DataJunkie

Dude. Some of us don't have conditions that require studded tires. Denvers tends to turn into compacted snow instead of ice. That and it melts in a day or so. Knobbie tires are generally good enough. However, I have the advantage of riding on trails and rarely play with cars in winter weather. Too many transplants here from California and Texas.

wroomwroomoops

And black ice is exactly why you need studded tyres.


By the way, I live in Finland.

aMull

Not if the streets are cleared. Since i don't have studded tires i just don't out on days when there is snow accumulation. In a day or two the roads are plowed and i go out.

ghettocruiser

This has got to be the worst winter cycling thread since the "nobody needs winter clothes" incident last year.

wroomwroomoops

I don't know. I don't understand how can one argue he/she doesn't need studded tyres for winter cycling. Either it's winter (sub-zero temperatures) or it isn't. If it's winter, you're bound to run into some kind of ice and snow. If you only cycle when the roads are kept clean from snow, there's still the ice. If you only cycle in plus-zero temperatures when you're sure there won't be neither ice nor snow, then it's not winter cycling.

Anyway, it's your neck, not mine. I stand by my assertion that cycling in winter without studded tyres is a good way to remove yourself from the gene pool. The more you oppose this view by actually cycling on ice and/or snow without studded tyres (to prove me wrong, 'cause that's important, you know, to prove someone's wrong on thar inerwebs), the quicker your demise. But, do as you wish.

wolfchild

In the last few weeks about 90% of my commute involved riding over ice , most of it rutted and uneven with few sections looking like a pavement was covered with glass.
Studded tires are a must have item along my commuting route in winter, riding without studs would be stupid and foolish. The studs are also great along singletrack that is hardpacked and frozen.

Machka 

Winter riding might be stupid for YOU, but I've been able to handle it for years. A tip ... avoid the black ice.

RomSpaceKnight

I don't use studded tires and can get through an entire winter without bailing due to black ice. I have fallen before where studs would have helped but these times are exceptions not the rule IMO.

mark9950

Have you ever ridden studded knobbies?I hate knobbies they are hard as hell to pedal,I run mostly slicks pure slicks.

I do have a pair of airless tires that I can stud,but the problem with that is trying to pedal those airless tires.I bought them last year and will never buy them again.

Have any of you ever tried to pedal those airless tires?

DataJunkie

Yes knobbies are hard to pedal. That explains why I hit 23 mph on the flats today with my knobbies.

Machka 

Yep, me too.

When I was commuting to work year round on a bicycle, I rode a mtn bike. During the winter, I simply lowered the air pressure in my tires from about 50 psi down to about 30 psi so they were a bit squishy. This gave me extra traction on snowy or slightly slippery sections. However, most of the time in that city, they cleared the roads so they were usually bare and dry no matter how cold it got ... and it got COLD.

Now my mtn bike is out of commission, so I only have road bicycles here in Canada ... therefore I pick and chose the days I ride outside in the winter. I can usually still ride outside 12 months of the year, it's just a bit less in the winter. And again, when I ride my road bicycles in the winter, I deflate the tires a bit too.

Interestingly, when I took a tour out to Fraser Island off the coast of Australia, I was fascinated to note that the bus driver deflated the bus tires when we landed on the island. Fraser Island is completely sand ... deep white sand, and the roads are no exception. The tour bus deflates the tires for extra traction on the sand, just like we deflate our tires for extra traction on the snow.

Chris_F

My brother lives in San Diego. Not a studded tire in sight there. Granted, when the temp drops to 40 degrees it's "too cold" for the locals.

There are also areas in the US that are cold in winter, but very dry. The problem isnt' cold per sae, it's cold plus water. Take away one or the other and you don't need studs.

wroomwroomoops

I don't know if you read the whole of my post. If not, here's the gist of what I said: it's either winter cycling or it isn't. If you don't have wintery conditions, it's not winter cycling. So if we talk about proper winter cycling, how can one argue that he/she doesn't need studded tyres.

The main point is, I meet even in Finland, tons of people who complain that it's impossible to cycle during the winter, and that they fell once, and since then they never rode a bicycle during winter time. Then I ask them "did you have studded tyres when you fell?" and they'd say no. What I don't ask (but I wish I did) is, what the fsck made you think you would NOT fall cycling during the winter without studded tyres? Did you think you're some kind of superman (or -woman)?

I'm lucky that I am humble as a pie - I know my skills aren't worth ****, so I don't push my luck. Wear a helmet, don them studded tyres, have brake pads in order etc. The more skilled riders I know don't do most of what I have listed. Some of them get hurt.

Machka 

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada has wintery conditions ... but I was still able to commute for years without studded tires. I've never had studded tires. As it happens, despite the fact that the temperature in Winnipeg can drop to -40C, and there can be a massive amount of snow, it doesn't get particularly icy there, and they are very good at clearing the streets.

DataJunkie

Denver has a winter as well but we have very little ice. Why in gods name would I run studded snow tires without ice? Just because wroomwroomoops says so?
That would be a waste of money.

We mainly have two situations here:
1) Early to mid winter: stays cold enough that the snow stays compacted. Knobbies work fine in this situation.
2) Mid to late winter: warm wet snows that melt the next day.

Teemu Kalvas

Just looking at the climate numbers, it appears that in much of the interior of the North American continent it is so dry that it can only be processed at the intellectual level for us West Europeans. I mean, if the moistest you get in winter in Manitoba is far dryer than the dryest you get in winter in Finland, no wonder you start talking at cross purposes. I for one admit to having internalized the need for studs in winter on an emotional level, no intellectual processes needed. And I'm right in doing that, as long as I ride here.

andrelam

Let me due the math:

On my recent fall due to ice (rear studd tire was not as good as the front) - One week of serious shoulder pain, I even had a hard time getting a shirt over my head. Second week the pain started to subside, and after 2.5 weeks I could finally contemplate getting back on my bike. I don't think 3 weeks of pain is worth going without studds.

Put an other way. I probably should have gone to a Doctor, but I descided to just wait and see. If I ould have gone it would have cost me $25 deductable. He would have ordered an X-ray, add an other $40. He then probably would have sent me to a specialist to look more closely, for an other $40. Chances are high the specialist would have told me to wait and see for a few weeks to see how things heal and then come back for a followup for an other $40. I think $100 for a set of Nokia stuff makes sense anywhere you can see icy road conditions. Snow doesn't scare me that much... but ice does. You only need to avoid one fall to make the tires worth the extra cost and added cycling effort. I use the same calculation to easily justify snow tires on the car. 90-95% of the time the roads will be perfectly clear, and even after a major snow fall it only takes a few hours for the crews to get the roads back in good order. Even so, for that small percentage of time, I am VERY glad to have too tires on both my car AND my bike.

Happy riding,
André

Chris_F

I think there's some value in referring to cold riding in a place like Denver as "winter" even if there is no ice. Many of the other similarities apply: short daylight hours, cold weather and the need for special clothes, freezing water bottles, etc. It's wintery enough to call it winter riding. I'd consider studs just another tool for the cyclist's toolbox to be deployed when that tool is necessary, winter or not. If for some reason there was a need for me to don the studs in summer I would (for example, if the entire trail was made of wet polished wood or teflon.) Like any tool, if you venture in to conditions where you need the tool but don't have it then there will be consequences.

JusticeZero

With studded tires (Nokian extremes front and rear), I can't tell the difference between bare pavement and black ice, because the bike performs just as well on either. I can only tell the difference between thick white ice and bare pavement if I try to brake or steer unusually hard suddenly. It's a HUGE improvement.

JusticeZero

I run slicks in the summer. When I switched to aggressive Nokians it slowed me down by one (1) gear on my mtb that I use. That's about how much I should slow down to watch the road anyways. Yes it's an increase in rolling resist, no it's not insurmountable, float the gears to keep your cadence and relax, you aren't in a time trial against anyone, and if you were, they'd all be using the same knobby studded tires as you were anyhow.

Roody

My experience matches yours. One gear difference with the studs instead of slicks. That's on dry pavement, of course, and I think you would lose more speed on a road bike than a mountain bike.

Here, the main roads are cleared soon after a snowfall. But the side streets are icy almost all winter. (If you get a lot of snow, side streets stay icy even when they're plowed because there isn't enough traffic to break up the ice.) That justifies studs for the type of winter riding I do. But I could do 80% of my riding without studs if I skipped the side streets (or pushed my bike on them).

On solution is to have a spare front tire with studs mounted, and switch it if you want to ride on ice or packed snow.

Chris_F

Do they make bike chains?

aMull

Wrong. I rode this winter on slicks without a single problem. As i said, they do a good job of keeping the roads clear.

wroomwroomoops

Wrong. (what bull**** thing to say) Then it's not winter cycling.

DataJunkie

Your post only mentions sub zero temps as being a qualification for winter. Nothing about ice or snow.
Just sayin...