Hank244

Well, a week of wintry roads and trails have taught me that Nokian Extremes are not overkill. I would be uncomfortable riding less of a tire.

Here in Omaha, we started with a cold rain. Then, it snowed eight inches on top of that. Although the temps have not approached freezing, the sun has caused some melting. The snow has become icy and slushy (and everything in-between). Of course, the base is a layer of ice.

While the main roads are pretty clear, subdivision roads are to be ridden at your own risk. Slick, slushy hills make me grateful for the studded tires and small chainring. The bike trails have developed ruts from the freeze/thaw cycle. They are worse than the roads.

Yes, they are heavy. Yes, they roll slowly. But they are really, really solid tires. Based on what I've seen over the past week, I seem to be the only bike out on the roads or trails. Overkill? I think not.

BTW, the Extremes are mounted on a really cool Karate Monkey. Great winter setup.

jim hughes

I live in Minneapolis so you won't get any argument from me.

I use Nokian W106s, also studded but not as heavily lugged. The main danger is the icy ruts and maybe the Extremes have an advantage there. But some years there's a lot of dry pavement in the winter too.

Hank244

Why is the "bike culture" so much stronger in Minneapolis (than in Omaha)? I've been told that lots of people (up there) ride in the winter. And I've heard the same about Wisconsin.

I wish we had as many cyclists in the summer as you do in the winter!

On topic, I think that the Extremes are good for riders like me (without a lot of winter experience). They offer a lot of "peace of mind." I've only fallen once, and that was not the fault of the tires.

Plimogz

Oh yeah! Here's to riding a Karate Monkey with aggressively studded tires!

I'm rolling some 2.25" Ice Spiker Pros on mine, and after 4 years of 700x35 Marathon Winters, I must say that these are another beast entirely. The higher volume improves the capacity to roll over relatively lightly packed snow mounds/bumps and carry speed, whereas the Marathons would slice through, slowing me down a whole lot more. The ISPs are just so nice on ice and lugged like mad for traction in snow. I'm loving these and happy that I finally splurged to try them out. But I really do have to build up a second wheelset to decrease the likelihood of me just being too lazy to switch to the Marathons on days when I really don't need the overkill, because I do expect that they will wear saddeningly fast if I don't stick to riding them only when and where necessary.

Montreal had a foot and half fall on Thursday and with temperatures having stayed consistently well under freezing over the last week there was already a nice icy few inches in uncleared areas. All of which has created a pretty impressive playground. It's pretty slow going getting anywhere and there are frankly impassible spots (unless I get off the bike and just walk it through, of course, heh heh) -- I just love coming to a stop next to a stuck motorist, getting off the bike, picking it up off the ground and walking over whatever they're stuck in.

I'm pretty shocked by how surprisingly little grip even these tires have on/in the really finely ground down snow crystals which result from cars rolling through snow which then stays on the ground unless enough salt gets dumped over it. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I think the Marathons had a slightly better performance in this precise area because they did slice down deeper into the stuff than the fatter Spikers.