Nice Mirada! Local friends of mine swear by riding fixed gear in the snow as it offers lots of control. I'm a single-speeder on my main winter commuter, and I just finished this morning putting its snow tires back on (700 x 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Winters) after having 700 x 28 Paselas on it for the warm season. Drivetrain is now 40/22t with a Stronglight 49D-clone Nervar crankset and 40t Stronglight ring. I also had to swap in a new bottom bracket as wet-weather commuting did a number on the previous one. I agree that the studded tires aren't particularly useful in loose snow--there's nothing to grab on to, but on ice, they're terrific. Here's a pic from last year's first big storm.



Neal