Originally Posted by
Road Fan
Chipper, (maybe I should call you "Chippy" after some of those cross-gendered avatars ...), that is exactly the point. Studs needed on ice, I can figure that out. Ann Arbor's probably a little colder than the south of Toledo, so ice happens but is not that common. What is common is all our little hills becoming slick because of spinning car tires, but I can usually take to the sidewalks in those cases. Plus most of my expected commuting can be done on sidestreets where tire ruts in snow are pretty likely - I don't see studs helping with that at all.
But unless I want to deal with changing tires back and forth, sounds like I should add some studliness to my fredliness.
Re width, my frames can take bigger widths, I just don't have any wheels set up with wider rims at this point. I have caliper brakes, so a super-wide tire needs to be deflated for removal, or a brake shoe removed.
You used the term 'frames', as in that, like me, you have multiple bikes? Pick one as your snow/ice commuter, slap on a set of studded tires for the ice/slick spots, with a fairly aggressive tread for the snow, and you'll be fine. I've had good luck with Nokians and my current Kenda Klondikes in 700x35. Nokian also has a studded tire in 700x32.
I went lots of years without studs with minimal ill effects...but now that I have studs I think my guardian angel must have been putting in some serious overtime back then.
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