Missing my studded bike these days! Hope to be back in the saddle with them by next week. Xmas parties require me to schlep foods (read: drive car)and bike meetings leaving me little time to wrench.

You go Isaias and Bob, I'm with you in spirit.

@Atari: Studs allow you to always be ready for days like yesterday. I think it best to have a dedicated winter bike that is always ready to roll. That being said, mine sits idle so do as I say not as I do. I figure I save about 5 bucks in gas (at least) per day so I can easily justify buying studded tires. I use Nokians, haven't lost a stud, 4 years old and still solid. Some years I have only used them a handful of times. Last year they were on the bike for a month at least. Around here even if it doesn't snow often it does go through a freeze and thaw period. Daytime snow melts then refreezes on the roads at night. I ride very early6-630 so ice is everywhere. I use the mnt bike studded Nokians as iuse to ride some single track for part of my commute. I no longer ride that section. They are noticeably slow but I can handle some snow as well as ice. They are called N. Mount and Guard 160's. Enough studs but not too many. If you stick with city type streets and ice is your main concern check out the Schwalbes as they offer good ice handling and lower resistance. Not certain if Nokians sell a narrow tire. Nobody sold a narrow tire when I bought mine. In fact mine was the least resistant tire back then.

EDIT: I own these 26" Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106, I checked Peter Whites site