I find that well cleared roads are exactly the ones you need studs for. This may not be the case in NYC, but this is what happens around here... Snow falls, gets churned into mush, gets pushed to the side by plows, (so far so good) sun melts just a little of the berms of snow, water runs out into street, water in street freezes, city doesn't salt because they only do that when it is precipitating or about to. Cyclist hits 10 foot swath of ice on otherwise clear road and goes down. Cyclist goes through 6 months of rehabilitation before he can raise his left arm over his head again.