Hey OP. I live in Van too, after smashing my chin and chipping eight teeth on black ice in Burnaby (freezing marine fog) I am in the market for studded tires. I might go with just the front wheel. What shops were you looking for tires at?

Burnaby seems especially bad for black ice. I come into Vancouver in the morning from Port Moody along the Barnet Highway and then Adanac. things always seem to go sideways when i get up to the top of the hill in Kensington.

ps lol great thread