I note you also ride in Minneapolis, so thanks much for the firsthand advice! To put what you said in context, what kind of riding do you typically do? My goal is to skip only the most brutal (20 below and beyond) days. Usually I'm riding from S Minneapolis to the U of M area, so I take Bryant up to the Greenway and the Hiawatha Trail. Minneapolis is pretty good about keeping the greenway plowed and salted, so I think the Hub was on to something with steering me towards the A10s. My natural inclination is to worry that the studs are too far out to the sides, but Peter White's site suggests that isn't actually such a bad thing for mostly plowed roads, as the main source of ice-crashing is lateral movement. This might be one of those things I have to learn from experience.

I don't really care about my actual speed as long as I can enjoy spinning my cranks when the roads are amenable. It was a bit of a shock experiencing the rotational inertia I've heard speak of make its presence known, but the ride home was pleasant and took maybe 10 mins longer than usual. As a fringe benefit, I felt like I was pedaling a two-wheeled lunar rover, so that was something.