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Old 03-26-14 | 10:05 AM
  #8  
hikerinmaine
Senior Member
 
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 52
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From: Midcoast Maine

Bikes: Merlin Titanium serial #170 (29th road frame ever built, March '88), 1988 Cannondale Black Lightning, 2 fixed gear (46/17), Salsa El Kaboing fully mountain, Surly Pugsley modified

I usually ride my Salsa with Nokian studded tires in the winter, but any snow over 2" means I'm hurting, and snowmobile trails have to be packed to avoid cutting into them. This year I bought a used Pug for $300 (cracked frame which I had welded) and haven't gotten off it yet, leaving the Salsa for the basement. It has non-studded tires on it and still does well on the ice when I run them down below 5 psi (I weigh 215), to the point you can hear them squeegee across the ice and it's stable so long as you don't make any sudden moves. I have friends with Dillinger studded tires on their fatbikes and they don't have as much grip as my 26x2" Nokian's since the pressure is so low, creating a larger footprint and this lower contact pressure on the studs. I bought some cheap Mission's to stud up myself for next winter since this one is basically done. My Nokian tires still aren't the best on ice. Don't get me wrong, they get the job done, but it's not like there is an abundance of traction to the point I can forget I'm on ice. Therefore my vote is for two bikes or at least two sets of tires for one bike.

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