Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
2. Non-studded tires of any size smaller than a fat tire - if your rear wheel hits it it will slide out from under you, but you usually have enough time to get a foot down or something. If your front tire hits sheer ice you are f!@#, your bike goes down faster than your body can send signals up the nervous system to the brain. You don't even know what happened, you were biking along, you might have felt yourself starting to slip and it was over.
+1
Was riding my non-studded tire hybrid a couple weeks ago and hit a smooth patch of ice hiding in the dark (batteries in my headlight were getting weak; since resolved.) Lost grip on my front wheel and before I even realized what was happening I was on the ground. Thankfully the patch of ice was large enough that I slid to a stop without tearing up my clothes by sliding on pavement. Also thankfully I didn't have time to react, so I kept my elbows tucked in and probably saved a broken collarbone. Other than feeling banged up for a few days I came out pretty good. But it was amazing how fast I was able to go from happily riding along to suddenly lying on the ground.