Originally Posted by
noglider
…. When my front wheel fishheads (the opposite of fishtailing?), then I figure I'm likely to go down very soon. This "fishheading" happened a few times, so I stopped quickly. Having a more upright bike ought to help. Will wider handlebars help, too?
In other threads other people mention that if your front wheels don’t have traction, you’ll wipe out. And the way to mitigate that is to lower the pressure of your front tires even further so more surface area of the front treads will grip the ice and snow. Some stress if it's only one wheel that will have the studs, put them on the front.
If traction isn’t the case, I think you mean all the bumps on the ice and snow is guiding your front wheel all over the place. Happens to me too and it’s impossible to ride in a straight line especially when you’re in a six to foot wide trench of snow carved out by pedestrians. So same deal – just keep pedalling and your rear wheel will keep you going - angular momentum will help you stay upright. If you stop, you'll fall.
Originally Posted by
noglider
I think back to the beginning of this winter and asking myself if I wanted to use winter tires. I figured they would be overkill because we have enough days above freezing that we won't have much of the ground covered in frozen stuff for long. Boy, was I wrong. Not only do I appreciate these knobby tires, but given that next winter may be like this one, studded tires will come in handy….
A funny thing may happen. When spring comes, we’ll all be glad that we can ride normally again but with all that knowledge and experience learned the winter just past, some of us may even be looking forward to the next one to see how much more improved we are.