Originally Posted by Hypno Toad

A simple change to a bike you like to ride is add/remove a studded tire on the front wheel. I've done this in the past. I know have two winter bikes, one for ice (studded tire MTB) and one for snow (fatbike). I saw this great price on a studded tire today and wanted to share - Nokian Hakkapeliitta 72 Studs 700x32 - Freewheel Bike Shop - Minneapolis - Twin Cities - St. Paul

Other winter bikers in Minneapolis suggested front-only studded tire, for commuting you want the grip on the front wheel for stopping and steering. The only issue with the rear wheel is you can spin out at a start and slip into ruts. I find both of this rear wheel issues easy to deal with, rarely gone done because my rear wheel slipped out. I have gone down, hard, when my front slips out.

I have tried many combinations and for the ice bike, I have a Nokia Mount & Ground on the front and Conti Top Contact Winter on the rear. This combo has kept me on my bike in a wide variety of icy conditions.

The main reason I have dedicated winter bikes is two-fold, I can have a lot of bikes (lots of storage space) and I'm kinda busy (I don't always have time to change tires on a days notice). ... or maybe I'm just lazy. My bike commuting buddy puts studded tires on his LHT after the first snow and leaves them on until the snow/ice is all melted in the spring. I've thought out this for my Kona, but like I said, I have the space to keep old bikes.... Now I'm just rambling.