Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
I don't ride on roads during winter. I've seen too many cars sliding out of control and don't want to be in their way....
A particularly good reason to wear a rearview mirror.
On my most memorable snow day, I accidentally knocked my mirror off, and spent about 45 minutes fruitlessly looking for it. When I got to work, I was chided for coming in later than usual, because they were worried about my riding in that weather. Normally I would be the first one in on that kind of day. I particularly remember riding up a hill the cars could not climb.
Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
Fyi, other posters mentioned this, but many studded tires are designed in such a way that inflating them to high pressure brings half or all of the studs off the ground. Schwalbe Marathon Winters have 4 rows of studs, at high pressure only the 2 center rows hit the ground. When you want more traction on ice let some air out of the tire and you get 4 rows of studs in contact with the ground.
Good tip, but in my experience, I have not found that necessary. I prefer the reduced rolling resistance of my Marathon Winters at higher pressure, about 65 psi, but I take riding on ice carefully. A good description I have read is that the traction of studded tires is
like walking on sanded ice.