Originally Posted by
Steely Dan
During my first year of winter bike commuting in chicago 8 years ago, I took two spills from black ice rolling on regular road tires, the 2nd one resulting in a wrist injury that kept me off the bike for the rest of that winter.
Then I got wise to studded tires. No ice spills since then. That's the funny thing about studded tires; you will never ever need them until you actually do.
Your point is well taken. I do understand there is a degree of danger to winter cycling; however, there is a degree of danger to any activity (including cycling under any weather conditions), and it's only a matter of which degree we find acceptable. To me winter biking without studded tires is acceptable. Given that you had two black-ice-induced spills in one winter and I had zero in over twelve winters, I suspect there are enough differences between our situations to result in appreciable difference in the degree of danger. Perhaps Toronto roads are cleared better (is salt used in Chicago, and is it piled on as thickly as in Toronto?), or my winter riding style is more conservative.
I also realize that now that I've said this, I will have a catastrophic ice-related crash this coming winter because Murphy's law.
