Originally Posted by Diamond
I had an unpleasant ice experience on my commute last week and I'm sure studs would have been great but we probably only have ice in Oregon for 10 days every winter. Do you guys have multiple wheel sets for commuting? I can't see changing tires every time it was icy. Would it make sense to ride with studs all winter for those 10 days we have ice? I'm worried that the studs would perform poorly for the other 50 days of rain we have each winter. For now I'm just not going to ride if it is icy but I'm open to input.
Scott, I commute from Portland to Beaverton, and I remember last week's icy conditions that you are talking about. With my front studded tire (Nokian 700x45), I had almost as much grip as I would on wet pavement. This year I've finally gotten around to setting myself up with two front wheels, one with the Nokian and one with a much lighter tire that works well in the rain. It only takes me about one minute if I need to switch wheels to match the morning's conditions. In the past I've just lived with the extra weight (1100g, versus 400-500g for my usual non-studded tires). It does make the bike feel noticeably more sluggish when accelerating, but that's the only major performance hit. The studded tire rolls a bit slower than a true slick but still far better than most knobby mountain bike tires. In my experience the studs do not impair grip
at all on wet or dry pavement, and mine show no signs of wear. My previous Nokian 700x35 still looked in great shape after 3 winters when I swapped it out for the larger model, which itself is in its second winter with no visible wear yet.
Remember, we might have real ice only a few days a year but we have FROST a lot of days - especially in Beaverton! Even with the extra weight, it sure good for my stress level not to be worry about falling on my butt if it gets a little bit slick. One year I fell went down twice in frosty conditions, and decided right then and there to ride with studs on the front. I still won't ride when we get
serious ice (like yesterday's freezing rain) -- but then again it's unwise to drive in those conditions either, even in a vehicle with superb grip.
Days like yesterday aside, I've found a front studded tire to be sufficient for the frosty or lightly icy conditions we more often encounter here. Not having to worry about the rear tire makes wheel swaps much easier! There are those who will point out that you "need" studded tires on both wheels to avoid having your back end sliding out from under you, but most of those people live where they get a lot more serious ice than we do. Conditions like last week or our usual frost will only make your rear wheel slide around a little bit, and it doesn't take much bike-handling skill to keep it in line.