Originally Posted by
John Nolan
Sometimes you just have to walk a bit. Rough ice underneath loose snow is a tough go.
I have 2 winter bikes. My "fair weather" winter bike has Continental Top Contact Winters for clear cold days.
But most days I ride with studded tires (2" Marathon Winters). I find they carry me through most things in a Canadian winter. In a city, most riding, most days, is on pavement—even in winter. But one usually have to deal with some ruts, some slush and some patches of ice.
For daily riding I think I'd find a fat bike to be a bit much.
I use 700x35 schwalbe winters (too cheap for the marathons - actually I bought theses cheap off kijiji). I agree on the fat bike, and they're also crazy expensive, even just tires.
[MENTION=342047]baldilocks[/MENTION], is there a way to avoid the trouble spot? A different route you can ride on the street? If not, you likely need to walk the trouble section - I hate to admit defeat on these types of things as well, but it's a never-ending arms race - you'll need 2WD eventually.