Originally Posted by KC8QVO

A couple thoughts -

1. The coldest I will ride is about 20deg F, or -6 to -7 C. Your lows are dipping below that mark. Depending on how you do it - that might not be too bad to tough it out for a few days, especially if you can hang on until it warms up as the mornings progress. Layers will be your friend and a wind breaker outer layer is a must.

2. As to tire grip - in light snow I wouldn't be that concerned. What I would be concerned with is icing on the road surface. That can happen with no snow. Your zip tie trick won't do as much for ice. As you state - with rim brakes you aren't going to get away with zip ties, anyway. You need your brakes.

My vote would be studded tires. That may not be an easy/quick option if you have to order them in. If you go this route - do your research. There are some common studded tires that aren't very good quality - where the studs damage the tires quickly (studs poking through and ripping the tires after a relatively short amount of miles). I don't recall which ones they are, however when I was searching for studded tires last season I ran in to that.

Here is a link to the studded tires I got. They are unavailable from this vendor, but they may give you a lead to follow. I am not sure how they will stack up compared to some of the others I heard of that have bad reviews. I havent used them enough yet to give much insight. I had them on for a few days last fall then switched back to the regular tires. I didn't ride much through the winter and it was mild here so I didn't really need them. They are here when I do though.
https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/...0x38-24564.htm

One more note on riding in the cold - I much prefer mitts over gloves. I get circulation issues in my hands when I ride and having individual fingers with gloves causes me issues pretty quick when its cold. Having mitts keeps my fingers all together in the same zone. When it gets below about 40-45deg F (about 4-6 C) I use hand warmer packets in the mitts. Though, they get too hot and my hands sweat so I take them off and rotate with mitts/without. The switching around is a pain in the rear, but if my hands get too cold and quit working thats a bigger issue. Its a trade off.