Originally Posted by
rumrunn6
my one winter of commuting I waited until I experienced the panic of riding on black ice before I even bought mine. obviously you should put them on before you need them.
The problem is its black ice not snow that will kill you. Its very hard to know when until its to late. Just remember ICE is the killer. So if you wake up and you had freezing rain you better have studded tires.
Most of the time when people break themselves its because they got caught off gaurd. Its sunny and 55 degrees and they round that corner into the shade behind a building and that pile of snow has been melting across that parking lot and its still frozen in that shade and then they wreck hard and break their bike, their hip, their colar bone.
I have been commuting for years and have a second wheelset with studded tires ready to go so it only takes me a couple minutes to swap to studded. Hence I make the decision usually spur of the moment in the morning. In my neck of the woods snow unforetuneatly does not stick around long. We'll habe a good ice or snow storm and then it will all melt and go back to being 50 degrees. If it snows I don't bother with studded immediately. I can wait a day or two. Once it starts melting it gets glare. It can occasionally snow and then melt and then refreeze as ice between the time I ride to work and when I ride home at 6-7pm. Its ticky but of course I always air on the side of caution. I am quick to out the studded tires on and slow to take them off in the spring. I think spring melt is more dangerous.