I'm thinking of buying a pair of Innova 268 studded tires as _backup_ heavy duty tires for days when my Hakkapeliita W106 700x35C tires just don't seem heavy duty enough. I don't expect the Innova's to last as long as Nokian's, but I'll only be using them when there's just too many ruts to feel comfortable on the somewhat narrower Nokian's, so I'm a bit less concerned about durability. But someone (Steele-Bike?) posted that they'll only last 5 miles, which goes from "not-durable" to laughable.

What do people think about the Innova's? Do I really need to spend an extra $60 more than the Innova's to get a Nokian Extreme on the front and Mount and Ground on the back?

(My riding is on bike paths and roads, but on the bike paths the snow turns to sludge during the day, then people ride through it and when it freezes at night you get ice-walled ruts that can be moderately deep--I'd like a tire that if I hit one of those ruts, it'll just climb out, rather than getting caught in the rut and flipping me off balance.)