OMG ... Rolling Resistance! I changed from my Trek Pilot 5.2 to my old Trek 720multitrack (heavy steel) with Nokians and if feels like I'm riding in sand ... uphill! I seriously can't believe how slow this set-up is. We are expecting a foot of snow tonight so tomorrow's commute should be a nice challenge . How deep is too deep to ride in? I'll try to throw pictures up tomorrow.

Slow and steady wins the race when the ice is thick and all over the place.

Of course the resistance of studs is much more than a road tire. But going from a knobby to a studded tire, the effects of resistance are not as pronounced.

A few inches of snow can sometimes feel like sand no matter what kind of setup you have.

I try to find the snow removal route. Give yourself about 30% longer to get to work.

That includes tearing down the layers of clothes and rest and the most important, WATER intake.

It's amazing how hard you work riding in winter.

Stay Upright

Winnipeg, Canada

Just think how much stronger you'll be on your road bike in the Spring.

I agree with G. Bucci to give yourself more time since you will need more time to manage your clothing -- particularly in a foot of snow. Definitiely remember to drink, since you will sweat it out big time.

I have ridden in 11 inches last year and I would term it too much for any real commuting effort. After about 3 miles of riding I hit a 3 mile stretch that was more packed down and then 6 miles of somewhat plowed conditions. I could not have ridden the entire distance in a foot of snow. I would guess that when the bottom bracket hits the snow it is too much.

I just had the same experience today with Nokians on my winter bike for the first day. The switch from 38mm treaded tires to 35mm studs was just like riding on gravel. Sounded like it, too.

I got my money's worth as I left the parking lot tonight, though. Some water had frozen at the entrance to the lot, and I didn't see it until I was on it. The tires wiggled a bit, but the studs bit and kept me up. $80 well spent.

I feel my legs getting stronger, so in spring when I' back to my road bike, I'm gonna fly.

You ain't kidding!
After last winter's commuting on an MTB with studs, come spring I could just rocket out of the gate. My endurance was pure crap, but man for a few blocks I was THE MAN.

i just had schwalbe snow studs installed last sunday, when we were already up to our eyeballs in snow, so aside from a few circuits round the underground parking lot at work, i haven't really had a chance to compare them with slicks on bare ground. is it just me, or do they compensate by being nice on the kind of surface they were meant for? i could swear i had an easier time getting up the iced-over climbs than i usually do with my slicks when there's no snow. and i should have been wiped out, after how hard i'd worked to get to that part.

i keep going around at work wanting people to be amazed that i biked so i can take them down in the bike cage and show them my cool studded tires. nobody's even surprised.

It's the other way here... they are amazed that studded bike tires even exist.
They are also amazed that I ride when they are needed

Yeah, they are like riding through sand, but when they come off in spring you feel like super cycle man! [or woman, as the case may be]

+1 on the above!! I went from a 32mm Schwalbe (700cc) to the 35mm Nokian Hakkela(Whatever 106 studs) and holy guaccamole! Talk about winter training!! This in addition to my work place is moving and I will now have to traverse the Manayunk section of Philadelphia twice a day. (Think the WALL hill climb from the annual bike race here) This on my bike that weighs 36lbs before my gear. It is going to be an interesting winter.....

I have to fess up. After blowing the driveway this morning, I wussed out. It wasn't the 8" of snow, it was the 30mph winds in heavy snow that did me in. I want my first snow ride to be a little more ... sane.

I like the pun in the title of the thread.

I agree. In Denver 6" and over would stop me from riding 6 miles to work.

I rode in foot-deep snow in some places... as in, my hubs vanished under the snow on a 26" MTB and my feet popped up and out, and back down into powder. Under that foot-deep powder was 3" deep medium-pack on top of a layer of ice.

EXTREMELY difficult to ride in it. I went about 3 miles on ICE yesterday (the commute in) and about 3 miles in various states of deep powder, road slush, hard-pack, and whatnot. All on craptastic Cheng shin knobbies.

The ice? Didn't need studs at all. Wherever the ice had any texture, I was fine. And it was ice, not an ice layer on top of some slush. There were a few places that were slush the day before and those areas turned into skating-rink-smooth ice, and THAT is where you'd want studs. I managed to get through that stuff without falling over, but only because I dragged a foot along as I coasted through it.

Keep in mind that deep snow will be absolute HELL on any moving part that it touches. Pedal bearings, BB, chain, rings, cluster, wheel bearings, you name it. I slowed down a lot on a huge massive uphill, and my front wheel bearing began to freeze and make noise. I WD 40'd it and re-lubed it when I got home, but I'm going to bet that my front hub has numbered days. It's a cheapo joytech anyways. OEM from my DB Outlook.

I made the right call not going. They did a terrible job of plowing and I would have been on a 4 lane divided highway with no bike lane for over a mile (or I would have been riding through 2-3 feet of plowed snow). Not Cool!. Seriously, that would have been a major drag. I guess I would have had to heavily off road it and then carried my bike across the bridge. Yech. In the future, I will wait till I know the highway is plowed at least.