[QUOTE=ShartRate;16273780 I feel like I'm pedaling through mud. But, as I said earlier, I guess it's okay, I needed the exercise.[/QUOTE]

I would almost rather carry 90lbs., on my Xtracycle, than ride with the studded tires. They are a godsend on icy roads though.
I agree with the pedaling through mud thing, nice accurate description, of what it feels like riding with studded tires.

what brake? You can loosen the pads, if you need to. I don't have any problems with mine. The '*%@!?@@! Alfine non-turn washer' on the other hand, is a !!%#$@!#!@!$ pain. And the silly cable is worse, about half the time. half the time its a piece of cake.

I put my studded tires on earlier this year than I did last year.

Last year I waited until late November, when it had gotten pretty ugly outside, to put them on. It was my first winter commuting, and the experience was not great. I developed tight hamstrings from fighting the studded tires too hard. I learned to stretch better, leave earlier, and spin in an easier gear on the studs.

This year, I put the studded tires on in late October. I intentionally did my first commute on them on a day when I wore shorts and winds were light and variable. And I left 10 minutes earlier than normal and took it EASY.

I'm glad I took that approach this year. Yes, they are a lot more work pedaling, but I got my body adjusted to the increased workload well before the slop hit the roads. I know some of the more experienced members of this Forum have a different approach, but I plan to tackle it this way every year now on. It works for me.

That's got to hurt. Hope you are ok.

Given the forecasts. it might well be next week. Last year, they didn't go on until January.

Used to be that I'd put the studs on the first day that I expected to ride on snow and leave them on until spring.

I still do that but I have two bikes now and ride the road bike on dry days. I put the studs on the winter bike about 3 weeks ago but only rode it one day. I expect to ride it for a day or two this week (taking Thursday and probably Friday off).

One bike always has studded tires on it. I just take that bike. If it gets warm and dry I take another bike. It's easy, and can be decided at the last moment, even in the morning. No work involved. Just go.

I am not taking off my fenders to put tires on, why do you? I have never had problems with the non turn washers on my Allfine 11, why do you? I don't have any problems removing and replacing a rear wheel with my Allfine 11. My rotor goes right into my caliper no problems. One tip I could offer if it apples to you is to remove your singulator as this made things MUCH EASIER! I use the Allen wrench to remove it and tighten it and I use an 18 mm cone wrench to adjust the tension, simple!

I mostly landed on my side and was sort of surprised my face hit the ground at all. Just a light scrape really but I was glad I didn't have to go into work Friday and explain what happened.

There's not much left of it now, just a few red spots and I suspect it will be mostly invisible by morning.

Lesson learned though.

This is only my second year with studs and last year it was new and novel. Holy crap what a slog this morning. I'm focusing on spring and remembering what it was like switching back to regular tires!

Need to thank you guys into talking me into swapping the tires the other night - this morning we're getting an (unexpected to me) dusting of snow. While I don't think the studs helped me much this morning, though the winter compound might have, if the pavement freezes before I have to go home I'll be glad I have them!

In previous years I just went from the heavy bike (the only one I had) with 32s on it to studs. Slow but not a huge deal.

This year in one day I went from my new road bike to my new winter bike which weighs another 15 pounds, has an internally geared hub, platform pedals, upright stance and studded tires.

Feels like I'm going uphill ALL THE TIME.

Bonus is, in the spring it'll feel like I'm riding on a cloud.

Maybe tonight.

In my experience if I get to thanksgiving weekend and they aren't on, they will go on. This weekend they'll go on.

I put them on early and get used to the resistance. Builds character, y'know.

What bike do you have? What bike does Rhodabike have? If Rhodabike has track ends,then you prolly would need to pull the fender to get the wheel out. How the rear dropouts are set up would also determine how easy it would be to line up the rotor in the caliper. The rear spacing also makes a difference. It wasn't a big deal to spread the frame open on my old 130 sapced ti cross bike to get a 135 spaced wheel in,but if I had to line up non-turn washers to do it,it might've been a serious PITA.

If you're using a Singulator,it sounds like you have vertical dropouts. That makes things alot easier than track ends or semi-horizontals.

No BS with Schwalbe Marathon Winters; not even only a little slower, but minimally slower.

You can trust me, because as a Man of Science, I work in a lab too.

I'm glad I did it yesterday. It was a solid, unbroken sheet of ice the whole ride home. Saw a guy fall, just riding along in a straight line. Ouch. The studs were way faster than falling every ten feet would have been.

Yeah, I have vertical dropouts on my Easy Motion Max 700 + PCS (ebike). I was wondering too if Rhodabike had horizontal dropouts that would make it harder to remove and replace the wheel? My fat bike (Moonlander) has horizontal drop outs with a derailer system (not the Alfine 11) but it isn't to difficult. I guess it does make a difference of the setup you have and how easy it is to remove and replace the rear wheel.

I just put mine on this past weekend. I use my road bike if the pavement dries up but thats rare between now and april. I use the Nokian W106 which are made for good plowed roads with mostly clean and smooth ice. They have minimal rolling resistance but are definitely much slower than the slicks as it feels like the brakes are dragging just a little. They sure are great though and I still slow down and use caution where I feel its needed but they have kept me upright in those icy conditions.

Just like summer tyres, there are faster and slower winter tyres.

Schwalbe Marathon Winter and Nokian W106 tyres roll out pretty fast but have a less aggressive tread so can spin on snow while the Schwalbe Ice Spiker and Nokian Extreme are knobby studded tyres that are quite a bit slower but can roll through pretty much anything.

The tread compounds are softer so they will run slower when it is warm and wet but perform better at sub zero temps.

I roll my own... and they roll out rather well.

What's the maximum pressure on those? My Nokians only go up to 60psi, and me at 260 pounds they are on the studs all of the time

dam. funny thing about the little guardian angel on one's shoulder. they are great little friends, but why don't we pay attention? I have decided that "intuition" comes up for a reason. even if you can argue a case against it, it has come up for a reason and I am better off listening. for example, if I think the toast is burning, it is

I keep them at about 65 psi, no matter what the conditions, and I'm a heavy rider too. Probably about 95% of my riding is on dry or wet roads, vs about 5% on icy or hardpack snow. Studded tires are going on this weekend; we had an unseasonable 19*F yesterday, and heavy rain predicted for tomorrow, though warmer temps.

I think the max is 70 psi on the 26x1.75 MWs, which keeps the outer rows of studs off the ground, except when cornering. I run them at around 65-70 if black ice is the concern, and at 40 when needed, which greatly increases traction, as all the studs are engaged and the tire conforms better to irregular surfaces. However, they are noticeably slower at 40 psi, but who's in a hurry?