Winter Tires.
 

Are studded tires really necessary for snow/ice winter riding? I current have IRC Piranha tires and condering Schwalbe Ice Spiker or Snow Stud tires.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_l...=1170811637899

Well I got by without them for years, but since I started using studs a couple years ago I wonder how I didn't end up even uglier than I am today without them.

I have studded tires on my mountain bike and you wouldn't believe the difference with them, just don't leen too much in the turns.

On my studded tires and with low tire pressure I never worry about grip on snow or ice. It works without studs, but I worry a lot more, and crash a bit more, without studs.

Depends on where you live and what kind of conditions you have to ride in. I've commuted for over 30 years now and until this year I never felt the need. But the Front Range of Colorado doesn't usually have snow that sticks around for that long. This year was way different. We've had 6 inches of ice in front of my house since 3 days before Christmas.

I did toy with the idea this year but I would have only really need them for the 1.5 miles to get out of the city to the suburbs where the roads have been better maintained. After that I'd be running studs on clear pavement. The ice has been blasted off in the last couple of days do to a mid-winter thaw and I'm back to pretty clear roads so I'll just keep toying with the idea.