Put mine on a couple weeks ago. It just snowed on the 24th and some today. Generally as a rule of thumb if there's any snow on the ground I ride on the studs, even if the roads are mostly clear. As mentioned never know where that black ice might hide.

I just grab the old MTB I leave them on..

I put them on my second bike about a month ago. I try to avoid using it because it is sooooo slow, but if there is any danger of ice I take it for the commute. I ride home when it's dark out, and I know I'm not going to be able to see all the ice in the dark. I'm old enough now I don't really feel like laying the bike down...especially when it's zero out.

But man, is it a lot of work moving those tires lol

Same here - one rigid 26" bike with Schwalbe Winters (soon to be upgraded to Marathon Winter) for snowy/icy/ugly days, and Continental Top Contact Winter non-studded but "sticky" tires on my hybrid for when it is clear and dry but the possibility of frosty/icy patches is still there (which is September through April here).

When it is under -20C air temperature and/or actively snowing, I take the train. (The "actively snowing" part has applied in June. More than once).

I've had good luck with my knobby 2.2" 29er. This season all the snow fall has been under 20°F so I haven't had to deal with ice or hard packed icy snow. On pure ice like last year the tires allowed me to climb a grade but it was difficult and I wished for some studs.

:)
Moderators can remove this off topic post, but I hope it's not too bad. Diary of a Bosnian emigrant to Canada:
Sorry if my translation is not too good. It's (supposed to be) funny, hope no Canadians will take insults - not intended that way.

June 12
We've moved into our new home in Canada. I'm so excited. It's so beautiful here. Mountains are breathtaking. I can't wait to see them covered in snow.

October 14
Canada. This is the most beautiful country in the world. The leaves have taken all the beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red colour. I drove through the country and saw a deer. They are so gracious. This must be paradise, I love Canada!

November 11
Remembrance day (Canadian national holiday). Deer hunting will soon begin. I can't imagine how someone could kill such a beautiful animal. I hope it will snow soon. It's so beautiful here.

December 2
Tonight came the first snow. I got up in the morning and saw it all covered with a white sheet. It looks like the most beautiful post card. Can't describe the beauty. We got out, cleaned the stairs and the entrance road, then snowballed a bit (I won!). When a snow plow passed by I had to clear the entrance road again. Such a beautiful country.

December 12
Snow fell tonight again. The snow plow came again and piled the entrance road with snow. It's beautiful here.

December 19
Last night snow fell again. I couldn't take the car to work. It's really nice here, I'm just a bit tired of shoveling. ****ing snow plow again.

December 22
The white **** has been falling again all night. Got blisters from shoveling and my back aches. The ape with the snow plow seems to be hiding behind the corner and just waiting for me to clear the entrance road. *******!

December 22
Merry ****ing and ****ty Christmas. Some more bloody snow. If I ever lay my hands on the snow plow driving ***, I'll kill him. Why don't the ****ers put more salt on the road so the snow melts more quickly?!

December 27
Snow again tonight. I've not come out of the house for three days now, except to clear the entrance road after the snow plow passes by. I can't go eanywhere because the car got stuck on a snow pile near the entrance and it's cold. Meteorologist predict another 30 cm of the white ****.

December 28
The forecast was wrong. There were 50 cm! If it goes on like this it won't melt until the summer. Snow plow got stuck in front of my house, and the ******* came to me to borrow a shovel, since his broke. I told him I've broken six shovels already clearing the **** he keeps piling on my entrance and I barely refrained from breaking the seventh on his head.

January 4
I finally got out of the house. Went to a grocery store to get some food since we had run out of supplies. On the way back I hit a deer with the car. 3000 $ damage and I even have to go to court for the dead deer. Those ****ing demons should all be killed - they're everywhere! Too bad the hunters didn't exterminate them all last autumn.

March 5
Took the car to the mechanic. Couldn't believe how rusty they got from the ****ing salt poured everywhere.

May 10
I'm moving to Florida. **** Canada! I can't imagine anyone normal living in that ****ing Canada!

Stay for another winter or two and the same things will become more normal and familiar ;)

Edit: when I travel to warmer places, then in the winter. The summer is too beautiful at home.

Recently learned the hard way that studs are a good idea for Iowa winters. Haven't ridden in winter before and picked up a Cutthroat 29er to hit the gravel seeking to avoid distracted drivers. Was quickly reminded that when the coefficient of friction suddenly equals 0, gravitational acceleration's omnipresence is instantly asserted. Dumb-Dumb go boom. I'll be coughing up the $$ for some 45Nrth Nicotine tires before heading back out. At 63 the pain of paying for expensive tires is less painful than crashing.

The cold/warm/cold snap here hasn't helped! Ice just peeking out from snow have me a few heart stopping moments today! Those 45Nrths would have helped in my quest out on the lake. Just a little too rich for my blood though :lol:

I'm having a great time here, I keep pressures around 35 psi on 2.2", considering tubless to go down to 20psi but with a tube 26psi gives lots of grip, no fold under, limited pinch flats (only if I get sloppy). Covered pavement, slushy roads to covered gravel trails.

I do get super nervous still around ice, always seems I'm fine 99.9% of the time then whoops! Black ice on a slight curve.

The cutthroat looks great, a lot faster then my mtb maybe that's the big difference? I'm only cruising at 12mph.

that ice looks pretty thick even tho it's cracked! nice sunny day, huh?

Yeah it was sunny, 20°F and a 5mph breeze. You could hear the ice heaving, every half minute a sound like a far off twang. Pretty neat, last week the lake was fully snow covered and I could ride around no problem. I took that picture after falling, seeing how far I could go.

Ditto.

The streets aren't plowed well here in the neighborhoods and the one trail across the interstate is packed with snow and ice from not being plowed and lots of foot traffic. Instead, I take the main roads and roll with studs below freezing. There's also a big hill right at the end of my ride in that gets wet/icy from snowmelt.

Still have to worry about the poorly plowed slush even with studs...

That's the worst, isn't it? I hit some deep slush over packed, frozen snow today. Got knocked around a bit.

I put studs on today, btw. Have been running StarGrips up to this point. Today I put on the Gravdals.

like this new pic of my 40s makes them look wide & flat

https://i.imgur.com/QM7BMNEl.jpg

Nice pic! What tires are those?

Looks like Schwalbe Winter Marathons

yup

https://i.imgur.com/PW479DCl.jpg

these are happiest in the coldest weather

https://i.imgur.com/Px0I8u5l.jpg

Now we're entering the season in southern WI, where things warm up enough to get the water flowing during the day, then it freezes overnight, so there are lots of patches of sheet ice on my ride. The studs help a lot.

There's one section where it's a steep downhill and typically frozen solid every morning, so I don't trust the cars to stay in control, and I take a short detour on the sidewalk.

Snow at sealevel for a few days.. broke out the bike with the studded tires for those few days a year..

Great pic, glad you’re riding away from the bear!


Anyone tried the more Heath Robinson approach of screws through an old tyre?

And mine are now off! Looking at the forecast it was just going to be too much dry pavement running, I'm sure there will still be a time or two I might regret it...

Anyone else back to plain rubber??

Yes and no. Studs are still on, but I'm using my touring bike for a few days to enjoy the speed of non-studded tires. Winter will come back here.

My problem is I have only one winter/mudder bike, the rest I'm only taking out if the roads are dry and completely salt free. I need another beater so I can keep studs on one.

I bought two more sets of studs this winter but haven't used them much, mainly due to the recent crash, but even if I did ride the weather has been so good for February that I would have been riding on regular tires.

In retrospect I probably didn't need either set as I already had a set on one bike.:(