Really sucks. This morning on my fixed gear, about 6:45, I slowed to turn onto the lake shore bike path here in Toronto. Before I knew what was going on, I was on ground. Not hard, but hard enough. I started laughing, checked my bike, everything's ok, ride away. Now, my L-bone hurts. Owie.

Black Ice=Double plus ungood. Especially on road tires.

Road tires? You deserved it . Let me be the first one to recommend studded tyres for those conditions.

--J

Let me be the second one to recommend studded tires for ice. They work great on black ice.

Oh I agree about the studded tires in icy conditions, but the conditons here in T.O are hardly wintery right now. I found the only patch of ice anywhere around here, it seems. The entire path and road around here are dry and, upon further reflection, I think someone must have emptied a bucket of water or something there yesterday. I really don't know how I didn't notice it, but, there you have it.

Another leason learned the only way I know how, it seems. The hard way.

Thanks for the reminder. I had better get to work installing my new studded tires. I went down 6 times last winter and my old bones would prefer prevention. I hope they work well on black ice......with my vision I usually realize I have found it as I am landing on my elbow and ass!
Hockey

I had a nasty fall during an AM commute a couple weeks ago myself. The roads weren't a problem since there was a decent salt base. My problem was on a slight descent through a park on a paved trail that had nasty coat of black ice. I never went down so quick on a bike before! My left hip absorbed most of the fall and man, did it hurt!! I still feel the lingering effects. At the time I didn't have a set of studded tires.

I now have a set of Nokian Mount and Grounds to give me some help. Anyway, does anyone here wear protective equipment such as knee pads or elbow pads on those days when the risk is higher? Heck, after hurting my hip, I've seriously thought about wearing a pair of hockey breezers.

Yes, you don't even figure on black ice sometimes. I hit a nasty spot the day before yesterday and went right through it before I realised it was there . Someone had dumped more than a couple of pails of water...No snow in sight, and it's dry as can be on the streets. I think I just slid through the whole 20 foot long strip! On skinny tires, too. I would not have enjoyed getting dumped.

East Hill

Studded tires are for icey conditions not winter conditions.

I agree, but we've hardly had any winter type (ice/snow) weather here yet and it's almost x-mas.

Same here. Unbelievable, really. I think we've had 3/10 of an inch of snow, all on one day. Most of it melted before the end of the day and made for some black ice areas, which was no big deal on the flat and straights.

A little OT, but on my PM commute I have taken my bike out on a couple lakes to carefully play with the Nokians but never ventured out more than 10 yards from the shore. Ice thickness along the shore area is about 6 - 7 inches. Riding on lake ice is really a surreal experience. I had a blast one day at dusk cruising along with some ice skaters. They didn't realize studded tires are available for bicycles and thought it was really neat.

Now how often do we have conditions like that? Skaters and bikers crusing along the lakeshore at the same time. That was cool! Fun, fun.

What you need is an ICE DETECTOR! works about the same as a FISH DETECTOR! works great on suckers! send $3.95 pluse $97.00 shipping to sorry bout your luck sports Hack-n- Sack NJ. yea right!IN everyones life some rain must fall, then turn to ice!!!!!

It's crazy, but last week I rode wearing long johns under my BDU's and I regretted wearing them about five minutes in. Too warm. In Toronto. At six am. In December. Weird.

That is Cool!

I was out riding on our river which had a couple inches of snow covering the ice, it was a nice ride.





Studs are great on ice, but they also are good for winter conditions on hard pack. You can enter and exit ruts with impunity.

The more I bike this winter, the more I like ice. With studs, smooth black ice is not only easy to cross, you have good traction on it. The problem comes with ice that's been formed into ridges and holes, esp. when that ice is in turn covered up by cornmeal or flour snow.

I'm feeling that!

^^^^ Is that a WXC or a Freddie?

Truth be told I had my studded tires on last week, and took them off. It's been a really lame winter in Toronto.

We have had freezing fog and black ice for the last 4 days. I have had one slide at the end of my road so I chucked down some salted grit.
If you have serious winters you can fit studded tyres but for those of us with milder conditions it hardly seems worthwhile. The roads are mostly dry but black ice lurkes in a few shady dips in the road. I dont know of any rider in the UK using studs for commuting.

Does anyone use any form of hip protector. Im thinking maybe a band of closed cell foam with velcro.

I picked up a pair of these at REI. I wore them today along with elbow and knee pads. We had nasty ice conditions here, so I was well prepared. They are very comfortable over my biking shorts and under my wind pants.

Pro-Tec Hip Pads


-Spandex shorts feature strategically placed padding to protect against the bumps and bangs that come with riding

-Features anatomical stretch-fit construction in a flexible lightweight design so the shorts move with you without inhibiting performance

-Shorts are breathable, moisture wicking and machine washable

-Designed to be worn underneath your clothing

Good eyes! It's the WXC.

Here's a picture of a studded tire. I made this myself by drilling holes through the knobbies and inserting 6/32 x 1/2" machine screws , with the nuts on the outside. I had to use a tire liner (Mr. Tuffy) on the inside to save the tube from being puntured.