Studded Tires available at Walmart
 

I had posted this in the commuting forum a few days ago and thought it might be of interest here..

the Rand Ice Breakers studded tires at Wal Mart are actually repackaged Kenda Klondike tires. I got the 26x2.1's for $39 each. Not too bad for 250+ carbide tipped studs.

I'm mounting them tomorrow in anticipation of snowy/icy commute on monday. They also had 1.95's but I don't know what the price was on those.


The tires are Molded "Kenda" and have the Klondike XT label on the tires.
From the Kenda Website.
• 252 carbide tipped studs designed to retract with tire wear for longer life
• Open square knob pattern helps give greater traction and shedding ability
• Large casing for better flotation in snow
• Front and rear application

Had to shake down a couple Wal-Marts to find them, but they are out there if you are interested.

Oh, and before the LBS cheerleaders jump in.. I called 3 local bike shops. 75 each was the best they could do. Why would I pay more for a studded bicycle tire than I paid for them on the daughters car ?

LOL!

My $0.02: whenever I can, I talk with the LBS about the price I found, and see if they're interested in competing (not matching, necessarily, nor beating).

It's worth some premium to me to buy from the LBS -- for all the reasons that have been talked to death -- but if they're stupidly high (eg, $8 for a computer battery that's $2 everywhere else), then I save the $$.

Everybody has to decide where that line is (if it exists, at all). For me, it's not a fixed %, or anything -- more like a seat-of-the-pants, spur-of-the-moment thing.

Let us know how those tires work, huh?

'Made in China', huh?

huh ?

I think pretty much everything is made in China anymore.

Hell, I'd buy those if our local WalMart had them. That's cheaper than our cost on studded tires, I think.

Sorry, I was referring to the label on the tires. I can't help but think China is going to own us one day and we helped fund their growth

Just ask the dept manager to order you some - they come from their own warehouse, and should be there within a week.

I can't help but think China is going to own us one day? i think that happened a few years ago!

I never said I was the fastest guy, on or off the bike :)

If I didn't already haved the Nokian's, I would go down there tomorrow. That is a good price, if they really are Carbide tipped.

Mmmm.. nokian... Made in Finland


screw walmart

Well to report back... they work really, really well.

Black shiny ice that you can't even walk on.... no problema. You have to turn surprisingly hard to get much slippage. Be careful when you put your foot down at a stop on the shiny ice.. your shoes dont have studs. lol

Untracked 3" snow- It's just like skiing powder. Nice smooth and in control. You have to ride with your weight back a bit, like in sand or soft dirt but it's very much in control. Snow doesn't seem to build up in the tread.

Packed snow... just like riding asphalt on the straights, corners have great grip.

Rutted hardpack... hang on when you change tracks :). But I think that's going to be the same with any tire. It's not the tires slipping but climbing out of one track and dropping into another that works against your balance.

LOL "screw walmart"
You don't like money ? If you want to pay double for a fancy label, more power to ya. I think these days I like to rathole as much cash as I can.

These tires seem to work great and they are less than $80 FOR A PAIR.

well, not bad for generic studded tires. nokians they ain't

but 40 bux is good price

Nah..

China's already become too expensive to manufacture from, people have moved on to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, & Vietnam.

If i don't see them on their website, how do I find them?

You will have to ask the dept manager to order them from their warehouse. You can view them ont he attached (OP) thumbnails, and Kenda's website.

I got the Nokian Mount & Ground for $43 each at AEBike.com. (Of course, that was back in September; they don't seem to have them now.) Just put them on this weekend.

I paid $80 EACH for my Schwalbe Marathon Winters. I wonder how well these tires will hold up in the long term? If they can last several seasons, they're a steal.

Not everything, just everything Walmart sells. EVERYONE needs to watch this film..

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

I really don't believe that it's just Walmart that sells made in china. Start turning over the packages in other stores. Pretty much everything is made in china or some third world country anymore.

Americans have driven the labor rates so high that we can't compete on a global market anymore. It's cheaper to ship items around the planet than pay what we are requiring for labor.

And yes, I've seen the walmart movie. Netflix has it.