What about diamond-tread cross tires for winter riding, 30 or 32 mm on a bike with 700C?

Studs or nothing for winter riding. Nokian A10's are the only studded tires I know of that come in widths as narrow as 32mm. You can find them here on Peter White's website.

I agree with irclean. Studded tires will keep you upright.

Few falls will get you straight .

+3 on the studs. And I wouldn't waste my time with anything narrower than 35's. I'm on a Trek cross with 700c W106 x45's.

Cross-posted pic from a thread in 50+. This is why even very wide or very aggressive tread is useless in winter riding.

Get some studs.

try them and report back.

there are a multitude treads for different conditions in CX, you have mud, sand, gravel, tarmac, etc. and the one that works best in snow is mud.
but none of them are good on ice, or compacted and wet snow.

non-studded tires of any kind are next to worthless on ice. With my Nokian studded tires, I actually pick my line to ride on glare ice as my second choice where there is no bare pavement. I wouldn't want to do 35mph on ice, but feel pretty confident at 20-25mph. I do have 294 (vs 106) studs per tire, so yrmv.

+1 I'd rather ride on glare ice with my Nokian W106's than on snow. I have that much confidence in them. Granted, I don't haul ass either but still. I am very cautious in the turns since the W106's only have studs just offset from center. They're worth every penny and beginning their 3rd season with little discernible wear.

does your city salt the roads? is ice common?

if they salt and ice is not common, cx tires will be fine. not the best, but they'll work until you have a frame with more clearance.

you knew you were gonna get a 'studs or nothing' fest, right?

Define your concept of winter riding...it isn't the same for everyone. If you are wanting to ride on icy roads, I'd recommend studded tires, but I've managed to survive (barely) on inverted tread tires too. For snow, studs are not going to help much unless there is an icy base and they can bite into it through the snow, otherwise you'll want something knobby and low pressure (though opinions vary on whether wide or narrow work better). If you are only riding on clear roads, or light snow, the diamond treads might be ok.

Personally, if there is a chance of snow and ice, I'm usually on my bike with the studded tires, but my regular commuter with the Top Contacts get plenty of clear, dry day mileage in the winter too.

Schwallabe Winter studded apparently get as low as 35, maybe as low as 32. They are supposed to be the gift from the gods, just from reputation.

I now use studded tires for most winter conditions.

But I didn't have them for many years, and death and grave injury failed to occur.

Chipper, (maybe I should call you "Chippy" after some of those cross-gendered avatars ...), that is exactly the point. Studs needed on ice, I can figure that out. Ann Arbor's probably a little colder than the south of Toledo, so ice happens but is not that common. What is common is all our little hills becoming slick because of spinning car tires, but I can usually take to the sidewalks in those cases. Plus most of my expected commuting can be done on sidestreets where tire ruts in snow are pretty likely - I don't see studs helping with that at all.

But unless I want to deal with changing tires back and forth, sounds like I should add some studliness to my fredliness.

Re width, my frames can take bigger widths, I just don't have any wheels set up with wider rims at this point. I have caliper brakes, so a super-wide tire needs to be deflated for removal, or a brake shoe removed.

Ghettocruiser, I recall commuting through a winter or two (Chicago, not much hill) on a Suzuki 550, but I've gotten way wimpier in these several decades since. Somehow I survived - used some kind of Continental or other, but a standard road and highway tire.

You used the term 'frames', as in that, like me, you have multiple bikes? Pick one as your snow/ice commuter, slap on a set of studded tires for the ice/slick spots, with a fairly aggressive tread for the snow, and you'll be fine. I've had good luck with Nokians and my current Kenda Klondikes in 700x35. Nokian also has a studded tire in 700x32.

I went lots of years without studs with minimal ill effects...but now that I have studs I think my guardian angel must have been putting in some serious overtime back then.

For riding through slush or light snow where there is little or no chance of ice or hardpacked snow underneath, narrow knobbies are great. I find narrow knobbies on heavily salted slushy roads to be able to cut through the slush and contact the bare pavement underneath. I have always had trouble with fatter tires (from 700 X 38s up to 26 X 2.2) because they seem to float and have nothing solid to grab onto.

If there is greater than 0.01% chance of ice or hardpacked snow then studs are best, any width. For riding in a city, narrower is probably better.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a specific CX tire (32 or 35) that would work well for making my own studded tire (per the various instructions found on the sticky thread in this forum)? I'm in the process of setting up a Redline Conquest Pro as my commuter and don't yet have my fenders in hand yet, but am planning on running SKS P45s which allow for a 35 max width tire.

I'm just a bit too cheap (at this point) to invest in manufactured studded tires, but would like to run one on the front this winter to try out the concept...

I'm not trying to be to snarky here, but I don't think a bike that could not fit a 35c tire would be able to fit a 32c tire with studs poking out of it, wouldn't it? I would think it would need extra clearance for the studs sticking out.

If you can fit a 35c, they sell the Nokian w106's here (a very good manufactured winter tire with carbide studs) for $50. (Correction - the Peter White site sells them for $44, though that may be before shipping, so it might come out to $50). The 32c A10's are slightly less expensive at $38. Nokian tires have a reputation for lasting 2-3 seasons of constant, daily use. If you don't already own an old tire you're going to stud yourself, it seems like the cost savings of making your own would be minimal - particularly if you're only doing one.

Paul - no snarkiness taken.

Your thought process mirrors mine. Fenders will be the priority upgrade - I need to get the fenders first and get them installed with the 32s I'm currently running to check clearance and then go from there.

I'm in Indy and doubt I'll have much of a need for studs, but am intrigued and would like to try them for fun. Figured I might be able to pickup a $20 CX tire that would be a good candidate for the homemade version, throw it on the front rim and try it out sometime...but your point is taken that I'll have 75% of the cost of a Nokian plus my time wrapped up in making one - IF it will even fit with my fenders installed.

Attachment 129893 this is how I get around on icy gravel and snow mobile trails.1/4 inch hex head screws into tubeless surly tire

Local conditionsl will vary. Starting my 1st Winter I had a set of Innova Steel Studded tires... useless after 2 months. I went down hard during ice rain. Nearly shattered my elbo and nearly did some serious damage to my shoulder. I was in serious pain for a few days but was extremely lucky to have had no serious injury. I immediately ordered Nokia W106's from Peter. Not a single slip in during the next three Winters.

We get relatively little icy conditions here in Buffalo NY. We tend to either get rain, or snow, but rarely the nasty stuff inbetween. That said, there are plenty of sections on my commute (especially side roads and parking lots I have to cross) that get iced up during the night. Commuters will melt the snow with their cars coming home at night, but then everything re-freezes over night... very slick condiutions, but no problem with the Nokias. The main roads tend to have more salt on them, they go from snowy to completely dry in as little as a few hours.

I don't love how much more effort snow tires take to move, but not going down hard is worth the extra security. I can ride easily on days that I can't even walk because it is so slick.

Happy riding,
André

Studded endomorphs?

Good lord.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...+studded+tires

Personally, I would only go this route if there were no other options. For $44 a tire and considering what these buy you...

I wonder if roadfan ever got anything

I am impressed. I would not have had the guts to drill holes in tires that expensive.

You must have the legs of a mule.

jim