Here in Tulsa, OK we may get just a few days each winter with any significant snow or ice. Today and tomorrow look like they are going to be those days. I don't have studded tires and I'm debating on whether they'd even be worth the investment, but that's a matter for another day.

So what's my safest bet for commuting tomorrow? I have a single speed with fenders rolling on 32c treaded tires. I also have my 29er rolling on 54c Kenda Small Block Eights.

Narrow or fat? Question then is, high pressure or low?

My main concern is the ice.

Thanks for the insight.

I have found ice cares not how wide or narrow the tires are. Snow is a different story. If there is bare ground under the snow, I would advise the 32 c tires, lower the pressure than what you normally ride. I don't want to give an exact psi not knowing the tires, your weight, riding style, etc...

150lbs and my riding style when it comes to snow and ice is going to be "god please don't let me fall!" Thanks for the tips.

I'm expecting the conditions to be snow over ice, or slush. Probably some ruts thrown in with that too. Our infrastructure isn't really designed to handle large amounts of snow and ice like places up north where they get it cleared pretty quick.

On ice? ... No studs?

Go with whichever bike leaves the shortest distance, of a fall, to the road!

Just kidding ... ?

Only a studded tire will help on glare ice!

Wear headgear, elbow & knee pads, gloves etc.
Lower seat till you can ski both feet.

We haven't been getting a lot of snow and ice but I still use studs on one bike. If it's below freezing and I have a chance of encountering a patch of ice I ride the studs. $120 every 5-10 years for a set of studded tires is cheap insurance against an unexpected fall. Plus, riding on snow and ice is scads of fun when you do get it.

I'm probably going to get studded tires, but no chance of getting them by tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed though, so far the predicted snow has not fallen. I may be in the clear.

If you ride without studs and suspect any ice, you should consider slowing your speed way down and anticipating a possible fall. Think about how you want to go down before it happens. I haven't gone down recently, but I remember a long time ago when I used to ride a long paper route 365 days a year, I went down a couple of times and it was no problem because I was going super slow and didn't try to break my fall with my wrist, etc. Went down on my shoulder at low speed. Plus, I was young and invincible.

I haven't tried the ski method, that sounds worth considering if you have to ride on ice and have no studs.

I'm riding my first pair of studded tires this winter. They take a lot of the worry about ice away, but they add a lot of rolling resistance. I've had to reconsider riding on windier days because the wind + winter tires makes it a real grind.

Good luck!

Wear a lot of padding and insulation, so the falls don't hurt as much ..

Studded tires are a fairly substantial investment but very well worth it for us in the north as we need them for at least 3-4 months out of the year. For yourself, getting snow and ice only occasionally, maybe not riding on those days would be the wiser choice. Ice can be very dangerous and when you go down, it goes down very fast, you don't know what happened until your scrambling to get back up. It's really your choice. I would use the mountain bike with knobbies deflated some for today if it was me. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for the insight. The promised snow never showed up. We'll see if I can grab some studs before the next winter scare. They ought to last me for the next 20 years, so not such a bad investment to be able to keep riding no matter what.

I rode year round in Winnipeg, Manitoba for many years, and never, ever used studded tires.

I rode a mountain bike with 2" tires, and just simply flattened them in the winter.

Now fortunately, although Winnipeg gets really cold and often has quite a bit of snow, they plow the roads well so they are often bare and dry, even on days when it is -40C. If there happens to be some snow on the road, my tires handled it just fine.

Yeah, snow is no problem at all unless it gets deep, and no studs are needed for that. Around here the roads get plowed very well and often too but its black ice that is the problem. Daytime melting freezes up for the evening and early morning commutes and if unaware, you go down very fast and probably won't get back up. Its very dangerous and gets even worse when your in traffic dealing with cars close to you going at faster rates of speed. Studs are safety investment and will keep you going straight when you hit those areas.

Studs are your friend. Might save some massive hospital co-pays. Be careful but have fun.

+1

Studded tires make a big difference on ice, but if you are talking about just a few days a year, that's a significant investment in the tires and time swapping them out (unless you can afford two wheelsets).

As far as which bike to ride now. Either will be fine if it's just an inch or so of snow, if the snow gets deeper go with the 29er, if it's icy, neither is going to be an advantage over the other.

I rode with my husband 3 miles to his work and back on Zoomie without studs. There was hard-packed slick snow on the roads, but the stuff on the sidewalks, though chopped up by footprints, was still relatively soft. The snow had come down with low temperatures (around 0-20s) so it had been very powdery.

My tires are slick skinnier hybrid tires. They did alright just riding over the sidewalk snow, and the packed snow on the roads was fine. It was very smooth luckily, unlike last year where the hardpack was frozen into slanted ruts. A tiny angle would start a slide sideways quicker than I could blink, and it could be either front or rear. This year, I slid and skidded, but was very careful. I was honestly surprised not to have a single fall. Maybe my balancing/steering skills were a little better? I got stuck trying to follow my husband on a shortcut trail- the snow was slightly deeper and roughed up already so that my rear wheel just could not maintain the traction to propel me forward.

I slowed us down, but the ride was incredibly enjoyable for me. After all, it's not very often that my husband hasn't managed to find a ride to work this winter in a car, so when he asked me to go with him, I jumped at the opportunity. The only reason studs aren't in my tires, though, was because I didn't expect to be traveling- it's winter break for the schools. I'm installing studs today as soon as the metal warms up so I can run errands this week.

I hope the snow won't melt!
(It would be my luck- been on the ground almost 2 weeks now it'll all melt tomorrow.)

That's the thing ... many years of cycling through winters in Winnipeg (commuting and doing long distance rides) and I went down once on ice. It was that rare.

But when I moved to Alberta, it was a whole different story.

I took my mountain bike out today for a test ride in the snow. While the streets are pretty clear, I normally commute to work on MUP and doing some 'testing' before the real thing this week. The path isn't cleared and is a mixture of snow and ice. I dropped the standard 2" tire pressure and felt pretty stable, but man is it a lotta work. I think I'm dropping the rear too much but how does one tell without going up and down a bunch of times? A quick 6 miles was a real workout and at this speed, by the time I get in I'll have to turn around and go home!

Yeah, it certainly is slow unless the roads are plowed well. I just keep the same tire pressure with the studs because its just too much work to push knobby studded tires deflated some for any kind of distance.

gave up on the mountain bike and MUP - back to road bike and regular roads!

I've been riding winters for a lot of years and have never used studs. I've had enough practice that I can ride across glare ice, slowly, carefully, but comfortably - without getting my arms tense. (I used to notice the tension when I first started doing that.)

I do fall once or twice a winter when there is ice hidden by snow. This is usually under difficult conditions at a slow speed, and with a parka for padding. Mostly the falls haven't even hurt.

No needs to add studs borrow some wheels of kids trike. No more risk of falling