Winter tyres - 2nd iteration?
 

I've been riding Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyres last winter. Studed tyres. They are very good on hard packed snow, and on ice. My winter bike is an old MTB.

However, winters in my city are such that snow melts quickly and is quickly cleared. So didn't get much use from studs. I also hate riding studded tyres on pavement - ruining studs, making noise.

Since I usually deal with 10 cm snow, or no snow (slush perhaps, but mostly melted, cleared), I was thinking of geting some regular tyres for mud. Puting one on the rear for the whole winter. It will be a bit slower when there's no snow, but it will not be noisy. For front I was thinking of keeping the studded one, just in case I run into some stretches of ice.

Any recommendations? What are your experiences? Will one studded just front work?

I got a set of studded tires two years ago but I doubt that I will ever put much mileage on them. I've ridden them twice in two years. Our snow storms here are more intense than your's (20 cm is common and up to a meter is not unheard of) but the snow is of low moisture content (powder) and doesn't stick around for long either. For the last 30+ years, I've just used mountain bike knobs without problems. The studs are nice in those rare instances when the snow does stick around and turn to ice but, with a little skill, you can get by with a knobbed tire fairly easily. I keep my studded tires mounted on a spare set of rims and only change to the studs if the forecast calls for snow.

I use 2 bikes to save the hassle of changing wheels in very cold weather. Both bikes are old mountain bikes.

I like to use these for riding in the snow.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=411343

I've only used them front and rear, but his gentleman doesn't recommend it Studded Bicycle Tires (about 3/4 down the page).

I swap my Nokian studded tires in and out with the weather conditions, because I also don't like riding studded tires on dry pavement. Some people think that's too much trouble, and recommend a second bike or second wheel set. Or just leaving the studded tires on through the winter. None of those is a practical option for me, and swapping tires is simple and quick enough, since I keep my bike inside and have a repair stand in my apartment.

If I have my regular tires on, and there's a 40-60% chance of frozen precipitation overnight (but nothing else for the next few days), I'll swap one tire out the night before, and the swap out the appropriate tire the next morning after I see what happened with the weather overnight. I get out of bed expecting to change one tire. Tools are ready and bike is in the stand. It's a ten or fifteen minute task at that point, something I can do while I'm drinking my coffee. If there's more than 60% chance of frozen precipitation, I'll swap both tires out the night before.

I like to ride on the optimal configuration as often as is practical. I don't want to swap tires every night, but I don't mind swapping them a dozen times or so through the winter.

I wouldn't use just one studded tire, though, front or back.