Icy winter conditions are almost here…

[ShawnoftheDread]

It seems like for less than that price you could buy tires that already have studs installed.

[mstone]

@ShawnoftheDread 64764 wrote:

It seems like for less than that price you could buy tires that already have studs installed.

Wow, those are expensive. I guess maybe you can reuse them between tires, but still, wow.

[vvill]

@ShawnoftheDread 64764 wrote:

It seems like for less than that price you could buy tires that already have studs installed.

Or even a spare wheelset with studded tires!

[OneEighth]

@vvill 64771 wrote:

Or even a spare wheelset with studded tires!

That’s what I do. Easy. Fast.

[JorgeGortex]

Don’t shoot the messenger people (or offer dislikes… really?). I only pointed out something I thought was interesting. There are a lot of options for doing the same thing, sure. These are one of many options.

One point to be made is that you can make your own studded tires using your favorite rubber. Not sure if dedicated studded tires use carbide cores for durability either.

In any case, enjoy your Friday.

[mstone]

@JorgeGortex 64778 wrote:

Not sure if dedicated studded tires use carbide cores for durability either

Depends on the tire; the better ones do.

[Andrew Mitry]

Since you guys bring it up, how doable is a 14 mile commute on multi use paths in the snow? I know the paths won’t be plowed. Currently takes me about an hour to commute in, would I need to budget twice as much time?

Thinking about getting studded tires for my old mountain bike…

[DismalScientist]

Winter commuting will be mandatory once we restart Freezing Saddles.:rolleyes: Buy your studded tires now!

Last winter, studded tires on a mountain bike only slowed my commute by a couple mph. I would only add 15 minutes under “normal” conditions (packed ice or less than 1″ of snow).

[Andrew Mitry]

@DismalScientist 64786 wrote:

Winter commuting will be mandatory once we restart Freezing Saddles.:rolleyes: Buy your studded tires now!

Last winter, studded tires on a mountain bike only slowed my commute by a couple mph. I would only add 15 minutes under “normal” conditions (packed ice or less than 1″ of snow).

Sweet, easier to justify if it is only adding 15 minutes. Which studded tires do you recommend?

Thanks!

[cyclingfool]

The idea of making your own studded tires with something like the OP linked to is certainly interesting. Thanks for sharing.

FWIW, I think others were simply pointing out that the more conventional option of simply buying a studded tire is cheaper, especially since some people probably stumble upon these threads whilst doing research, etc.

I would even argue it’s probably likely that a studded tire more durable since the tire/rubber is designed to be studded from the get go isntead of retrofitting an otherwise knobby tire.

As for the carbide issue, Schwalbe and Nokian use carbide studs for sure. Not sure about other brands. For use in this area, where it is exceedingly rare for the entire route to be covered in ice/snow, I wouldn’t get anything that’s not carbide. They’d wear out too quickly.

[consularrider]

IMHO Peter White Cycles has the best article on studded tires. The Nokian and Schwalbe studded tires he sells have the carbide studs and run from about $55 to $175 per tire depending on the model. 45NRTH also sells studded tires for fat bikes, I think Dirt ordered a set through Bikenetics last winter. In looking at the studs linked in the op, they screw in which would have to be into the raised knobby on the tire. In my Schwable Marathon Winter tires, the studs were in holes that appeared to be molded into the casing of the tire and the inside end of the stud is smooth rather than sharp as would be need to screw in.

[cyclingfool]

While we’re on the topic, I have a set of barely used (by barely used I mean 50-ish miles ridden total) 700c Nokian tires. I believe they’re the Suomi IceSpeed, but I’d need to double check that at home. Anyway, I had those for my 700c bike which was stolen last spring. My replacement bike has 26″ wheels, so I no longer have need for the studded tires I have at home. If anyone is interested in purchasing them off me (or swapping for a good set of 26″ studded tired I could use), PM me for details/pics/other info.

[DismalScientist]

@Andrew Mitry 64787 wrote:

Which studded tires do you recommend?

The cheapest I can find online.:rolleyes:

I think my 26″ ones are Schwalb Marathons, but they could be Nokians.

I would make sure they have reflective sidewalls given the early afternoon sunsets.

On a related note: Bikesdirect now sells fat tire bikes!

[Andrew Mitry]

@DismalScientist 64793 wrote:

The cheapest I can find online.:rolleyes:

I think my 26″ ones are Schwalb Marathons, but they could be Nokians.

I would make sure they have reflective sidewalls given the early afternoon sunsets.

Thanks, I’ll look into getting a pair and hopefully join you all for freezing saddles.

[consularrider]

@Andrew Mitry 64785 wrote:

Since you guys bring it up, how doable is a 14 mile commute on multi use paths in the snow? I know the paths won’t be plowed. Currently takes me about an hour to commute in, would I need to budget twice as much time?

Thinking about getting studded tires for my old mountain bike…

In the past the paths in general weren’t plowed and busy paths gotten trampled down pretty quickly. This meant that from the day after the snow fall cyclists were dealing with rough ice until the sun melted everything away. I understand that other than the MVT things may be different going forward with the major routes. In our bike/pedestrian count briefing we were told that Arlington planned to clear the major paths, but that we haven’t had enough snow the past two winters to test out that promise. I also seem to remember there was a thread last year that Fairfax (is that the right jurisdiction?) would clear the W&OD, but don’t quote me on that. In terms of extra time, I lose about one mph on dry roads on my hybrid on the studded tires over my all-season tires. Extra time when you’re acutally riding in the snow or on ice can vary widely depending on the conditions.

[Author]

Posts