It’s too icy to ride…. Or is it???

[Joe Chapline]

@Dirt: my “regular” tires, that came with my Specialized bike, have a smooth rolling surface — no tread at all. The outside edges are knobby, so they provide traction on curves. I think they’re great, but OF COURSE they don’t do well on ice. I just never thought about getting different tires for winter, whether studded or something else. A separate set of tires is an expense, but compared to the cost of car maintenance, it’s not much. Thanks for the tips.

[OneEighth]

Vittoria Cross XN Pros work great, too. Enough tread for snow and mud and fast on hard surfaces. Can be inflated to 6 bar. You can ride these year-round, frankly.

[eminva]

Hello —

My question is more basic — what kind of bicycle is best for snow/ice cycling? My bicycle fleet is very small — I usually commute on a basic road bike — and I’m wondering if I need to get a new bike before I investigate studded tires. I have missed bicycling in these last couple of weeks. Thanks.

Liz

[consularrider]

If you are on a road bike, the first thing you have to look at is how wide a tire can you fit on your current bike. I believe the narrowest studded tire is a 700X32. A wider tire with a knobbier profile works better in snow. A studded tire is best on ice. I believe Dirt had some good comments. If you are interested, look at the studded tire discussion at http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp.

[Joe Chapline]

Following up on consularrider’s comment, OneEight commented below about a tire designed for cyclocross, which is done with road bikes. BikeArlington also mentions cyclocross tires on their Winter Cycling page. As long as you have wheels that can accommodate a wide-enough tire, you have choices that could make the road bike you have now also your winter bike, with a change of tires.

[Author]

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