It’s too icy to ride…. Or is it???

[Dirt]

Okay… it has been well established that I do NOT like to leave the bike at home. I built a unicycle designed for snow riding.

What to do when it gets icy? Studded tires are awesome. They work much better than you might think. You can’t corner like you’re on dry pavement, but they’re more secure than most normal road tires are on wet pavement. They love ice. They do great in hard pack snow. They even deal pretty well in soft snow. Best of all, they make a super cool sound when you ride them on dry pavement.

Continental, Nokian, Innova, Schwalbe and Kenda all make great ones. I’m sure I’m forgetting some brands there. I bought my Nokians from The Bike Lane in Burke, VA. They’re 700x40c and fit on my cross bike perfectly. They’ve got 240 carbide studs. They weigh a ton and grab snow and ice perfectly.

Problem 1: These things are expensive. They are built to last, but that durability costs. I paid $70 each for the tires.

Problem 2: Pedestrian Ice is awful. 2 days after a good storm… especially if there’s been a thaw and refreeze, the trails in our area are not smooth and icy, they’re bumpy as heck and icy. Be prepared for a very bumpy ride on this stuff. I’m going to buy some fatter studded tires for my mountain bike to deal with this. Good quality studded tires come in widths up to 2.1″ and I think that will help out a lot with the bumps.

I guess that’s it for today’s winter riding tip. Please let me know what you ride in the winter.

See you out there!

Pete

Topic

[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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