Studded Tires — Question for Experienced Users

[MCL1981]

That’s what I figured as well. How are they with rutted ice and getting OUT of those ruts?

[Dirt]

@MCL1981 10585 wrote:

That’s what I figured as well. How are they with rutted ice and getting OUT of those ruts?

The Extremes were little better because I could run them at lower tire pressure. A lot of that is technique though.

[Mark Blacknell]

While I’m mostly just echoing what folks have already said on this thread, I want to add:

1) The Schwalbe Winter Marathons definitely work on ice, and are well suited for winter on-road use.
2) The Schwalbe Winter Marathons are utterly useless in snow, and I regret spending $150 on them. Should have gone for the aggressively treaded Nokkians.

[MCL1981]

Ya I think the aggressive tread won’t change my ride too much. I’m already riding a mountain bike with mountain bike tires. Nothing super mean aggressive, but not easy rolling road tires by any means. So some aggressive snow tires will probably not be much different on dry pavement for me. Though I’m thinking about getting two new rims so I can switch them off when I know the WX and road/trail conditions will be be bone dry for the week.

[vvill]

@MCL1981 10714 wrote:

two new rims so I can switch them off when I know the WX and road/trail conditions will be be bone dry for the week.

And two new hubs too? Spokes? And a rear cassette?

I did this recently – got two new 26″ wheels, and a new cassette for my new Nokians. Also got a BB7 disc front brake (rear is still a vbrake, made sure the wheels could use both styles). Went on a slow paced (13mph) 15 mile test ride Sat morning to “seat” the studs, as they recommend, and to test out the brakes. Those 400 studs are pleasantly loud, and trail users are usually aware of you even before you give them a shout. Let It Snow!

[MCL1981]

Nope. Just the rim. I get bored very easily and removing each spoke and reattaching to a different rim should keep me occupied for most of a Sunday evening. 😎

Yes, I meant WHEELS. Complete. With spokes and hubs.

[Mark Blacknell]

@MCL1981 10720 wrote:

Nope. Just the rim. I get bored very easily and

In related news, man, you’re gonna hear the angels sing if you’re moving from knobbies to something approaching a slick tire.

[MCL1981]

Ya probably. Believe it or not I have never ridden anything but a mountain bike and have never experienced road tires. I’m also cheap. So I think I’ll let the mountain bike tires I have now wear out and when they do, I’ll get something much more road favoring hybrid tires for it.

[vvill]

I rode many, many road miles as a kid/teen/young adult before getting even a bike with 700c wheels, and I only tried a proper drop bar road bike this year. Makes an amazing difference. (I’m also cheap, but not as cheap as I used to be.)

@MCL1981 10720 wrote:

Nope. Just the rim. I get bored very easily and removing each spoke and reattaching to a different rim should keep me occupied for most of a Sunday evening. 😎

Yes, I meant WHEELS. Complete. With spokes and hubs.

For a second I thought you weren’t kidding. You will need a cassette/freewheel too though I guess? Unless you want to switch that over as well.

[MCL1981]

I’d make both back wheels fully equipped so I can drop the quick releases and swap the wheels with nothing more than pulling the chain over it. I have no idea how much the full back wheel setup costs. Presumably more than a $30 front wheel. So I’ll probably buy the back wheel after bonus checks arrive.

[consularrider]

Just in case anyone is wondering this year, thought I’d bump this thread. Also saw a reference to a Minnesota company 45NRTH. There are some great looking studded tires (including for fatbikes!) on their website along with winter cycling boots. Note that Trail’s End Cycling in Purcellville is a dealer – but I bet they are special order stuff.

[Dirt]

@consularrider 37520 wrote:

Just in case anyone is wondering this year, thought I’d bump this thread. Also saw a reference to a Minnesota company 45NRTH. There are some great looking studded tires (including for fatbikes!) on their website along with winter cycling boots. Note that Trail’s End Cycling in Purcellville is a dealer – but I bet they are special order stuff.

I’ve got a pair of 26×4″ 45Nrth Dillingers on order. They’ll certainly cause a bit of trouble this winter.

[Mark Blacknell]

@consularrider 37520 wrote:

Note that Trail’s End Cycling in Purcellville is a dealer

Very smart. You ride out, put them on, and by the time you get home you’ll have lost all your studs and need a new pair.

[Dirt]

@consularrider 37520 wrote:

Note that Trail’s End Cycling in Purcellville is a dealer – but I bet they are special order stuff.

I got my first set of 45nrth tires from Bikenetic. Special order, but they arrived pretty quickly.

[MCL1981]

I’m really hoping for an actual winter this year. I got an additional set of wheels so I can “hot swap” based on weather. I have road tires and light weight rims for anything but snow and ice. Then I have studded snow tires on my old mountain bike rims. If there is going to be snow/ice, it takes about 3 minutes to change. I only had one opportunity to use them last year since winter sucked. I swear, I feel like I have better traction on packed snow and ice then I did on dry pavement with road tires. I could accelerate without and slipping. Turn without falling. And it stopped like I was glued to the trail. Southbound cruising speed is about 15-18mph and that was absolutely no problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeVo5hS9-i0

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