Your latest bike purchase?

[hozn]

Oh, it’s not the weight that makes them suck, but suck they do. When you aren’t riding on ice and in snow, they are painfully slow. I can’t tolerate them unless there is significant ice on the ground. Also they really aren’t a good choice for gripping dry or wet pavement.

[dkel]

@hozn 99239 wrote:

Oh, it’s not the weight that makes them suck, but suck they do. When you aren’t riding on ice and in snow, they are painfully slow. I can’t tolerate them unless there is significant ice on the ground. Also they really aren’t a good choice for gripping dry or wet pavement.

Yeah, the weight doesn’t make them slow, but it will make me slow! My bike weighs a ton already, and this won’t help. I haven’t experienced the rolling resistance yet…and the poor cornering will doubtless have me creeping along. Now’s the time to break them in, though, and I really didn’t have any trouble mounting them, so switching back to road tires won’t be much of a chore.

[vvill]

@dkel 99224 wrote:

I’m running the studs in starting tomorrow! I can’t help myself! Soooo excited![ATTACH=CONFIG]6997[/ATTACH]

Sounds fun. I did a decently long (15mi) dry ride to “break them in” too. I remember getting a few weird looks on that ride.

(And yeah I had trouble mounting mine (on MTB rims), but I also wasn’t super experienced changing tires back then. Maybe I could’ve gotten the bead around better.)

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dkel 99231 wrote:

I won’t be surprised, likely. I can already tell they weigh a ton. Still…sooo excited!

Anyone have a tire pressure they’re particularly fond of for these?

the lowest pressure you’ll probably want to run is 35-40 PSI, and I’d leave that for when there’s actually snow/ice on the ground. if it’s dry, keep them up around 60-70 PSI. I’ll also be one to reiterate that you’re going to HATE those tires if the trails are clear and dry after about a month of daily commuting on them.

mark my words, a second set of wheels will be on your mind constantly when it’s 27 degrees out (and no precip) and all you want to do is get home because it’s dark and cold and those stupid studded tires are SO SLOOOOOOW!

[jabberwocky]

I leave the studs on my touring bike for the winter and ride the road bike when things are clear. I don’t have comparable numbers on the current commute, but for my old 11 mile commute to Tysons down the W&OD, the studs added roughly 7-8 minutes. They are sloooooow. There was certainly a point on my old commute where I’d switch back to road tires before the trail was fully clear of ice, just because it was faster to ride normal speed for the vast majority of the trail that was clear and walk the last few icy patches.

They are great on ice though! They are one of those things that you don’t need often, but there are days that its almost impossible to ride to work without them.

[Phatboing]

Maybe you can call it training, like I call riding a singlespeed mtb with sticky, knobby, low-pressure 2.4-inch tires on dry pavement training. Come spring you’ll have legs that could stomp the Earth out of its orbit. Everyone wins.

[cyclingfool]

Now that I’ve resolved the issues associated with ridiculously tight fit of my tires on my wheels, I’m back to where I was with a previous bike, i.e., I think of swapping out regular tires for studded tires on my one wheelset practice for fixing flats. Thanks to good tires, I don’t have to do that often (knock on wood). It only takes me 5 or 10 minutes to swap out the tires, which still makes biking the fastest commuting option available to me. That’s not to say that I don’t want to build up a spare wheelset so that I could just swap out wheels in even less time, but changing the tires really isn’t that much of a hassle.

[dkel]

I rode the studs up and down my street a minute ago (late shift at work today), and in slow maneuvering they seem pretty squirmy. It’s really weird riding on those studs, man. As far as mounting them, it wasn’t much trouble, except I had a massive blow out because I didn’t seat the bead right the first time. Live and learn: if you see the tube slowly expanding out from under the tire, don’t try to pull the pump off and let out the air, cover your ears instead.

[NicDiesel]

@hozn 99239 wrote:

Oh, it’s not the weight that makes them suck, but suck they do.

I debated not putting studs on but it’s going to be in the 20s, snowy, and windy for the next two weeks here in South Canada™ so it’s studs or no riding. Hopefully I can do 15 miles with them on tonight without struggling to keep a 10mph pace. I need to cruise over to St Paul today and pick up a pair of these so my feet don’t freeze:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7002[/ATTACH]

Also, if you’re in the market for ski/snow goggles I picked up a pair of these at Costco yesterday:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7003[/ATTACH]

They won’t fit over glasses (get the Oakley Ls for that) but for $30 with an extra lens they’re a good deal and seem like they’ve got enough venting to keep from fogging up during long rides.

[hozn]

Heh, yeah, I think in MN I would actually buy a snowbike/fatbike — and probably studded tires too! Good luck out there!

Brings back memories of winter camping in the BWCAW as a kid. Northern lights were awesome. Howling wolves a bit scary. Ice fishing boring. Being on bike instead of snowshoes / skis would have been really cool.

[NicDiesel]

@hozn 99310 wrote:

Heh, yeah, I think in MN I would actually buy a snowbike/fatbike — and probably studded tires too! Good luck out there!

Thanks, I should hit 1,000 miles this year here which isn’t that bad considering I only rode for about five months. Fortunately I think I’ve found a way to get a fat bike to work with my heft so if I can get the right price I’m going to get one of these for an early 40th birthday/multiple Chankamas presents:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7004[/ATTACH]

[dkel]

@NicDiesel 99313 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7004[/ATTACH]

Those gumwalls are hot.

[worktheweb]

I have some studs, but I only put them on when the snow and ice are out. From what I’ve read, keeping them on all the time can cause some of the studs to pop out and/or wear down quickly. That said, on icy roads, there is nothing like them.

[NicDiesel]

So my wife twisted my arm and made me go buy a pair of Wolvhammers last night. Chanukamas came early for your ol’ buddy.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7009[/ATTACH]

While these are perfect for December to March riding here in South Canada they’re way overkill for riding there. Having said that, if you want a good pair of winter shoes check out the Fasterkatts (they work with SPD or three bolt road cleats). Similar design but super light and watertight, perfect for temps between 25 and 45. My only complaint about the 45NRTH shoes are that they tend to run small and they don’t offer a 14 in the Wolvhammers so I had to go with 15s and, either as a cost cutting measure or a design issue, the zippers on the Wolvhammers are not super sturdy or easy to close. Hopefully once I put some wax on them they’ll close easier but it’s a struggle to zip them up and if you bust the zipper you’re out of luck.

[Crickey7]

@NicDiesel 99481 wrote:

So my wife twisted my arm and made me go buy a pair of Wolvhammers last night. Chanukamas came early for your ol’ buddy.

Sweet. If my wife ever insisted I spend that much on a piece of cycling apparel, I’d wonder what she was planning to get for herself.

[Author]

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