Studded Tyres

[hughedwards]

We have just had our first real snow (over a layer of ice) and I am trying to decide whether to invest in studded tyres or lay my bike up for 5 months. Has anyone used them? How well do they work? Can I ride like I would on dry or damp roads?

 

[Bustedknuckle]

We have just had our first real snow (over a layer of ice) and I am trying to decide whether to invest in studded tyres or lay my bike up for 5 months. Has anyone used them? How well do they work? Can I ride like I would on dry or damp roads?

Make sure your frame has the clearance plus they aren't cheap. Dry/wet road riding wears the studs down, just like a car. 'Best' solution is have 2 wheelsets.

They do work but on ice, riding can still be 'interesting'.

 

[twothirds]

You can make your own studded tires with a worn down mountain bike tire and small woodscrews. I even did this to some skinny road tires on an old track bike for fun one time and it worked quite well.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

We have just had our first real snow (over a layer of ice) and I am trying to decide whether to invest in studded tyres or lay my bike up for 5 months. Has anyone used them? How well do they work? Can I ride like I would on dry or damp roads?

I'm originally from Minnesota, the land of icy roads. I tried a set of Nokian Hakkapelitta for commuting and found that even in that climate they were too much. Through even the most terrible winters there are really only a handful of days where studded tires make sense. When there is snow and ice on the roads they can't be beat, phenomenal, but when it's just wet or dry, they ride like total crap. If you have many consecutive days of ice and snow, then by all means.

Back in my hometown during the winters they hold bicycle ice racing events on the frozen city lakes, that's when studded tires are super fun.

 

[42x16ss]

That looks like awesome fun!

 

[FitSsikS]

They are great on ice or hard packed snow. In the city where you may end up riding on slushy snow courtesy of salt, not so good. You will end up cutting through the mush to the pavement and the studs won't last too long in those conditions (like Bustedknuckle said). I have used them on ice covered bike paths and you won't need a bell as they make quite the racket.
For city riding I would recommend a tire that would slice quickly down to the road. At the local hardware store I found some 35mm knobbies for $10!!! For those Canucks out there this was at Canadian Tire, someone must have ordered them by mistake as this was before hybrids became more prevalent. My studded tires are 26" and my skinny (cyclocross style) knobbies are 700s.