Originally Posted by
parkbrav
Greetings! I just survived a mild winter up here in the northeast - Boston to be exact. We're getting wintry mix turning into rain over the next few days, and I'm thinking about ditching the snow tires back to the regular tires.
Do the regular tires perform better in the rain vs the snow/ice than the studs? Should I get the tires installed this weekend or wait a week or two?
I'm here in Boston and I'm going nuts with this prolonged winter. Every week, I anticipate bringing out my pristine carbon fiber bike, and taking off the studded tires on my winter beater. Today is April 5, probably the longest I have kept them on.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
… BTW,though I didn't ride today [2/27/18], I was thinking that after this weekend's heavy rains, the streets might be clean enough to bring out the pristine carbon fiber bike, in storage since December. The studs stay on the beater through most of March.
Carbide studs are reputed to last a long time. I ride studded tires all winter from December to March, nearly entirely on bare, wet, and/or salted pavement. However, now my beater bike is an aluminum Diverge Elite road bike and I have 30 C Schwalbe Marathon studded tires, the narrowest I know of.
I've not had a significant snow challenge with them since I ride well-plowed roads, but the previous (?) 35 C tires were good up to about 3 inches of new snow.
I really like the Schwalbe tires because I don't seem to feel the increased rolling resistance many claim for more aggressively treaded studded tires.
For me, the crucial change to “nice weather” riding is bringing out the carbon fiber. The earliest I recall was about February 28.
As I note above, the studded tires are not that big a hindrance, and are quite durable when ridden on bare pavement. And as our Toronto frère, @mcours2006 notes,
Originally Posted by
mcours2006
I'd wait a week or two. The risk/reward is not worth it.
With studs I may lose about 5-7 minutes on a 20 km commute consistently.
Not a whole lot when you compare about wiping out. [Subsequently, on 4/6/18,]
Originally Posted by
mcours2006
I should have taken my own advice today.
There was a light dusting of snow on the road when I came out of the house with the bike. Contemplated for a moment but decided to go ahead with the tires I had on anyway.
No problems but some dicey moments.
I've actually had them off for quite some time now, even though winter looks like it's sticking around. -7*C this morning? I mean, c'mon!
BTW, @parkbrav, you might check out the de facto Metro Boston thread, “Metro Boston: Good ride today?,” on the Northeast Regional Discussion Forum. I don’t list my location on my profile, but it is “D’uh” (in Kenmore Square).
Jim from Boston
Originally Posted by
Maelochs
Whenever I see a series of nested quotes, I think "it's Jim from 'Duh' again."
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 04-07-18 at 03:43 AM.
Reason: added additional quote by mcours 2006