Old 11-08-19, 01:50 PM
  #33  
Hypno Toad
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
I've ridden a lot in both. From my experience, snow and sand are essentially the same for the purposes of bicycle tires. And the different types of snow makes little difference in handling.

I don't see how "cutting throughs the snow to pavement" helps any. First, as your picture shows, you are shoving snow out of the way with the tire, rim and spokes. Shoving anything out of the way takes more power. Secondly, the tire doesn't "cut" anything. It compresses it. The smaller profile of the contact patch might even be enough to make it liquid which makes the tire/ice interface even slicker.

There is also the issue of ruts and things hidden under the snow. Ruts pull the bike off-line and a smaller contact patch results in less room for error when the tire is pulled off line. I gave up on narrow tires long ago for just these reasons.
To start off, I'm not advocating narrow tires. I'm saying it's not as bad as you'd think it is. It can be done safely and enjoyably.

Wet/warm snow in spring/fall rides very different than dry/cold snow in middle of winter, then there's the mashed potato snow of late-winter and early-spring.

The photo I posted was a "surprise snow", I was in the office when the snow front slide more south than forecast. I had a 10 mile ride home from the office on a bike set up for spring/summer roads. The bike handled great, no 'shoving snow out of the way", and rolled fast. Repeating myself, the roads were perfectly dry at the start of the day (that's why I took my summer commuter), there were no icy ruts to deal with.

Fat tires compress snow, narrow tires cut snow... it's a thing, I've experienced it.

Repeating myself, I love my fatbike for winter riding - it's sure-footing on nearly any condition. But riding snow with narrow tires is not the worst thing.

And to make a clear point, I've taken my hits with summer tires when I should be on studs (exact same set up in the photo above but on icy roads).


Lastly, to be clear, I appreciate your experience and opinions, please respect my experience and opinions too. The OP will be able to read both and make a decision that they are comfortable with. Cool? Thanks!

Last edited by Hypno Toad; 11-08-19 at 03:01 PM.
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