rumrunn6

makes it hard to justify getting new BIGGER studded tires this year ...

if I did the same & got the tires I was just looking at, w/o tax that would be $37 pr ride (for one year) if I use them for two years it goes down to $18 pr ride ...

EDIT I have 40mm studded tires now which I used on a Trek FX the past cpl years, but now I have a 29 MTB w 2.25 tires. I know I can use my 40s on it but was thinking about getting wider (2.1") studded tires, just cuz I can ...

GrainBrain

Oof, pricey. If I was a commuter I might spring for a set, but I never was in need of them last winter. It would be a blast out on our small lake though!

Jim from Boston

Do you change onto studded tires each time as conditions change, or did you encounter icy conditions only six times last winter?

I posted just yesterday:

Riveting

If you don't get them, and crash because you didn't have them, a trip to the ER in an ambulance will likely be ~$500 out-of-pocket (dependent upon your insurance co-pay). Plus those studded tires will last for many more years, further amortizing the upstart cost. Just get 'em.

bogydave

I see studded tires on CL all the time, 1/2 price or less.
I think folks get all excited & get set up for winter riding in the Fall.
When they finally go winter riding, reality hits them.
An indoor spin class or trainer might work better for them

I borrowed a set & did 2 rides. Burrrrrrrrr.
Needed: more layers, better gloves, face mask, goggles that don't fog up from my breathing, better shoes/boots.......

IMO
Better to spend $$$ on a plane ticket south

wolfchild

Studded tires are worth the expense. Mine are 8 years old and still good. I only use them when I feel it's necessary, that's why they last for such a long time...It's worth it even if only needed few times during the winter season.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riveting

If you don't get them, and crash because you didn't have them, a trip to the ER in an ambulance will likely be ~$500 out-of-pocket (dependent upon your insurance co-pay). Plus those studded tires will last for many more years, further amortizing the upstart cost. Just get 'em.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfchild

Studded tires are worth the expense. Mine are 8 years old and still good. I only use them when I feel it's necessary, that's why they last for such a long time...It's worth it even if only needed few times during the winter season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bogydave

IMO
Better to spend $$$ on a plane ticket south

I didn’t bother to comment on the cost-benefit of studded tires, but just a few hours earlier today I posted about the hassles of being injured and stranded one summer day under nearly ideal conditions; how much worse in the winter. BTW @wolfchild, see my counter-proposal (link) above.

mcours2006

I hate riding on studded tires, but the peace of mind they provide is priceless. A set of Marathon winter studs at CRC is actually quite reasonable at $30/tire for 35x700c. I have a few sets. I'll use them for most of the winter, though this year I might use them less as I promise myself that I'd not ride when conditions get too bad, like ice or snow. Still, they do their job on those mornings when there's moisture in the air, or frozen puddles from melted snow.

Jim from Boston

I ride well-tended roads in Boston, and the Marathon Winters are great on hardpack snow, and usable to about 3 inches of fresh snowfall.



PS: I just now (10/4) noted this post on the Commuting Forum, from Serbia on 10/2:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaninar

…Schwalbe Marathon Winters are great tyres for roads that are ploughed - no deep snow, but relatively shallow snow, hard packed snow and ice - for those conditions they are great.

For deep snow - some model with bigger knobs, wider tyres (2" + ) and studs in case you run into an icy patch.

parkbrav

I'm a commuter from the Boston area. I'm a little confused. I know a bunch of you have two bikes. I switch the winter tires on and off each winter because I have one bike. In fact, I'm actually heading to the mechanic's today or tomorrow to put them on ahead of this coming winter. Anyway, I find the peace of mind is a benefit, plus they do a good job on the black ice and white ice. If it gets too nuts then I wuss out and take Uber.

rumrunn6

I like the way you think!

rumrunn6

last cpl years I've had 3 bikes at my disposal, road bike which is OK in winter so long as the roads are clear & OK on dirt when it is frozen hard w/o ice, hybrid A with trail tires (great all year w/o ice) & hybrid B w studded tires (nicknamed ice bike) for when the winter sh*t hits the fan. I rode more than 6 times last winter, but just 6 times on the "ice bike". this year I have 4 bikes, ugh, but I'll sell at least 1 of them soon I think. still need to swap tires on it & take a pic for the ad. TMI?

Jim from Boston

Hi @parkbrav,

I’ve never encountered you on the Forums. If I may ask, where do you live and where do you ride? If new to Boston, FYA: Regarding studded tires,I too ride them all winter long, starting in December.

Jim from Boston

So you essentially change tires each time as the conditions change. FWIW:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

I didn’t bother to comment on the cost-benefit of studded tires, but just a few hours earlier today I posted about the hassles of being injured and stranded one summer day under nearly ideal conditions; how much worse in the winter. …

see my counter-proposal (link) above.

parkbrav

Hiya Jim, not to give my exact location away but I live near the 93/95 interchange, if that's any help. So NW Boston.

I pop in and out on this site.

Ah, ok, so December. Does it change your mind any that Channel 4 is predicting an early and cold winter this year, and that we'll see some early winter around Halloween?

PaulRivers

Well if you're going to spend that much have you considered going whole hog and just buying a fatbike? You could get that rate up to like $400/trip. ;-)

I've tried 2" tires and personally found them lacking.

30c-40c tires are a width where if the snow isn't to deep they cut through the snow to the road surface and give you solid grip on the pavement. At 1"-6" of freshly fallen snow they cut through the snow to the pavement and are great. When the snow gets to deep to cut through they go from being great to absolutely sucking though...

I thought a 2" tire would provide improvements but I found them to be worse. At 1"-6" of snow they're to fat to cut through it and they wander around on top of the snow and it's a lot of work to keep control of the bike and uncomfortable. When you get more snow they're to skinny to float on top of it and they couldn't handle extra snow any better than my skinnier tires could. I tried them back to back after a snowstorm and my 35c tires would get jammed up at the same depth of snow my 2" tires would. 2" tires were also much slower and much noisier.

I tried a fat bike at a demo and while it's slower and noisier than the skinnier tires, the tire is finally so fat it will float on top of a fair amount of snow. I never cuts through to the road but the tire is so wide it stays stable and the handling is predictable. I even road it on a lake with patches of sheer ice, the non-studded fat bike tire would not stay upright on sheer ice but when it would start to go over it was very slow and I had the chance to get a foot down and prevent myself from falling over.

From reading other posters here, it sounds like 2" tires might be better at handling the icy ruts that can build up on city streets, but so would fat bike tires, and the 2" still handle poorly with small amounts of new snow.

I sold my 2" tires as I couldn't see a situation where I'd use them. My personal opinion is that I'd either go 30c-40c, or full on fat bike, and tire sizes in the middle (around 2") aren't very useful for winter riding.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkbrav

Hiya Jim, not to give my exact location away but I live near the 93/95 interchange, if that's any help. So NW Boston.

I pop in and out on this site.

Ah, ok, so December. Does it change your mind any that Channel 4 is predicting an early and cold winter this year, and that we'll see some early winter around Halloween?

Hi parkbrav,

Thanks for that reply. Nearly all my cycling is south of Boston in the vicinity of the Charles River and Neponset River watersheds. Being in Kenmore Square I do get up North, and Rte 62 is a favorite road.

A favorite route back home is via Washington St in Woburn to Winchester, then Rte 38 to Arlington, and Mass Ave to Boston, or through Meffed to Somerville to Boston.

In my Cycling Guide to Metro Boston I described your sector:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Northern Suburbs: Lynnfield, Reading, Wilmington, Woburn, down through Winchester, etc: Pleasant suburban to rural inland roads.

I use Weather.com to plan my cycling. Accuracy diminishes the farther into the future, and IMO such long-range forecasts to Halloween are jibber-jabber. My initial decision to take the bike to the shop to put on the studs (can only do on weekends) is the first snowfall, and over the several years I have had studs, did not occur until December.

I usually keep them on until April 1, but hopefully I'm riding the carbon fiber bike by then. As I posted:

parkbrav

yeah, I'm lucky in the sense that I live and work in the same municipality, so my commutes are relatively short.

I do know of, and have used, the Bedford/Lexington bike trail, which I can usually get to after a lengthy ride.

My first post on this site, ever, was back in April, wondering when it made sense to take my pair of studded 45 North's off. I kept them on a bit longer than expected - a bit after the Master's - because I got slammed at work.

In the spring do the studs make the tires slip more if the roads are slick due to rain?

rumrunn6

I got an old MTB to expand the range of unpaved trails I've been riding with standard hybrids. been pushing the limits on those. the 2" tires are now much more comfortable over the rough stuff without having to air down as much & w/o those pesky slow leaking pinches ... in the winter, on those same trails, hikers leave frozen, hard, jarring footsteps. the bike has an entry level "shock" fork so that will help with my current 40mm studded tires. we'll see. the 2" studded tires would just offer that much more comfort I think. hard to justify the cost tho

PaulRivers

Oohhhhhhhh...gotcha...I'm thinking about paved streets because that's where I ride, or the kind of snow covered mountain biking trails we have here which really require a fat bike. In the Minnesota metro area there's not a ton of in between.

If you're currently handling stuff like that now with a 40c tire I definitely think a 2" or 2.2" studded tire would be a noteable improvement.

A fat bike...would probably handle it even better though...

rumrunn6

:d

Jim from Boston

Not to be contrarian, but for me since I cycle-commute for fitness, a longer commute is beneficial; mine is 14 miles at least.

I don't think studded tires are more slippery on wet streets, but I have read that some subscribers do. In fact I think they might be more secure on wet metal, such as railroad tracks, or painted street lines, but I would avoid those in any situation.

cyccommute 

That is similar to the way I approach winter except that I have mountain bikes. And I don't find myself using the studded tires all that much during the winter...probably about the same 6 times you do. A knobbed mountain bike tire will do the job quite well for most of the season.

That said, would going from a 40mm (1.5" tire) to a 55mm (2.125" tire) really make that much of a difference? I would say no. The studs are doing the heavy lifting and adding a bit more width isn't going to make that much of a difference, especially given the cost of the tires.

Just to be clear, I have 55mm tires on the front of my "ice bike" and 48mm tires on the back but I bought them that way. I probably wouldn't buy new ones just because the width is a little off.

One final point, a suspended mountain bike...front and/or rear...handles far better in ice and packed snow than a rigid bike. My "ice bike" is a Moots YBB which has just a little suspension (1.5" or 40mm) in the back and a 100mm lockable fork in the front. The little bit of give in the rear helps with grip while the front suspension rides up and over ridges and soft spots instead of just plowing into them. The bike tracks straighter and I can move faster.

This is the YBB in winter dress (but without the studs)

image by Stuart Black, on Flickr

rumrunn6

thanks, I remember seeing that in another thread. interesting what you did there for a mud deflector for the seat tube. I DIY'd my own solution similar to yours with 1/2 a fender then another thing against the seat tube, but your's looks more refined

cyccommute 

That's a commercial product. I don't recall which brand that one is as I've had it for a very long time. Generally, they are call "grunge" guards. I run them even in the summer to keep rocks from hitting me under the chin while riding off-road. I have a Mucky Nutz Gut Fender on this bike.


DSCN0934 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

If you look closely, you can see that it is bolted to the frame using a down tube water bottle cage mount. I actually had them added to the bike by the builder (local shop) along with other fittings for racks and fenders. The Mucky Nutz is fairly large but it's lighter than the other guard. It can also be mounted with velcro straps.