Originally Posted by
canuckjgc
Problem here is that there is no road to cut down to. Just brown sugar, frozen ruts, slop, and sheer ice - all in one ride. Skinny tires can't make any progress. Fat tires would be useful in some circumstances, but the performance penalty would be much greater than a 2.5" tire.
Yeah, that's why I mentioned you lose grip entirely if they can't do it, we've definitely had some winters like that here in Mn. My experience is that fat bike tires are the only things good at making it through that stuff. Of course people make tradeoffs for speed/efficiency vs handling, I stick with a 40c or less size tire despite some handling drawbacks because the speed hit above that is so significant.