While I Wait for My Studded Tires...
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 99
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
While I Wait for My Studded Tires...
My LBS is ordering studded tires, so while I wait for them to come in, I was wondering what optimal PSI might be for some snowy conditions. I'll stay off the unbeatan paths/trails until I get studded up, but on wintry plowed roads with some snow and ice, what would those that have gone before me suggest? I'm on a MTB with 26x1.9 tires for a 20-25 minute commute.
#2
Still Believes In Joy
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Flagstaff
Posts: 150
Bikes: Specialized Crosstrail, GT Force
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I like to put my tires as high as they should go, so I can pierce snow and slush to get some traction.
#3
ride for a change
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 2,221
Bikes: Surly Cross-check & Moonlander, Pivot Mach 429, Ted Wojcik Sof-Trac, Ridley Orion. Santa Cruz Stigmata
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Ice is the thing to be watchful for, no tire pressure change is going to help. But that's why you are getting the studs. In the meantime I would ride the unbeaten paths and trails actually they are less likely to be icy. And in that case I'd reduce the pressure on a wider knobby tire for traction. Think about fat tire snow bikes, they are running 15 psi or less for traction and float.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 550
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I wonder if you have seen the bike hack style homemade studded tires. If you have a backup bike try them. You will be amazed how well they work. I used them on a 26" tired MTB. It worked well and is my backup to the Trek 520 I usually use. In defensive tactics the fastest reload is another gun - loaded. In cycling to work the fastest tire change is the spare bike. When you go out the door with no spare commute time, regular bike tire is flat,just grab the spare.
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 99
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Good idea. Always trying to procure a new bike, regardless of the shape. It takes some convincing of the better half to do so!
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Posts: 29,552
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
Mentioned: 112 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5224 Post(s)
Liked 3,585 Times
in
2,344 Posts
go full pressure and stay on the road. fight the urge to deflate and ride sidewalks. it doesn't take much deflation to affect performance
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 811
Bikes: '08 Trek 7.3FX
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Higher tire pressure makes traction worse in winter conditions. The higher the tire pressure, the smaller the portion of tread that is in contact with the road surface, or whatever is covering the road surface, and the less the tire conforms to uneven surfaces. In icy, rutted conditions or in trampled snow you want the tire to conform more so you need lower pressure.
I speak from experience here. There have been many times where I'll begin a ride after or during a snowfall and have to stop to release some pressure from the tires. Otherwise they just spin and slip around.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,118
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
With a full studded tire, run at normal pressures regardless, for a semi stud, e.g. Schwalbe snow studs, they have a suggested range for dry conditions, and a lower one for ice. It is necessary to run lower pressures to get the studs, which are only on the outside edges of that tire, to bite when running straight.
#9
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,366
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 152 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6219 Post(s)
Liked 4,221 Times
in
2,367 Posts
My LBS is ordering studded tires, so while I wait for them to come in, I was wondering what optimal PSI might be for some snowy conditions. I'll stay off the unbeatan paths/trails until I get studded up, but on wintry plowed roads with some snow and ice, what would those that have gone before me suggest? I'm on a MTB with 26x1.9 tires for a 20-25 minute commute.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 679
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Besides ice, I've had maybe a couple of times a winter going over packed snow climbing a steeper incline when it would start to spin. Just jump off and push the bike a few steps to clear the problem.
I'm not going to lower the tire pressure and slow down every ride for the sake of avoiding that.
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 628
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Also it runs faster when the conditions are less sloppy. And with the added rolling resistance any decrease in
effort is greatly appreciated.
I just did 20 miles of a practical skating rink yesterday. Saw a few cars do some sideways slides on the street.
The snow was just deep enough to hide the frozen ridges running parallel to me so I had a few moments.
Studs really help in a straight line, but you always have to be cautious on the turns.
The thing that really gets me are the bicycle couriers up here that ride in the winter. They ride on 19-23mm 100+ psi tires
and i don't get how they stay up. But they rely on the hi psi to "get to the ground" for the traction.
Last edited by gbg; 01-15-12 at 09:47 PM.