Ice Riding and Studs

[RedCanny]

Thus far I have been a wuss regarding cycling during the winter here. But I do have a coworker who rides his bike to work every single day-which is quite a feat, in Minnesota. He has made his own studded tires, but has been happier with the Nashbar ones he has bought. I think there's only one studded tire in the catalog there, so they shouldn't be hard to find.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Neil Gunton posted a review of Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 Studded Winter Tires on crazyguyonabike.com. He's using them for commuting, which admittedly is different from your planned use, but just in case you're interested in his review you can find it at:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/revie...ssage_id=41509

[SheFly]

Hey Telegirl - what are you currently using for studded tires? I am using Nokian Extremes (2.1 tire with 296 studs - $70/tire), and ride trails, frozen bridges, and ponds with no problem. The most extreme, however, are called Freddy's Revenge - a 2.3 tire with 336 carbid-tipped studs. These will, however, set you back $100 each .

The best for overall riding (as Denise mentioned) are the Hakka (2.1 tire with 300 studs) - these will run you $90/tire. These are close to the weight of a normal tire. The downside, however, is that the casing is not as heavy.

I have had my Extremes for 6 years, and haven't had an issue riding anything with them...

bikeman.com is a great place and has most of these in stock (they're in Maine).

SheFly

[telegirl]

Hubby is using the Nokian Extremes (294), and I have the Nokian 160s. They work great on the flats, on the dirt roads, etc., but they just don't have the grip on the trails- Hubby tried to ride again yesterday and just slid all over the place. And I just haven't seen any tires that have the longer studs, unless they are homemade. Maybe I just need to make my own tires... which could add a level of entertainment to my miserable, lack of snow winter.