Winter tires

[Melalvai]

My experience has been that if the roads are good enough to drive, they are good enough to bike. Once the plows & salt/sand spreaders have been through, it's usually fine. I like biking when there is visible snow & ice because the motorists are much more cautious and polite.

I don't have special tires for winter. If I lived further north I might but in Missouri the snow & ice doesn't stay around for long.

Good luck, you're going to love winter cycling! You are so hard-core!

[Catrin]

You are so hard-core!

I don't know about hard-core - hard-headed and stubborn - yep

I tend to ride in the country - just don't yet care for urban riding. So I figure the roads out there will be less taken-care of, though I could be wrong. Last winter I was still practicing in parking lots, and later, in my favorite park. I didn't hit the actual road until March.

Thanks for your experience, it is helpful to know. I was unsure if I was over-thinking, as I am sometimes known to do.

[Thorn]

If the roads are wet and slushy....just my usual commuter tires. That covers a lot of winter riding.

But, ice and snow can be a problem for me. When either are in the mix (under snow there can always be ice), I use studded tires. We put studded tires on a couple of old beater hybrids last winter. Best thing I ever did.

Cycling can bring out the kid in you, but never so much as riding fresh snow. There is something about riding when intellectually you think you shouldn't and having a great time doing it, that makes you feel like a 10 year old beating the system.

Also, our bike trail gets sort of plowed in the winter, but what it really means is that it ices up. The studded tires let me ride across the ice without any slippage.