Our forecasted "coating to an inch" of snow turned into more like 8" of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. So DH and I went for a night ride on the SS MTBs. That was the hardest 3 miles I've ever done- such wet, heavy, deep snow! When we weren't riding on snow, we were riding on icy, slushy stuff. Either way, hard work. I can, however, vouch for the fact that Shimano winter boots are absolutely awesome- just one pair of socks, no toe warmers, and no liners, and my feet were warm and dry at 30 F in the snow. (Oh, and clipless pedals suck in the snow, but y'all knew that already.)