front braking are you insane!
Just put the knobblies back on my MTB today and fettled the brakes and gears so everything is working tickety boo. On the test run up and down my street on compacted snow I found the grip levels surprising. In fact I got so much grip that I could do emergency stops ending in an Endo. I am sure to come undone when I inadvertantly catch a frozen patch!!!!
When I first rode on the knobblies I thought my headset had seized as the effort taken to turn was enormous. It took me a while to work out that the problem was the grip from the Panaracer Fire XC Pro tyres. After using slicks for at least the last 6 months it was a shock going back to something chunky.
I nipped out to do an errand about half a mile each way and the worst part of riding on the snow was where the compacted snow was beginning to break up. The granulated consistency was just like riding on loose sand, not fun at all.