Using studded tyres

[Pat "5mph"]

The more I read in the thread of riders' experiences, the more I think this could be sixty quid well spent.

Mine are in their 4th winter, used at least 3 months straight a year, sometimes more: last year it was icy till the end of March.
Still going strong, never a puncture either.
Very good value for money.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

In theory if you do the embedding of the studs properly you should not lose any, in practice you will.
@fossyant never ever lost any, @potsy lost all his ... I'll let him tell you the story
@Telemark is also a regular user, maybe she will have tips to add, and so is @Rickshaw Phil, he did 100+ miles on studs

Yes, I still have nightmares about that. (not really, but that was easily the hardest century I did last year)

I used Snow Studs last winter which were good on icy tarmac but were a little more skittish on hard-frozen off road routes. Even so they recovered from small slides that plain tyres couldn't have in those conditions. The skittishness with these tyres on lumpy/rutted ice I put down to the lower stud count so I've got some Marathon Winter to try out this time which have double the number so should feel even more secure.

In use the studded tyres are slower and take more effort but this is outweighed by being able to travel at reasonable speed on surfaces you'd have trouble walking on. My most memorable commute last winter was after wet overnight snow had partially melted then refrroze in the morning - something like 8 of the 11 miles to work were sheet ice but the ride only took a few minutes longer than it had the previous day.

Just take care with cornering and braking as already mentioned elsewhere.

Edit: I forgot to add that I lost no studs last winter and the new Marathon Winter have only had the running in ride and one commute so far so too early to tell)

 

[summerdays]

I rode on this without a problem

 

[Hip Priest]

It's important to run them at low pressure on ice. I've made the mistake of going out in the ice with the pressure high and they're nowhere near as effective. There are two sets of pressures on the sidewall - for normal conditions and ice.

 

[mcshroom]

I found out with a singlespeed that standing up to honk up a hill on ice was a bad idea. You need weight on the rear wheel to stop it spinning out.

That was with snow studs. I now have the 30mm Winters which are far less like tractor tyres. They won't be as good in snow, but on Ice last year they were fine.

 

[Siclo]

I've got the Snow Studs and they are superb on ice, good enough to cycle a cross a frozen mountain lake, not that I'm advocating such stupidity but I enjoyed it.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

M winters on my 26" MTB that I'm running in this week here. I've have the same on my 700c wheel bike for a few years and they're good but you still need to be a bit careful, as others say on, bends and slowing down. I've even more sedate and sat up than usual.

They are not a lot of cop on slush and soft snow (I had some Nokian tyres years ago with a deep tread and studs that did better as all rounders) Also you'll find if you're riding on roads that while you're not slipping and sliding as much the big tin boxes are, so you still have to be extra vigilant for someone fishtailing or silently sliding towards your backside aquaplaning on the slushy sludge or ice.

 

[mcshroom]

That's the main advantage of studs for me. My commute is on undulating country back roads. When it gets icy the drivers tend to avoid rat running down the back roads and sit in a big queue on the gritted main road instead. I get the lanes to myself

 

[Pale Rider]

by being able to travel at reasonable speed on surfaces you'd have trouble walking on.

That sounds great, although I wonder if my bike control skills will be up to it.

It would be nice not to be put off the road by conditions like in @summerdays pic - that sort of stuff can hang around for weeks if we get a cold snap.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

That sounds great, although I wonder if my bike control skills will be up to it.

It would be nice not to be put off the road by conditions like in @summerdays pic - that sort of stuff can hang around for weeks if we get a cold snap.

I can confirm that you will be able to ride roads similar to those, enjoy your winter commuting.
Cycling on studs is actually safer than walking when there's ice: I fell as a pedestrian last year, didn't on the bike

 

[mcshroom]

A section of my commute through a farm flooded and then froze in 2011/12. I rode over sheet ice for about 100m every day for about a month. Only time I fell over was when I decided to stop and answer my mobile phone. Foot down and off I slid

 

[Pale Rider]

I can confirm that you will be able to ride roads similar to those, enjoy your winter commuting.
Cycling on studs is actually safer than walking when there's ice: I fell as a pedestrian last year, didn't on the bike

Thanks Pat.

There is a believability hump for me to get over.

In the same vein, before I got back into cycling I thought people of my age couldn't do decent miles on a bike.

I now know that was rubbish.

Lots of non-cyclists think as I did.

When I got a bit lost on my tour to the caravan, I asked a pedestrian for directions to the next town about 15 miles away.

There was a look of disbelief on his face that I planned to cycle the journey.

No point in explaining to him I had already done 25 miles and had a total of another 40 to do.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

That sounds great, although I wonder if my bike control skills will be up to it.

I'm sure they will be. Take it very gently to start with and you'll get a feel for it. The tyres have their limitations so you'll never be able to go everywhere flat out but the important thing is that the wheels won't just go out from under you unexpectedly.

You could think of it as being like riding a country road with a covering of dust or fine gravel on. In a straight line or gentle cornering it'll grip fine but if you lean hard into the corner or brake hard you'll slide

It would be nice not to be put off the road by conditions like in @summerdays pic - that sort of stuff can hang around for weeks if we get a cold snap.

Those are exactly the sort of conditions where studs prove their worth.

 

[summerdays]

The most off putting noise is the sound on Tarmac, you won't be sneaking up on pedestrians or other cyclists!

 

[fossyant]

Never lost any studs. Won't lose any this winter either as I wont be riding a bike for 6 months !