Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve 3po on December 4, 2008 at 5:24am

both Rapid Transit and Village have 'em

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Permalink Reply by Chucko on December 4, 2008 at 5:25am

Thanks!

Steve 3po said:

both Rapid Transit and Village have 'em

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Permalink Reply by Jody on December 5, 2008 at 8:34pm

psst.. I teach bike safety and bike commuting, and ya know what I got on the ice yesterday...?? A broken nose!! I think as long as our dearest Daley continues cutbacks in cleaning the roads, the best winter biking accessory just might be a hockey helmet! After six car-free Chicago years, this was my first major ice spill! It's super tough out there and if you're on ice like that, even studded tires won't save you!


http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1316240,daley-snow-removal-ch...

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Permalink Reply by Chucko on December 6, 2008 at 3:19am

Jody said:

psst.. I teach bike safety and bike commuting, and ya know what I got on the ice yesterday...?? A broken nose!! I think as long as our dearest Daley continues cutbacks in cleaning the roads, the best winter biking accessory just might be a hockey helmet! After six car-free Chicago years, this was my first major ice spill! It's super tough out there and if you're on ice like that, even studded tires won't save you!


http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1316240,daley-snow-removal-ch...

Ouch! Sorry to hear- hope you recover quickly. Luckily I just laid down my bike in the same direction I was going, so I just kind of sat down on the ice and slid a few yards. I know even with the studded tires there's still a chance I can go down, but it certainly improves the odds that I'll be able to stay upright.

And yeah, stupid city budget. There are going to be a lot more accidents this year if they don't start using a bit more salt.

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Permalink Reply by J on December 6, 2008 at 6:47am

We sold quite a few Innovas last year at my shop and will never stock them again. For mixed use commuting on both ice and pavement, they didn't hold up very well. I guess if you only need to ride a few days over the winter and are fairly light weight, and/or can mount them to a spare set of wheels -- these might make sense. But there are drawbacks. One is that due to the lug design, the rolling resistance is really high. The sidewalls are really heavy and stiff, so they can be a nightmare to mount on certain rims. They can pinch flat easily on very narrow rims, like Deep Vs. And the studs don't last as long as some others. But they *are* much less expensive, so they have that going for them. These corner very poorly when you are not on ice.

We sold fewer Nokians, mainly due to price. But the handful that we did sell had no complaints or issues. They're great, if expensive, tires.

A fairly new entry to the market are the Schwalbe studded tires. They don't have as many choices are Nokians and are also fairly expensive ($70ish) but I found for multipurpose riding, these are the best. The rolling resistance and lug design on the Marathon Winter is really quite good. And they don't feel crazy when riding on pavement. The main thing with the Schwalbes is that they take a great all-araound $40 commuting tire and basically add carbide studs and more solid sidewalls whereas the Innovas, Kendas, and Nashbars are budget $10 tires with studs added.

So if you are really committed to ice riding and want some tires that handle well on and off the ice and you would like to use them for more than one season -- there are other options.

References:
http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/tires.htm
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp
http://www.schwalbetires.com/marathon_368

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Permalink Reply by David Travis on December 7, 2008 at 7:22am

Chucko,

Excellent reply and accurate to my experience. The Peter White site is the best for advice on the best winter tires with studs.

This is my third year on the Nokian 700c (35mm) and I test rode them on the lake shore bike path yesterday for 1.5 hours. Excellent on the frozen slush, ice, and hard backed snow that the snow removal trucks missed and the salt hand not started to melt. I had them pumped up to 60 psi so that the center is a better rolling surface. If you lean slightly in one direction or the other you definitely hear and feel the studs come into play - satisfying. The bike path is not a dangerous roadway, I know, but it was a good test. Fortunately, I live near it down south in Obamaland.

Thanks for you informed opinion. It helps us all.

J said:

We sold quite a few Innovas last year at my shop and will never stock them again. For mixed use commuting on both ice and pavement, they didn't hold up very well. I guess if you only need to ride a few days over the winter and are fairly light weight, and/or can mount them to a spare set of wheels -- these might make sense. But there are drawbacks. One is that due to the lug design, the rolling resistance is really high. The sidewalls are really heavy and stiff, so they can be a nightmare to mount on certain rims. They can pinch flat easily on very narrow rims, like Deep Vs. And the studs don't last as long as some others. But they *are* much less expensive, so they have that going for them. These corner very poorly when you are not on ice.

We sold fewer Nokians, mainly due to price. But the handful that we did sell had no complaints or issues. They're great, if expensive, tires.

A fairly new entry to the market are the Schwalbe studded tires. They don't have as many choices are Nokians and are also fairly expensive ($70ish) but I found for multipurpose riding, these are the best. The rolling resistance and lug design on the Marathon Winter is really quite good. And they don't feel crazy when riding on pavement. The main thing with the Schwalbes is that they take a great all-araound $40 commuting tire and basically add carbide studs and more solid sidewalls whereas the Innovas, Kendas, and Nashbars are budget $10 tires with studs added.

So if you are really committed to ice riding and want some tires that handle well on and off the ice and you would like to use them for more than one season -- there are other options.

References:
http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/tires.htm
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp
http://www.schwalbetires.com/marathon_368

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