Author Topic: when do you fit your studs?  (Read 2953 times)

when do you fit your studs?
« on: 20 December, 2019, 10:08:43 pm »
Do you leave your winter studs on for the duration of the season or swap tyres as required?

Having just picked up a barely used set of Marathon Winters from a work colleague I've been wondering whether I should fit them now and leave them on for the remainder of the winter or fit them only when expecting a hard frost.

Given that I'm up in Newcastle and leaving the house at 06:30 icy conditions aren't that uncommon, on that basis I leaning towards leaving them on.  Just curious as to what others do.



 

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #1 on: 20 December, 2019, 10:57:20 pm »
I had a spare set of wheels for mine but even that is a bit of a faff.

New commuting bike has thinner wheels and I did buy some of the 700x30c Marathon Winter tyres but I don't have a spare set of wheels for them, haven't investigated whether I can get by with the existing spare rims. It also means I need to fashion a Shimano dynohub to spade connector converter for the dynamo lights (new bike is using an old SON dynohub wheel).

I'm only cycling one day a week at the moment anyway so I'd probably just get the train instead and go for a run to replace the lost exercise.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Kim

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #2 on: 20 December, 2019, 10:58:35 pm »
Since I got a mountain bike, the studs go on that.

quixoticgeek

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #3 on: 21 December, 2019, 09:53:16 am »

The ideal option is a second bike, have that all dressed up with studs ready to go. Alternatively next best is the spare wheels.

The first season I ran studs, I did put them on when the first frost was forecast and left them on til March. But that was because we had ice every week or 2, and it would have been a lot of faff. You need to run them in for 40km before the ice starts, tho as you have already got yours part worn, that shouldn't be a concern.

If you fit them now, you can pump them up to max pressure and they won't be too draggy or too noisy, just remember to drop the pressure when the ice arrives.

Oh, and don't wheel your bike over a wooden floor...

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #4 on: 21 December, 2019, 11:56:30 am »
About now, front wheel only. My cycling is rural in NE Scotland and I could easly come round a corner or down a dip  onto an ice patch.
I'm getting too old to risk an off.

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #5 on: 21 December, 2019, 12:34:35 pm »
I'm about to fit mine onto a spare set of wheels. They're Marathon Winters, although I ran Ice Spikers one year. Those were LOUD, no need for a bell! I want to know that, whatever the weather, I can handle ice, be it visible or black. I'm just recovering from an off (2 broken ribs and a shoulder muscle tear) so don't want a repeat any time soon.
Haggerty F, Haggerty R, Tomkins, Noble, Carrick, Robson, Crapper, Dewhurst, Macintyre, Treadmore, Davitt.

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #6 on: 21 December, 2019, 01:25:06 pm »
Mine are fitted on a spare bike which I only use for local journeys. Like quixoticgeek I put in maximum pressure and only lower the pressure when it is obviously icy conditions.
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mattc

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #7 on: 21 December, 2019, 01:26:29 pm »

The ideal option is a second bike, have that all dressed up with studs ready to go. Alternatively next best is the spare wheels.

I'd go with that. UK winters are so up-and-down now (at least in the South!). You can get reeeeeally cheap wheels now that are unfancy but reliable .

My commute is semi-rural, but I managed it all last year without the studs. Probably a few days the previous winter.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Kim

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #8 on: 21 December, 2019, 01:37:07 pm »
If you fit them now, you can pump them up to max pressure and they won't be too draggy or too noisy, just remember to drop the pressure when the ice arrives.

Applies to Marathon Winters, and presumably Winters, but Ice Spikers are still pretty bad drag-wise even at full pressure.  They're also a lot less grippy on rock than you might expect.  (This knowledge brought to you by last year's winter hostelling weekend.)

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #9 on: 21 December, 2019, 01:45:36 pm »

Oh, and don't wheel your bike over a wooden floor...

J

That sounds like something learnt from experience.
 
I think that I'll probably fit the Marathon Winters to the Surly LHT and leave them on for the rest of the winter.  Though I always use the Surly for communing and general utility work I could always use the Thorn Audax instead on those days when I really don't need the studs, I'll just have to fit a rack first.

If it were not for the fact that the Surly has got a set of Rohloff/SON wheels I'd run it with two sets of wheels as some have suggested, however a second set of those wheels would be a tad extravagant.     

quixoticgeek

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #10 on: 21 December, 2019, 01:50:14 pm »

That sounds like something learnt from experience.

No, just physics.

I have a pair of kahtoona nano spikes that I fit to my shoes so I can put my feet down on the ice. Or if not riding, use them to walk to the station. Great on the ice, great on tarmac, on the shiny tile floor of the station when running for the train. Physics knowledge forgotten, as I lay on the floor staring at the ceiling...

Quote
I think that I'll probably fit the Marathon Winters to the Surly LHT and leave them on for the rest of the winter.  Though I always use the Surly for communing and general utility work I could always use the Thorn Audax instead on those days when I really don't need the studs, I'll just have to fit a rack first.

If it were not for the fact that the Surly has got a set of Rohloff/SON wheels I'd run it with two sets of wheels as some have suggested, however a second set of those wheels would be a tad extravagant.   

Yeah, for the price of a new rear wheel, you could get a half descent hybrid as a winter bike...

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #11 on: 21 December, 2019, 05:33:55 pm »
The concrete floor outside my office still bears the marks from my Ice Spikers 2 years after I last used them.
Haggerty F, Haggerty R, Tomkins, Noble, Carrick, Robson, Crapper, Dewhurst, Macintyre, Treadmore, Davitt.

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #12 on: 24 December, 2019, 10:46:46 pm »
I vary. When I really plan to train through the winter ❄️I put them on and leave them on.

This winter I am commuting 3 days a week on back roads leaving at 06:15 in the morning. The spikes went on last week and will stay on until at least end of February and probably March for safety.

The extra work adds to the training and I do not have to worry about an off. I am doing about 20 I’m in each direction.

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #13 on: 31 December, 2019, 04:07:30 pm »
You need to run them in for 40km before the ice starts

Never bothered with that for either set I've had.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Chris S

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #14 on: 31 December, 2019, 04:25:54 pm »
You need to run them in for 40km before the ice starts

Never bothered with that for either set I've had.

I never really understood the need for it.

vorsprung

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #15 on: 31 December, 2019, 04:29:30 pm »
Do you leave your winter studs on for the duration of the season or swap tyres as required?


I leave them on.

Last two years I haven't needed them.  My commute is short and on (mainly) major roads and I live in Devon

If you are riding on a dry-ish road and brake hard you get sparks!

Basil

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #16 on: 31 December, 2019, 05:00:10 pm »
I had an old dawes that was the snow bike. It was never used for anything else other than snow or ice commutes, so the tyres stayed on permanently.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Wowbagger

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #17 on: 31 December, 2019, 06:59:40 pm »
When it snows. Which, mostly, it doesn't.
Quote from: Dez
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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #18 on: 02 January, 2020, 12:37:54 am »
Like quixoticgeek and mattc said, a second bike. In my case, an ancient (1993) rigid MTB frame with Shimano hub dynamo, fenders and a rear rack. When I lived in the mountains I used this setup almost constantly from late October until late April. Now that I live in the flatlands, I use it maybe 3 or 4 times in a winter.

Chris S

Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #19 on: 03 January, 2020, 05:44:22 pm »
I put the winter tyres on fboab's secondary commuter last night. I see there are some impressive maxima appearing in next week's forecasts; possible +16c on Tuesday.

You're welcome.

FifeingEejit

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #20 on: 03 January, 2020, 06:06:11 pm »
2 real options:

1) Fit them to you wheels and ride them
2) Fastidiously study the weather forecast before each ride, looking for overnight temperatures below 3C on your route and fitting them when you see that ice is a possibility.

1 is most sensible if you ride regularly or at short notice
2 is more appropriate if you have the time to think about it before a ride.

mattc

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Re: when do you fit your studs?
« Reply #21 on: 04 January, 2020, 08:27:27 am »
I put the winter tyres on fboab's secondary commuter last night. I see there are some impressive maxima appearing in next week's forecasts; possible +16c on Tuesday.

You're welcome.
;D

It's a Christmas Miracle!
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles