Winter studded tyres

[Kim]

I have enough bruises to convince me that studded tyres are a profoundly silly idea, unless of course they come with a trike to fit them to, in which case bring it on...

[Jules]

A quick heads-up.  Clas Ohlson - the swedish shop - has metal spiked  tyres in stock in their Kingston-upon-Thames branch. Just what we need to get us through the vicious winters in SW London. The brand in "Innova".

Not sure if that means anything because according the shelf they also have tyres made by Nokia. Presumably these call home autonomously when you get a puncture.

[Greenbank]

Sure they aren't Nokian?

[clarion]

They are from a town called Nokia, and I think they were formerly known as Nokia till the parts of the company separated.

[Oaky]

Sure they aren't Nokian?

I'm sure they are ... and I'm guessing julesh knows this, but the shopkeeper doesn't.

...

Not sure if that means anything because according the shelf they also have tyres made by Nokia. ...

[Jules]

They didn't have any in stock I'm assuming they mean Nokian.

[Adrian]

They didn't have any in stock I'm assuming they mean Nokian.

They have Innova written on them, cost £29.99 and are available 559x50, 622X 45 and 622x37 (I think). As to whether they are any good or not..............................

[Jules]

Which branch did you look in? There was a good stock of Innova in Kingston but no Nokia(n)s last week

As for quality I'd never seen a studded tyre before so don't know what they are supposed to look like. As previous discussions here seemed to involved assorted people threading wood screws through the tread to make their own I was expected to be something a bit more vicious than the odd blunt 5mm metal spike anyway.

YM(before falling off and breaking your hip on a sheet of ice)MV

[Flying_Monkey]

There are many different types with varying numbers of studs. My experience in the UK was that I never even thought about needing them (mind you, I've only had 3 offs in my life and two of them were down to black ice, but that was when I was living out in the sticks).

The people who make their own with screws etc. are usually living in places like Manitoba where it gets down to -40 in the winter for 5 months of the year and there is permanent thick ice on the ground during this time. Where I live in Ontario, it only gets down to -25 in the winter, and most of the time it's more like -15, and the ice it sporadic and variable - mind you I can ride on the lake with my studded tires!

FWIW, I bought the Innova ones first and they were crap: really difficult to fit and the bead sheared off from the rest of the tyre, plus the studs rusted really quickly. The Nokian ones are the dog's bollocks. I use Hakkapeliitta W240s. Schwalbe are also really good. You have to remember to ride them in for 25 miles on ordinary uniced paved road before they bed in properly... a lot of people forget and wonder why they don't seem to 'work'

[Adrian]

Which branch did you look in? There was a good stock of Innova in Kingston but no Nokia(n)s last week

As for quality I'd never seen a studded tyre before so don't know what they are supposed to look like. As previous discussions here seemed to involved assorted people threading wood screws through the tread to make their own I was expected to be something a bit more vicious than the odd blunt 5mm metal spike anyway.

YM(before falling off and breaking your hip on a sheet of ice)MV

That was in Croydon. I looked in the catalogue which showed Nokian tyres and Innova tyres, but not Nokian ice tyres to the best of my knowledge.

[resus1uk]

I have just got a Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyre with the full rows of spikes across the tyre width.

I used two snow tyres with spikes last year on my winter bike. These have spikes on the edges only. Good, until I had to stop & put both feet down  on ice, then I fell over.

At my age I can't risk a broken hip, so the new tyre goes onto the drive wheel of my winter trike & the two snow tyres are split between the front wheel & the idler wheel.

The trike is an Cyclone conversion with a Longstaff axle based on an MTB, originally fifty quid off Ebay.

Spa were insistant that I understood the need to run for at least 25 miles on dry tarmac. The noise is awesome! Bring on the ice.

[citoyen]

Spa were insistant that I understood the need to run for at least 25 miles on dry tarmac.

Can you explain why this is?

It's because FM mentioned it already that I've decided to fit my winter tyres now (did it this morning, in fact) specifically for the purpose of running them in, but I have to admit I don't understand why it needs to be done.

Is it OK to have them at full pressure while running them in? Or do I need to run them at lower pressure to ensure the spikes make contact with the road?

d.

[TimO]

As I understand it, it's purely to make sure that all the studs are well seated in the tyre, before exerting any force on them which is likely to cause a stud to come out.

[vorsprung]

hmm

We had no trouble picking a load of sloes the size of olives a couple of weeks ago
The yew bushes outside the window are covered in red dots

It is going to be a cold winter.  The question is will it be a snowy/icey winter?

[rusky]

I can't decide if I really need studded tyres. If it snpws I'll commute on the mtb with chunky knobblies & lower pressure.

[mattc]

Some bbc science bird said the other day that last winter was a 1-in-20-years job. So we probably won't get a similar one 'soon'.

Depends where you live - some of you see a lot of ice even in 'mild' winters. It's only money ... 

[citoyen]

Whether it's a harsh winter or a mild one, it only takes one small patch of ice to cause a fall that could see you out of action for months...

d.

[mattc]

In which case noone in England will ride without studs from now until at least May (forecast was 0'c in the SE last night). You have to decide a compromise at some point.

[Not that I'm fond of taking chances any more, I should stress. ]

[citoyen]

I'm definitely leaning towards erring on the side of caution at the moment. Experiences of recent winters past have made me very nervous when there's the possibility of ice. Possibly more nervous than I need to be, I admit.

d.

[drossall]

I bought some Marathon Winters last year, but failed to fit them to my SJS-training-frame fixed. There just isn't enough room.

This year I'm building an On-One

[Mrs Pingu]

Bollox, fannied about too long to get them from Wiggle, and Spa phoned me today to say they'd 'just sold out' (why didn't you tell me that yesterday? probably cos you sold them to someone in the shop instead).
Arse.

[TimO]

Chain Reaction have the "Schwalbe Snow Stud Tyre", which isn't the same as the Marathon Winters, but is a studded tyre.  They don't have any in 26", but they do in 29" (ie 700C for MTBers).

Alternatively, Bike Componets (.de) have them in stock, in several sizes, but obviously due to the greater distance involved and currency conversion, it's likely to cost you more.

[Mrs Pingu]

Woo, my google-fu worked, 3rd time lucky. Managed to get some at a place called Bike24.com, also in Germany, cos I needed 26". €72 incl shipping. I shall go to the ice ball! And I can see on DHL they're already on their way

[TimO]

I think companies in many of the continental countries more easily have them in stock, since snow and ice is a more reliable occurrence for them, so they know they'll have the demand.

[Mrs Pingu]

I think companies in many of the continental countries more easily have them in stock, since snow and ice is a more reliable occurrence for them, so they know they'll have the demand.

That's what I figured. I was surprised not to see any at Rose Versand though.