Studded Tires?

[dbro]

I,m new to mountain biking. I've been out 3 times the past 8 days and would love to keep going though the winter. Are studded tires essential to keep riding through the winter? I appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Dbro

[bike187]

studded tires aren't needed for winter fun. i rode the past 3 winters with regular tires an rims bakes and did ok. studded tires will allow you to go a faster on ice. falling on ice can really hurt. depends on where you ride too. i hear that the cape and conn and RI have spots that don't ice up too much. this year i've gotten a pair of studded tires and disc brakes and plan on riding more often and faster this winter. if you go with reg tires, try to get the widest you can and run then at lower pressure. if you do decide to try studded tires, you can try just the front first and decide if it makes a big enough difference to get one for the rear too. if you do get them, get good qaulity ones like nokians http://www.nokian.com/bike/winter/index.html because they'll be worth the cost cause they'll last long.
a good icebiking site: http://users.rcn.com/icebike/Default.htm

[johnbryanpeters]

Let pain be your guide. I got Nokian Extremes after getting real tired of having a hematoma the size of a baseball in my left cheek - the typical suck trick is you're hauling ass downhill in a few inches of snow. Then a curve and a frozen puddle under the snow will do the trick quite nicely. ::)

J