Studded Tire Recommendations

[Redsars]

I am looking to buy some studded tires so I can continue to ride the local trails and minute bikeway through the winter.

Any recommendations or experience ?

The Nashbar ones are nice and cheap, anyone tried 'em

[GandALF2]

Hey Red,

Come on in the water, errr, ice is fine.

I've not had any experience with the Nashbar studs. I do have a set of Nokian Extremes. Thes puppies are incredibly grippy on the ice. They can be a bit on the pricy side ($90). They are the standard by which all other studded tires are measured though. DO NOT attempt to go cheap by riding your regular tires in the winter. The first patch of ice will take you down faster than you can say "This is gonna hurt"...been there, done that. I also would not recommend the "dirt bag" way by trying to make your own with screws, nails, and summer rubbers. It just ain't worth the effort.

Hope this helps.
Alf

[Redsars]

I was looking at the extremes also.....carbide tips rather than cheap steel studs in the Nashbars....thanks

[hammerhead]

I ran the Nashbars for the past 2 Winters. Probably not as grippy as the Nokians or Swalbes, but they worked well everywhere I took them except 1" of snow over pond ice. The snow packs and slides, don't think anything would help in that situation.

H

[Quo Fan]

I have run a set of Kendas for 2 years now, with no problems. Splat has a set of Nashbars and he said that most of the studs have fallen out, but his set is like 6 years old, and their quality may have improved.

When you get the studded tires, expect for a few of the studs to fall out, that is normal.

[bikerdom]

My favorite is the Nokian Extremes and remember to "seat" the studs for at least ten miles on the road before using them on the trails. This helps keeping the studs in. Also when you buy quality you have to pay. Other good ones are Schwalbe Ice Spiker and Kenda Klondike K1013. If you want to save check out Innova Studded Tire it has replaceable studs. Check out Bikeman in Bath Maine.
http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/c/COMPTRSTUD

[heckler]

I ran the Nashbars for the past 2 Winters. Probably not as grippy as the Nokians or Swalbes, but they worked well everywhere I took them except 1" of snow over pond ice. The snow packs and slides, don't think anything would help in that situation.

H

Very little if anything will work on snow over ice! Unless you cut through the snow down to the ice you are toast.

I remember a friend showing up for work one Monday with a distinct limp and grimace. He had been to Wompi the day before and encountered two inches of snow on top of the ice. He said he went down (with his studs) three times before leaving the parking lot but ventured out anyway. three hours later, and a dozen or so falls he had learned his lesson. The hard way!

[Shodan]

the Nokian 296s have held up well for 2 seasons, I lost 10 studs off the rear last year, so I'll swap it to the front. they dont recommend replacing studs because of puncture potential.

[Redsars]

Thanks for the feedback, a set of Nokia Extremes are on order. The Kendas looked a bit stiff and heavy to me with a less aggressive tread.

[CouchingTiger]

I was looking at the extremes also.....carbide tips rather than cheap steel studs in the Nashbars....thanks

Big problem with the Gnashbar's is that the studs all fall out. I had a set years back and lost like half the studs in no time. I've had the Nokian Extreme's for about 6 years now. They do lose studs also (primarily from riding rocks terrain) but not many. I noticed that Bikeman.com also had a couple other brands that were a bit cheaper and still looked good.

As I find more and more, like everything, the good stuff costs.

-Couch

[mdc]

Here's a link to some studded tire reviews and a "how to" for making your own:

http://www.icebike.com/Equipment/tires.htm

Hope this helps!

[hogboy]

Big problem with the Gnashbar's is that the studs all fall out. I had a set years back and lost like half the studs in no time. I've had the Nokian Extreme's for about 6 years now. They do lose studs also (primarily from riding rocks terrain) but not many. I noticed that Bikeman.com also had a couple other brands that were a bit cheaper and still looked good.

As I find more and more, like everything, the good stuff costs.

-Couch

agreed on teh stud disappeared act...I was cranking along on 4 year old nokians with a friend who had brand new yet cheapo-brand mtb studded tires. after a normal new england ride thru rocks, brush, ice....just a 10 miler....he was missing 8 studs on the front and 33 on the back. I didn't lose any. right now after 5.5 years I think one stud is missing from the rear nokian

[Redsars]

Thanks to the recommendations from you'all I did get the Nokian Extremes and used them for the first time last Sunday.

It was cold, with a fresh light dusting of snow. I was very impressed how well they rolled on normal soil, and how great they coped with the icy bits. I even did a couple of laps on Fawn lake in Bedford, which is now nicely frozen over.

Only downside was on loose sand they washed out a bit, compared to my normal tyres

All I need now is some real winter weather...where is that snow ?