Cycling UK Forum

ersakus wrote:got mine from Bike 24/Germany. Fast and same price (or cheaper) as UK shops.

Me too! Very good service.

Ersakus is also right about the clearances - on my bike, (700c) with Marathon Winters, I found that I needed to make adjustments to my mudguards to stop the studs twanging - to be frank, the clearances are now dangerously close, and I really really must fit the breakaway clips I bought for the front.

Not too bad on dry roads when pumped up to 80psi - noise is, erm . . . interesting, much like riding on a gravel drive.

The year before last, my neighbour came off his bike on ice, broke a couple of bones in his foot, then developed a DVT and nearly died.

Last year I came off on black ice, landed hard on my coccyx and couldn't sit down comfortably for a couple of months.

I am being very wary this year and once we get to proper ice rather than just thick frost and icy puddles, I will be resting my bike for the winter and renewing my bus pass.

meic wrote:Yes look at Spa* cycles or one of the German sites.

So a rare and unusual thing in Britain then. Explains why I've never seen one.

For me it was never an issue until 2 years ago when the council stopped salting my road. They didn't knowingly stop, mind: they were apparently unaware that they were salting my road....

I ticked "Yes - I take my chances on normal tyres".

I don't commute any more, but I based my answer on when I did.

All of my commute was on main/big roads, so they were gritted. I did, however, come off once but no damage to speak of. Other than that, all I had to do was wrap up warm.

I commuted on Christmas Day once when I was duty. Absolutely deserted of traffic at 07:30! Probably the best commute of all!

I commute summer and winter, shorts mostly except for exceptional days (though this year there was a -9 when I wore shorts... not too bad really) and no special tyres.

Only had one off in 23 years due to ice which could have resulted in the loss of an eye but luckily I had a rotational injury inducing device on and so it stopped the progress of my glasses into my eye socket by preventing my head from continuing its downward journey to the asphalt - that was 15 years ago...

B.

Having just ticked option two " take my chances on normal tyres", my luck ran out on monday morning (two days ago). Took a tumble when I lost the front wheel without warning.
My attempts to right myself and recover the bike probably looked quite comical.
I've only just recovered sufficient movement in my wrists to type!
Still bruised and battered but back on the mountainbike for my eight mile commute tomorrow. Think I'll be resting my beloved 73 Claud tThankfully saved serious damage by the bar tape and my trusty carradice saddlebag)until the clocks change back.

Re my earlier post. Apologies. I know monday was only YESTERDAY. Clearly too much daytime TV has addled my brain.

I don't mind riding in zero temperatures or below zero conditions, but I wouldn't ride on icy roads. Apart from the obvious danger from my own bike, there is an increased danger of cars sliding into you - that happened to me once as a car slid down the hill - but I was in my own car at the time!

It pays to know the difference between frost, ice, black ice, slush, snow, hard packed snow, frozen slush!

I have Nokian Hakka W106 tyres, ordered from bike-components.de - I use them all the time over the winter. Yes they are slower than the 700x23 slicks in summer but not too bad. My regular 16 mile run takes 1h15 rather than 1h5.

iviehoff wrote:I've just looked on St Johns St Cycles website, and of about 90 varieties of 700C tyre, not a single one is decorated with the word "stud" or "studded". Indeed, I searched their whole website for "studded" and got "not found". Same on Wiggle. So do SJSC and Wiggle not sell these, or do I need another clue to be able to recognise a "studded tyre"?

Try these on Wiggle "Schwalbe Marathon Winter Performance Rigid Road Tyre" - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-marathon-winter-performance-rigid-road-tyre/ - Not a mention of stud anywhere but one use pf "spike"

I cycle to get and stay fit, so any risk of falling and injury from ice is counter to all the reasons why I ride.

Lycra Man




In winter, should I become Roubaix Man?

Carried on through the winter on 25's and only changed the tyres back to the original Specialized Houffalize in 32s for the day of 3" snow in Bristol and ran them at 20psi which was OK in the snow but had to pump them up when the boss sent us home 2 hours later. Only came a cropper at 5 mph on an icy cobbled corner the once.

I never saw the original poll so didn't get a chance to vote. Where was it?

I commute all year and currently have Schwalbe land Cruisers on. They coped ok with the snow last year. I've never tried studded tyres, I can only think of two days when they might have made a difference. I'm not going to invest in studded tyres this year as I will be someplace hot and sandy from mid December to Mid February.

Edit: Having revisited the thread I was given the chance to vote this time. Probably some glitch in the low tech computer system at work.

I am quite happy riding on the Nokian studded tyres all winter. They were not too expensive, they are very good quality tyres, and I rekoned if I got un-studded winter tyres (or even kept on with my summer tyres) I'm only wearing out one set at once - so the overall cost is not an issue. Oh and they are not wearing perceptibly after one season of use. They are really good tyres for all kinds of use, they have a solid ridge down the middle meaning they go quite well on dry tarmac, and they feather off into chunky edges so you can pull up muddy banks or corner on slippy autumn leaves no problem. And the peace of mind of not having to even think about black ice is just irreplacable (last winter I found a flooded and frozen car park to practice skidding on - I was well impressed with the studded tyres, they really grip the ice quite something, it felt more solid than riding narrow slicks in the rain to be honest.) Just watch out when stopping and putting your feet down!

7_lives_left wrote:In the past I have used an upright bike with regular tyres and I have had the odd low speed (painful) slide. About 12 months ago I bought a trike. Not quite as cost effective as winter tyres but it works apart from the lack of traction on the hills. I end up man hauling the thing with a sling.

Could you add a three wheels option to the poll?

Are there trikes on the market which have the 2 wheels at the front? Would that add to the traction from the rear wheel?