Cycling UK Forum

I came off on Monday ..... all the main roads were fine but then I climbed the last hill before turning onto Farm Road for the final down hill into school. All of a sudden my rear wheel went for a Burton as I trurned right (I took it too sharp to avoid a pedestrian who was wearing ear phones and not looking at traffic - not her fault though, in hindsight I should have let her go before turning).

In the past I have continued to cycle with my normal tyres. If it was icy/snowy, I lowered the pressure and this helped.
Last year, I ended up using pop rivets in a pair of old mountain bike tyres and made my own studded tyres. This improved grip considerably on ice.
This year I want to get a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Winter or Snow Stud tyres for my mountain bike as a winter hack/commuter but I can't find stock anywhere in the UK. I will most probably order from Germany.

John Hunter wrote:I came off on Monday ..... all the main roads were fine but then I climbed the last hill before turning onto Farm Road for the final down hill into school. All of a sudden my rear wheel went for a Burton as I trurned right (I took it too sharp to avoid a pedestrian who was wearing ear phones and not looking at traffic - not her fault though, in hindsight I should have let her go before turning).

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It is all OK riding on ice until you need to do that sharp maneuver or braking. You might be aware and careful but you never know when a sudden stop will be necessary. I had cycled on skinny road tyres on ice/snow for several winters and did not have any serious falls. Having finally ended up in A&E last year made me a believer in studded tyres. Other advantage of studded tyres is, they unexpectedly shortened my commute. I can go faster without worrying about patches of ice or black ice. They work well on other poor surfaces as well such as leave and mud covered tarmac.

One studded tyre on it's way.
My new commute will not be well gritted and involves long hills which are bound to become ice rinks...

Came off twice in one week last winter, early march when the weather turned cold after a very wet weekend. So on Tuesday I changed my route to avoid the potential risk and stuck to busier, gritted roads - worked fine except when I got to the cycle paths of Stevenage where I fell twice (corners, not fast and no damage). Will be putting the genesis with skinny tyres away and back on the Dolan multicross asap; next step is to get some schwalbe marathon 32s for it and avoid riding on icy mornings wherever possible.

Came out after a night shift to find i had a frozen brake, a flat tyre and by the time i had got going again i was cold and my feet went numb and found they had gone an unhealthy colour when i got home 2 lights had packed up.

Just bought two studded tyres from Bike24.de as it seems they are unavailable in 26" size anywhere in the UK right now.

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

Yes, my trike is a tadpole recumbent trike with two wheels at the front, single rear wheel drive (like the picture Trickletreat posted on page 1). I believe you can also get upright tadpole trikes but I have no experience of them. I suspect that having three wheels but only one driven means you get less traction as there is less weight over the single driven wheel. However the steering and braking are excellent. Steering and braking even works in icy conditions so long as you take care not to lock (both) the wheels.

gilesjuk wrote:Just bought two studded tyres from Bike24.de as it seems they are unavailable in 26" size anywhere in the UK right now.

Par for the course - been the same for the runs up to the last two winters.

If someone really wanted to make some beer money they'd buy a whole load of these tyres during the summer and then flog them with a bit of a mark-up round about now!

7_lives_left wrote:

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

Yes, my trike is a tadpole recumbent trike with two wheels at the front, single rear wheel drive (like the picture Trickletreat posted on page 1). I believe you can also get upright tadpole trikes but I have no experience of them. I suspect that having three wheels but only one driven means you get less traction as there is less weight over the single driven wheel. However the steering and braking are excellent. Steering and braking even works in icy conditions so long as you take care not to lock (both) the wheels.

I've only lost traction* once, shortly after overtaking a gritting lorry

I had to push for 30 yards, but the cars behind were really struggling, and couldn't push...

Bob

* Yes I've locked wheels, yes I get wheelspin starting up on a wet hill - but I just sat spinning up the back wheel and wagging the tail on the ice sheet at the top of that hill...

If I had a trike in the snow and ice, then I'd get a bit of rope with a grappling hook on the end...no end of fun then

Si wrote:If I had a trike in the snow and ice, then I'd get a bit of rope with a grappling hook on the end...no end of fun then

For towing people or taking batman style corners?

Oh, batman like corners, don't think I've got the energy to tow people these days.

gilesjuk wrote:Just bought two studded tyres from Bike24.de as it seems they are unavailable in 26" size anywhere in the UK right now.

Mine took 8 days to come the 1,000? miles from Dresden.
They had folded them a bit too sharply and left kinks in the wire bead but I guess it will not do any harm.
I have them on the floor and look at them thinking "Did I really just spend £60 on a pair of BIKE tyres!"
They have plenty of tread but I wonder if the studs will all have come out as the tread wears as they seated in it, or do they stop the tread from wearing?

I can use them tonight as it will be sub zero but nothing that would have put me off riding with the ordinary tyres, so it counts as part of the 25 miles running in but with safety if needed.

running in?

Seriously - they need running in?