With a 4 to 5 month winter season in Edmonton I've considered studded tires for a long time, but been put off by the price. Nokian http://www.bikemag.com/gear/accessories/030506_nokian/and Schwalbe tires retail $100-140 each; $200-300 for just a set of tires! Ouch!!! That's more than I paid for the bike. http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14225
Recently I found some much less expensive studded Kenda tireshttp://www.kendausa.com/bicycle/studded.html. There are three different widths and I've them in stores from $50-65.
Edit Jan 28: Chrisvw pointed out that Nashbar has studded tires from $35-40 that look identical to the Kenda in the picture above. A review: http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/nstud.htm
I was lucky to buy near new medium (1.9") wide Kendas for $30 each. Bought locally from someone who upgraded to the expensive Schwalbes. Got them mounted last night, and took the first ride to school this morning. Some impressions:
The tires are heavy at 1kg each! (replacing a 400g front and 600g rear tire I added 1kg to the bike weight)
The studded tires certainly improve traction and stopping, but subjectively they seem less grippy than the studded tires on the wife's car. I will try with different inflatation to see if it makes a difference. Now I have them inflated low in the front so 6-8 studs make contact on flat ground, and a bit higher in the rear with maybe 4-6 studs in contact. Reason is that my bike starts fishtailing if rear pressure is too low.
Biking on the bike paths and plowed roads is now much more doable. Unplowed roads where the cars have compacted and made deep ruts in the snow are still a challenge.
Rolling resistance is up a lot. Early in the winter I first thought that the bike felt lethargic, and noticed battery capacity was down due to the cold (see other post). Lately I have brought the bike inside to start out with warm batteries, and even with fresh batteries putting out 2kW per cycleanalyst, acceleration feels a lot slower than in the summer. So I'm thinking higher rolling resistance due to tires and snow is a main factor.
My energy use is now 30Wh/km compared to 16Wh/km in the summer.
Local wisdom on the tires are that the Nokian and Schwalbe have even higher rolling resistance. The main difference is that the Kenda medium tires I got have a stud free middle ridge, see image above. The Kenda wide, Nokian and Schwalbe I saw don't have a middle ridge at all, but are knobbies with studs everywhere.
B.t.w. Cycle analyst seems to work down to around -10C but not at -20C.
Recently I found some much less expensive studded Kenda tireshttp://www.kendausa.com/bicycle/studded.html. There are three different widths and I've them in stores from $50-65.
Edit Jan 28: Chrisvw pointed out that Nashbar has studded tires from $35-40 that look identical to the Kenda in the picture above. A review: http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/nstud.htm
I was lucky to buy near new medium (1.9") wide Kendas for $30 each. Bought locally from someone who upgraded to the expensive Schwalbes. Got them mounted last night, and took the first ride to school this morning. Some impressions:
The tires are heavy at 1kg each! (replacing a 400g front and 600g rear tire I added 1kg to the bike weight)
The studded tires certainly improve traction and stopping, but subjectively they seem less grippy than the studded tires on the wife's car. I will try with different inflatation to see if it makes a difference. Now I have them inflated low in the front so 6-8 studs make contact on flat ground, and a bit higher in the rear with maybe 4-6 studs in contact. Reason is that my bike starts fishtailing if rear pressure is too low.
Biking on the bike paths and plowed roads is now much more doable. Unplowed roads where the cars have compacted and made deep ruts in the snow are still a challenge.
Rolling resistance is up a lot. Early in the winter I first thought that the bike felt lethargic, and noticed battery capacity was down due to the cold (see other post). Lately I have brought the bike inside to start out with warm batteries, and even with fresh batteries putting out 2kW per cycleanalyst, acceleration feels a lot slower than in the summer. So I'm thinking higher rolling resistance due to tires and snow is a main factor.
My energy use is now 30Wh/km compared to 16Wh/km in the summer.
Local wisdom on the tires are that the Nokian and Schwalbe have even higher rolling resistance. The main difference is that the Kenda medium tires I got have a stud free middle ridge, see image above. The Kenda wide, Nokian and Schwalbe I saw don't have a middle ridge at all, but are knobbies with studs everywhere.
B.t.w. Cycle analyst seems to work down to around -10C but not at -20C.