A couple of weeks ago I picked up a couple studded tires, a Schwalbe ice spiker for the front and a Schwalbe snow stud for the rear. They were pretty expensive at $100 and $65 dollars respectively. I'm using my bike to commute to work so I needed something to handle the snow and ice we get here in Southern Ontario. I was concerned about losing studs due to the bike being electric and faster than a regular bike and especially because I tend to ride on sidewalks and up and down curbs a lot.
The roads were mostly clear for the initial 40km break in period. I took it easy and accelerated slowly and limited my top speed so the studs could set in. I haven't given them a full inspection but after two weeks of pretty aggressive riding on roads and sidewalks and I haven't noticed any missing studs. As for their performance they've been great so far. Just today I rode my bike over a long section of 2 inch thick ice that was so slippery I couldn't get enough traction to walk on. It was about a 15 foot section on a path through the park and I cautiously rode right through it and my grip felt pretty solid. We haven't had a really big snow accumulation yet but they've been handling the hard packed snow and ice like champs. Going out on a bad winter day now is fun and I can go out and ride in confidence. They make a bit of a clicking noise as the studs hit the ground on dry roads and take a bit of getting used to. The rolling resistance is pretty evident but the electric takes care of that. One thing I noticed is I don't feel very safe leaning into turns on these tires on dry ground as much as I would with my normal tires so I tend to slow down or make wider turns to keep more upright. Although they were pretty expensive they've been great so far and I highly recommend anyone commuting through snow and ice to get some studded tires the traction is excellent.
The roads were mostly clear for the initial 40km break in period. I took it easy and accelerated slowly and limited my top speed so the studs could set in. I haven't given them a full inspection but after two weeks of pretty aggressive riding on roads and sidewalks and I haven't noticed any missing studs. As for their performance they've been great so far. Just today I rode my bike over a long section of 2 inch thick ice that was so slippery I couldn't get enough traction to walk on. It was about a 15 foot section on a path through the park and I cautiously rode right through it and my grip felt pretty solid. We haven't had a really big snow accumulation yet but they've been handling the hard packed snow and ice like champs. Going out on a bad winter day now is fun and I can go out and ride in confidence. They make a bit of a clicking noise as the studs hit the ground on dry roads and take a bit of getting used to. The rolling resistance is pretty evident but the electric takes care of that. One thing I noticed is I don't feel very safe leaning into turns on these tires on dry ground as much as I would with my normal tires so I tend to slow down or make wider turns to keep more upright. Although they were pretty expensive they've been great so far and I highly recommend anyone commuting through snow and ice to get some studded tires the traction is excellent.
