Studs

Thin coat of ice on the roads this morning, but I had no problems, thanks to my Nokian Hakkapeliitta A10 700 x 32 tires on my commuting Trek 620. There's no way of knowing whether studded tires work, of course, but my wife told me that her car was slipping and sliding all over the place. I slipped a little, but mostly I was oblivious to the ice.


I decided that I would rather ride the commuting/touring 620 as much as possible this winter, rather than switching to the studded-tire slush mobile whenever there is the slightest chance of ice, as I have done in the past. I have been reluctant to ride the 620 without studded tires, because you never know when you'll hit a patch of ice. So I took the plunge and bought it studded tires. Now I ride it whenever there isn't deep snow or slush (or serious ice ruts that call for more mountainy tires). So far, so good.

Although these tires are called 32s, they seem significantly fatter than other 32s. (I haven't measured, though.) I bought them at Tree Fort Bikes (online, but they are located an hour down the road in Ypsilanti).