REVIEW - NOKIAN MOUNT & GROUND W160 (studded bike tires).
Last year around this time, I realized that I would need to get studded tires if I wanted to avoid pain and injury during my daily winter commute. It's not the snow (studs don't help much with snow)... it's the ice. Bike paths in our area are plowed but not salted in the winter, so any remaining snow melts down during warm/sunny days and then freezes into ice at night. Without any sand or salt to provide traction, these paths become a hilly, winding ice skating rink.
I'm thrifty by nature, so I went the cheap route last year when choosing my winter tires. I poked around online and found the Innova Tundra Wolf (110 studs). I was able to pick them up from Bike Tires Direct for about $25 each. My initial excitement upon receiving them was quickly tempered after my first ride around the parking lot. These tires are HEAVY (1060 grams)! To top it off, the aggessive tread pattern made it feel like riding in sand - the rolling resistance was brutal. I literally had to pedal down hills! I tried inflating them to max pressure (around 65 psi), and that helped. Anyway, the tires themselves were effective on ice and snow - so that part was fine. However, I noticed the effectiveness on ice decreasing throughout the winter and into early spring. That is because riding them on the asphalt each day wore the studs down until all that remained were rounded metal nubs. I found out that you can replace the studs, but I couldn't swallow the idea of throwing more money at these tires ($20 for a bag of 100 studs... but the tires have 110!).
This fall, I shopped around for the best winter commuting tire... not the cheapest. I ended up with the Nokian Mount & Ground W160 studded tire (160 studs). You can find them online for about $50 each (plus shipping), but I decided to support my local bike shop and paid $65 each (mounted free). I've been riding them for about a month, and I'm pretty satisfied so far. They weigh just 850 grams... about 20% less than my old Innova tires. The tread pattern is not as aggressive as my old Innova tires, but they roll much better on dry road. The only disappointment so far has been the tires' performance in packed snow and slushy road slop - the stuff you have to deal with for a day or two after a snowstorm. As much as I disliked my old Innova tires for being slow and heavy, they really cut through road slop and seemed to be able to find the road through 2-3 inches of packed snow. Not so with my Nokians. I've found them to be very sketchy on packed snow and slush. I'm speculating that I actually chose the wrong Nokian studded tires for my needs. I was going to get the Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 (106 studs), but I thought the W160 would do a better job in snow/slush. However, I think that the tread profile of the W106 would do a better job cutting through road slush and packed snow - allowing the studs to contact the asphalt beneath. The W106 is also a lighter tire (820 grams) and has even better rolling resistance than my W160s.
A big plus for either Nokian tire, which I have yet to confirm from my own experience, is that the Nokian studs last for many seasons. The studs on my Innova tires were toast after less than one season. The bike shop owner I talked to (who has W160s on his winter ride) said that he has SEVEN seasons on his tires, and they still bite into ice! So, overall I can recommend the Nokian Mount & Ground W160 studded tires for bike commuters, but I would advise you to check into the Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106. It may be a better choice for commuters who primarily ride on asphalt.
Here is the manufacturer's site for the Nokian tires:
Last year around this time, I realized that I would need to get studded tires if I wanted to avoid pain and injury during my daily winter commute. It's not the snow (studs don't help much with snow)... it's the ice. Bike paths in our area are plowed but not salted in the winter, so any remaining snow melts down during warm/sunny days and then freezes into ice at night. Without any sand or salt to provide traction, these paths become a hilly, winding ice skating rink.
I'm thrifty by nature, so I went the cheap route last year when choosing my winter tires. I poked around online and found the Innova Tundra Wolf (110 studs). I was able to pick them up from Bike Tires Direct for about $25 each. My initial excitement upon receiving them was quickly tempered after my first ride around the parking lot. These tires are HEAVY (1060 grams)! To top it off, the aggessive tread pattern made it feel like riding in sand - the rolling resistance was brutal. I literally had to pedal down hills! I tried inflating them to max pressure (around 65 psi), and that helped. Anyway, the tires themselves were effective on ice and snow - so that part was fine. However, I noticed the effectiveness on ice decreasing throughout the winter and into early spring. That is because riding them on the asphalt each day wore the studs down until all that remained were rounded metal nubs. I found out that you can replace the studs, but I couldn't swallow the idea of throwing more money at these tires ($20 for a bag of 100 studs... but the tires have 110!).
This fall, I shopped around for the best winter commuting tire... not the cheapest. I ended up with the Nokian Mount & Ground W160 studded tire (160 studs). You can find them online for about $50 each (plus shipping), but I decided to support my local bike shop and paid $65 each (mounted free). I've been riding them for about a month, and I'm pretty satisfied so far. They weigh just 850 grams... about 20% less than my old Innova tires. The tread pattern is not as aggressive as my old Innova tires, but they roll much better on dry road. The only disappointment so far has been the tires' performance in packed snow and slushy road slop - the stuff you have to deal with for a day or two after a snowstorm. As much as I disliked my old Innova tires for being slow and heavy, they really cut through road slop and seemed to be able to find the road through 2-3 inches of packed snow. Not so with my Nokians. I've found them to be very sketchy on packed snow and slush. I'm speculating that I actually chose the wrong Nokian studded tires for my needs. I was going to get the Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 (106 studs), but I thought the W160 would do a better job in snow/slush. However, I think that the tread profile of the W106 would do a better job cutting through road slush and packed snow - allowing the studs to contact the asphalt beneath. The W106 is also a lighter tire (820 grams) and has even better rolling resistance than my W160s.
A big plus for either Nokian tire, which I have yet to confirm from my own experience, is that the Nokian studs last for many seasons. The studs on my Innova tires were toast after less than one season. The bike shop owner I talked to (who has W160s on his winter ride) said that he has SEVEN seasons on his tires, and they still bite into ice! So, overall I can recommend the Nokian Mount & Ground W160 studded tires for bike commuters, but I would advise you to check into the Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106. It may be a better choice for commuters who primarily ride on asphalt.
Here is the manufacturer's site for the Nokian tires:
http://www.suomityres.com/winter.html
MORNING RIDE (6 miles)
MORNING RIDE (6 miles)
Temperature: 29 degrees F
Skies: Cloudy
Bike Path Conditions: Mostly clear, some remaining icy patches.
Road Conditions: Clear roads, and plenty of shoulder to the right of the white fog line.
Road Conditions: Clear roads, and plenty of shoulder to the right of the white fog line.
EVENING RIDE (6 miles)
Temperature: 31 degrees F
Skies: Snowing pretty hard... big wet flakes
Bike Path Conditions: 2-3" of fresh snow - lots of fun! The remaining snow and ice from last week's snows was cleaned up, and riding on fresh snow on top of asphalt is a breeze with these tires.
Road Conditions: A little scary. I was fine and was able to stay in the bike lane, but cars were sliding. I stayed in the painted bike lane for the 2-mile stretch where I have to share the road, but a painted line won't stop a car from sliding into you! It was a relief to get on the bike path.
1 comment:
"The W106 is also a lighter tire (820 grams) and has even better rolling resistance than my W160s."
Are you sure that the W106 has a better rolling resistance. My (visual) impression is that you can ride with a unflated W160 on the bar without studs http://www.suomityres.fi/w160.html but you have to ride with the W160 always on studs because they are more central aligned http://www.suomityres.fi/w106.html
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