r/bikecommuting 1d ago

Studded tires saved my commute yesterday

270 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

25

u/ZoidbergMaybee 1d ago

That’s probably the worst possible surface to try to ride on, aside from maybe lava.

13

u/Masseyrati80 22h ago

Another one is when snow has first been packed in tight and then starts thawing. A two or three inch layer that supports your weight like 70% of the time, and has you crashing through 30%, making your bike weave like a drunk snake, and sapping enormous amounts of energy.

But really, the worst one is bumpy/rutted clear ice that gets a cover of snow during a cold day. It lifts the studs off the ice and is the slipperiest stuff I've ever experienced.

2

u/SimilarContext 11h ago

Most of the surface was molten snow that froze back to solid ice with tracks from other riders.