I am sitting in my warm living room enjoying coffee from my French press and looking for any reason at all to delay going outside to clear the driveway. Yeah, the fierce white stuff hit yesterday afternoon and last night the roads were mayhem. It rained, it snowed/sleeted, then rained again--a shovel full of snow weighs as much as a Hummer (Yes, I frequently lift Hummers). Unfortunately, I was driving my car rather than riding my bike. My excuse is that I had not installed my bike's studded tires yet--but this will happen today.
If you plan to ride when the temperature is freezing and below, combined with any moisture that has frozen on your route, you must have studded tires on your bike. There is no tire tread pattern that will adhere to ice--believe me, you will go down hard. Ice causes an amazingly quick fall, as if your wheels have been blown out from under you by a 100 mph wind gust. Of all the bike-related products, studded tires have the biggest "wow" factor of all. You will call all of your friends and demand they watch as you flawlessly traverse nasty patches of ice.
The studs add to the experience of your caloric consumption. In other words, they make it harder to pedal due to the added friction. However, when you are not riding on ice, your traction is not impeded by the studs and you will ride with reduced stress knowing that you may plunge over the ice patch ahead.
Kiddles offers several brands of studded tires and I will work with you to determine which width to use on your ride. It is important for safety reasons that we allow good clearance beyond your tires. You should consider fitting fenders too. Cold, freezing slush is not comfortable on the buttocks.
Don't stop riding!
If you plan to ride when the temperature is freezing and below, combined with any moisture that has frozen on your route, you must have studded tires on your bike. There is no tire tread pattern that will adhere to ice--believe me, you will go down hard. Ice causes an amazingly quick fall, as if your wheels have been blown out from under you by a 100 mph wind gust. Of all the bike-related products, studded tires have the biggest "wow" factor of all. You will call all of your friends and demand they watch as you flawlessly traverse nasty patches of ice.
The studs add to the experience of your caloric consumption. In other words, they make it harder to pedal due to the added friction. However, when you are not riding on ice, your traction is not impeded by the studs and you will ride with reduced stress knowing that you may plunge over the ice patch ahead.
Kiddles offers several brands of studded tires and I will work with you to determine which width to use on your ride. It is important for safety reasons that we allow good clearance beyond your tires. You should consider fitting fenders too. Cold, freezing slush is not comfortable on the buttocks.
Don't stop riding!
No comments:
Post a Comment