*awaits the why are you asking stupid questions like this, haven’t you got anything better to do, it’s all subjective etc etc*

Going out tonight, mix of forest tracks, some road and some bridleways. Forecast is 1 degree, feels like -2. Tubeless front and rear. I hate getting the ice fear that even when you stop and test the road surface you still *see* ice on the road in front and so it completely ruins the ride, or the downhill bits at least. Wadda ya reckon for psi on 2.3tyres? I normally run at about 15 front 20 rear.

If it’s ice, then run whatever psi you want. It’ll make no significant difference IMHO… 🙁

Be careful, I’m currently sat in A&E after a 25mph fall off my road bike thanks to some ice. Hopefully just bruised ribs but it’s not fun especially as I’ve just caught a cough!

crazyness going out on skinny road tyres with ice around. Hope you’re okay Tom, much damage to your bike?

Stay off the road. It’s safer. Was out on frosty, part icy trails, over iced up roots and log ramps yesterday, no worries. I find off road it’s more frost which is a bit grippy, and ice is mainly ice puddles and just like riding over them crunching the ice 😀

+1 what Resurrection sez ^.

Lower pressure can help- it’s not that low pressure tyres grip ice, but that wider softer tyres are more likely to find a bit that’s not ice, or a bit of texture they can use.

I have just bought some Schwalbe winter spikes which i have used for the last 3 days to commute offroad. The grip is excellent even on ice – i imagine the ice spikers they do are even better. The look on a group of walkers faces when i pedalled through a section of black ice was priceless.

Cheap (26″) spikes on Planet X – £12.99 each iirc. Definitely tempting – I’ve just been out for a walk around Blacka Moor and the well-trodden paths are just sheet ice.

The snow studs that px have are rotten offroad- they look like old mtb tyres but to get the studs to work, you have to run lower pressures than is practical on anything but pretty smooth surfaces. But good commuter tyres.

I saw a post on the chase trails FB page that some lad had put cable ties round his tyres every 10cms or so with the extra bit sticking outwards cut into a 1 inch spike. Not sure how effective they’d be.

I had a mate who just put wood screws through his tyre to make spikes. Had to use another tyre inside the first to prevent puncturing the tube. The whole thing weighed about 2kg. Did kinda work though.

Northwind i thought that was the point of the snow studs… centre runs normally but will catch you if you start slipping. Then if it gets really bad you can let the pressure out. Because cycling on my ice spikers is a miserable experience.

Tom,if you feel a sneeze coming press under your nose really eye wateringly hard. That will stop it.

joshvegas – Member

Northwind i thought that was the point of the snow studs… centre runs normally but will catch you if you start slipping.

Kinda- at higher pressures they run mostly on the rubber, at lower pressures the studs come into play as the tyre deforms. If you were to have them at high pressures then lean over they’ll touch down too but if you’re on ice, by that point you’re way out of control anyway. Might save you, I wouldn’t want to depend on it- better to stay in control in the first place

crazyness going out on skinny road tyres with ice around. Hope you’re okay Tom, much damage to your bike?

Yeah I did the same route yesterday and was fine but I guess it thawed and froze overnight. Had an x ray, just bruised ribs and the bike is fine other than wonky hoods! Just annoying as I was really looking forward to riding the mtb at Woburn tomorrow but that won’t happen now!

Pretty much what tom and resurrection said, particularly if you are going anywhere near icy roads. I was out on my hardtail yesterday (using 2.3 black chili rubber queens) hit a patch of ice on the road and went straight down. Fortunately I got away with a bruised hand.

Chanced it yesterday on the road for 50 miles – lots of black ice but I was able to spot it. Only time I got caught out was encountering a 3m-long sheet of inch-thick ice plus a layer of slush in a dip. Was going slow enough to prepare but not slow enough to stop so I picked my spot in the verge and did a semi-controlled comedy dismount.
So, IME, run whatever pressure you like, if there’s an icy road and you can’t see the ice (at night) it won’t make any difference. Off-road you’ll be fine.