Nokian

Hakkapelitta 26 x 1.95 W240 Studded Tire

I love them. You still can slide out if you corner too hard. That is part of the challenge.

Great for the snow and ice. The tires are noticeably heavier than my regular tires so I get a better workout. My bike feels much more sure footed and safer.

These things are made for ice. They do great on all sorts of ice, and I don't just mean frozen flat patches of black or white ice. They're also great on frozen to semi frozen rutted "road snot" that tends to accumulate in bike lanes. They're decent in churned snow that's compacted, like what plows dump in bike lanes. The only stuff that I've had trouble with is that really dry snow that's been churned and is semi-packed, but soft and not compacted. (This is the stuff you can't build a snowman out of or make snowballs with). I have these on my snow commuter mountain bike, so I'm not riding on them when there isn't snow. When there isn't snow/ice on the ground they are loud, slow, and don't have as much traction as regular tires (on asphalt). They're also expensive tires and I don't want to wear them out when I don't need them.

I'm using these for my second winter season in Montana. Before I installed these tires, I had already fallen maybe 4 or 5 times in the course of about a month. Since I've installed these studded tires, I haven't fallen yet. I will say that I was slightly disappointed when I found that the tires didn't eliminate slipping on smooth ice, but in retrospect I think that expectation was unreasonable. I still have to be cautious (as I should be) in winter riding conditions, but I feel safer with these tires. These tires are made in Finland. Note that "qty. 1" means one tire, not one set of tires.

The only problem I've had with this tire is an unexplained sidewall rupture. This was the second season on this tire. However Tree Fort/Nokian were prompt in replacing it. Otherwise a great tire.