Fat or Skinny?
I think the arguments are as follows:
- Fat: You can float on top of the snow and you don-t have to go through it. You have a larger contact patch with the ground.
- Skinny: Will find it's way through the snow to find some pavement to grab onto.
- Studded: Works great on ice but has no effect on snow/slush/other stuff. (Note never tried studded tires so just speculating).
Conditions of Interest
I am interested in traction on:
- Cleared city streets
- Uncleared city streets
- Uncleared city streets where cars have gone through and made deep ruts
- Slush
- Slush that has re-frozen into deep ruts
- Ice patches
Note: All pictures are take from google images.
Background
I have a short commute through part of Ottawa and run lots of erands on my bike. When it is snowing and when the roads don't look good I have several routes that are only slow residential streets so I can stay away from people yacking on their phones.
I would also like to start doing some winter trail riding.