Using zip ties for tire traction in snow
BikePortland.org (then others) posted this MacGyver tip for improving cycling traction in snow and/or ice this winter. As you can see from the photo below the author placed zip ties around the rim and tire about spaced about every 3 spokes. At first blush this seems like a great idea but it is certainly limited to bikes without rim brakes. One commentor mentioned removing her rear brakes to allow the wheel to rotate freely with the zip ties installed but doesn’t this mean you’re riding on snow with just your front brakes attached? Seems a little more dangerous than both brakes in the snow WITHOUT rear traction.
What about the old trick of “studding” your tires with wood screws poked through the tire from the inside? I’ve never tried this myself but it seems like a decent solution as well, though clearly not as easy and not really reversible the way zip ties are. The post also mentioned “chains” for bicycle tires but living in the south I’ve never seen these. Anyone ever use bike tire chains?
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January 25th, 2007 at 9:02 am
[...] Forget using zip ties to increase your traction; why not get one of these babies! I first read about this on the RockyRoadUk blog and I really got excited when I checked out the Ktrax site. It isn’t obvious from the photos but apparently the front ski and rear track are actually removeable so you can change out your regular mountain tires for gnarly snow riding. Ktrax talks about the advantage of increased traction with the system yet oddly enough, none of the photos on their website seemed show any riders climbing even the slightest incline. Obviously it’s sexy and more fun to go downhill but can’t this thing do more than that? (to be fair the FAQ does state that “if you can ride up it on your bike without snow, you can do it in the snow with the Ktrak”) [...]
January 6th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I have a set of studded CX tires made by Kenda. They just plain rock. Much less expensive than some of the other brands and they have held up really well. They don’t have quite as many studs as some of the others – but let’s be honest it snows like 3 times a year here. They are a blast to ride though.