@JenJen trying to stuff it into the letterbox caused injuries, good luck to the postperson when they pick up the letterbox’s postbag.

@nicmclee @jwildeboer I sort of half fantasise that the solution would be to simply buy a second set of wheels etc. But then, as soon as I have a puncture, I’d have to go through the ordeal again, so, not worth going the way of entire summer and winter wheels.

@jwildeboer one thing I found that they’re surprisingly better at than normal tyres is if I ever ride over loose gravel, like the decorative gravel patches that landscape gardeners use in public spaces. Normally the bike slows to a grind and I want to get off as soon as I can, but with the Winter Pluses on it’s a lot nicer to handle loose gravel surfaces (which is probably where I lose some of the studs).

@jwildeboer I have two sets of these, and I should fit them about now (as I slipped on my bike yesterday due to the negligence of architects using a particularly slippery type of paving slab around a corner and on a complex slope – I went into greater detail using different and far louder words at length at the time yesterday). Having said that, they would still have slipped on that particular spot, but not as readily.

The thing I don’t like about these is that they’re very very tight to get over the rims of my folding bike, so I tend to delay putting them on in case I don’t have to at all (like last year and the year before, I didn’t bother putting them on either of our bikes) and they’re hard to get off, so when they’re on I delay getting them off until about late spring in case we’re due more snow or ice. I’ve had punctures just getting them on or off, they’re so tight on the rims, having to use the plastic tyre levers quite energetically.

Also, once they’re off again in the Spring, riding the bike with the normal tyres back on gives a tremendous feeling of freedom that the bike goes easily again – these Winter Pluses make it quite turgid to ride.

I’ve also lost quite a few studs over time (which actually doesn’t matter much at all).


I should put them on really. I’m just not looking forward to it.