14 and 29 Celsius! Woooo! We won't see that until June!
Riley, do you ride one of those fat tire bikes? I have always wondered if they actually work well in the snow and on ice. Do you buy your tires with studs already mounted in the tire?
I don't have a fat tire bike and was planning on getting one depending upon where we move and if I can still commute to work.
I have a friend who rode his all through winter and he said they are terrible on pure ice with no advantage over other bikes. They are also a bit tougher to ride through fresh snow as you are making a wider path, however, where they shine is on that semi packed snow on sidewalks and streets. They just float over this and the bike does not get tossed around or stuck like a regular mountain bike. Also, as the tire pressures are lower, they absorb a lot of the shock from getting to the handle bars and seat.
His suggestion, as I already have a basic bike with studs, was to get a fat tire bike for winter and use it after the snow falls and everything is frozen, then use my studded tire regular bike for Fall and Spring when there is a lot of ice during the freeze/thaw. You can buy studded fat tires, but from his research, the ground pressure is so low that they aren't really effective and they are expensive. Somewhere around $240 a piece.
The tires I run are Schwalbe Winter Marathon. They have siped rubber and carbide studs. Absolutely phenomenal and have saved by butt in some extremely icy conditions. I've been riding on them 5 years now and the studs are still in fantastic shape and the rubber doesn't appear to be worn much. They have a semi smooth tread (Compared to other studded tires) so they roll well and seem to have enough grip to push through snow. I thought about making my own studded tires but screws wear down really fast, are heavy and a lot of work to make.
So, basically, if you get a fat tire bike, they work excellent in Summer and Winter but you have to be careful in the transitional seasons (like any bike). If you use a regular bike with studs in the winter, it also works great for all seasons, however, after the snow hits, it's not as easy to get around.