Studded tyres for Norway in Nov
 

Hi,

It looks like I'll be up in Norway (Bergen, Oslo and on to Sweden) in November, on a bicycle tour. Not sure what the weather will be like this year, but assuming it'll be a bit cold I'm looking at studded tyres.

two types, studs on the shoulder of the tyre for cornering (Continental Spike Claw 120 Mountain Bike Tyre), or studs in the centre and shoulder (Schwalbe Ice Spiker Performance Rigid MTB Tyre).

Any experience of the roads up there when the snow/ice arrives, are the roads clear or generally covered in a layer of snow/ice?

cheers

norway in november
 

Dougie,
you should be ok on normal rubber for the whole route, except the Hardangervidda massif.
This big lump of pre-cambrian, crossed by RV 7, will probably be ice-bound, but you might get lucky.
I think both busses and trains will accept bicycles as luggage, especially if you can dismantle it a bit.
Truckers may also help, but you have to find one, there is no trailerpark to wander around.
Good luck, and dress for sub-zero.

Peter, in Oslo

Hey,

thanks!

Quite disappointed I might not need spikes, these tyres 'look' very adventurous Wiggle | Schwalbe Ice Spiker Performance Rigid MTB Tyre | MTB Off-Road Tyres :-)

Been stocking up on potential-energy, so i'll need to cycle all the way to lose some weight before dropping down into middle Europe. Good to know about the buses as a backup option though.

cheers,
Doug

First I thought you are talking about something like this:

http://imageshack.com/a/img838/6931/kuo130323002800.jpg

On my mountainbike I have tried Nokian tyres with some 360 studs (four rows) but found those too heavy and too much resistance), so I tried some simpler slimmer Nokia tyres with just two rows halfways out on the shoulder. They run nicely on normal roads with a hard packed snow surface and are by far better rolling than the wider ones.

Also consider that the days will be quite short the further north you get, so invest some money in a good rechargeable headlamp, a backlight and maybe a reflective west!