Nokian Break-in Period?

[Bob Flumere]

I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires.

The tag on them suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that perhaps
the stud casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips are already
quite proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the holes in the tire.

I really don't want to expose my mountain bike to the road salt that is on all of our roads here in
MA. if I can avoid it.

Anybody have any comments, tips or ideas why the break-in period?

Bob Flumere [email protected] Riding the frozen trails here in MA. almost every day.

[email protected]

 

[Edward Dike]

"Bob Flumere" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
|
| I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires.
|
| The tag on them suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that
| perhaps the stud casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips are
| already quite proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the holes in
| the tire.
|
| I really don't want to expose my mountain bike to the road salt that is on all of our roads here
| in MA. if I can avoid it.
|
| Anybody have any comments, tips or ideas why the break-in period?
|
| Bob Flumere [email protected] Riding the frozen trails here in MA. almost every day.
|
| [email protected]

My guess is that the break in is to roughen/ effectively soften up the tread, but I don't know that
for a fact.

As I bought a pair on ebay(new, without any tags,etc), and have been trying them out the past few
weeks, (no break-in; straight to lake ice...I have some concerns about the recommended break-in, and
what pressures to use on
ice... hard, cold, mirror smooth lake ice; The weather here in Mpls/ St Paul has caused several
freeze/ thaw cycles on the surface to create the slickest lake surfaces I have seen. I am not
sure if I had too great an expectation of the tires(296 Extreme), if they are critical of
inflation pressures, or if it is the ice. But I find it nearly impossible to turn without
skidding/ drifting. At one point while riding with a cross wind, I had to dismount, and turn the
bike into the wind,as I could not sufficiently lean into the wind to maintain my heading, and
the wind was turning/ slipping me down wind towards open water. I can almost keep the rear wheel
continuously spinning through 2 complete crank revolutions as I accelerate from a stop. However,
when I rode near the shoreline, through what little snow there is on the ice-1/2 to 1", they act
like a mountain bike on smooth, heavy soil, very docile, and predictable.As there is currently
no snow on the ground, I have yet to experience the tires on the local snowmobile trails. My
brief experiences on the road suggest they are not suitable for smooth pavement. Asphalt is
slippery, and noisy, almost like a wheel with low tire pressure that skids out in a turn. I
think smooth concrete would be hazardous, and steel plates, etc would be much worse.

I too would like to learn of the experiences of others. ED3

 

[Jobst Brandt]

Bob Flumere writes:

> I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires. The tag on them
> suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that perhaps the stud
> casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips are already quite
> proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the holes in the tire.

If they give no explanation for the break-in, I would take that as a few grains of road salt and
chuck it over my shoulder for good luck. This sounds like BS to me.

Jobst Brandt [email protected] Palo Alto CA

 

[Peter Cole]

"Bob Flumere" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires.
>
> The tag on them suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that
> perhaps the stud casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips are
> already quite proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the holes in
> the tire.
>
> I really don't want to expose my mountain bike to the road salt that is on all of our roads here
> in MA. if I can avoid it.
>
> Anybody have any comments, tips or ideas why the break-in period?

My guess is that the break-in period is to seat the studs in the rubber. I know there's a shoulder
on the stud (http://www.enteract.com/~icebike/images/dobsonstuds.jpg), but I doubt that the recess
in the tire has a matching groove (I don't see how it could be molded). I think that after a few
hours of the stud wiggling under load in the tire cavity, the edges of the shoulder will bite into
the rubber. High tangential forces before then could pull the stud out of the tire.

 

[Peter Cole]

"Edward Dike, III" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> As I bought a pair on ebay(new, without any tags,etc), and have been trying them out the past few
> weeks, (no break-in; straight to lake ice...I have some concerns about the recommended break-in,
> and what pressures to use on
> ice... hard, cold, mirror smooth lake ice; The weather here in Mpls/ St Paul has caused several
> freeze/ thaw cycles on the surface to create the slickest lake surfaces I have seen. I am not
> sure if I had too great an expectation of the tires(296 Extreme), if they are critical of
> inflation pressures, or if it is the ice. But I find it nearly impossible to turn without
> skidding/ drifting. At one point while riding with a cross wind, I had to dismount, and turn
> the bike into the wind,as I could not sufficiently lean into the wind to maintain my heading,
> and the wind was turning/ slipping me down wind towards open water. I can almost keep the rear
> wheel continuously spinning through 2 complete crank revolutions as I accelerate from a stop.
> However, when I rode near the shoreline, through what little snow there is on the ice-1/2 to
> 1", they act like a mountain bike on smooth, heavy soil, very docile, and predictable.As there
> is currently no snow on the ground, I have yet to experience the tires on the local snowmobile
> trails.

I don't think there is any advantage to studded tires on snow. My experience with them on ice has
been very different. I find that I can climb well on icy surfaces, better than on loose surfaces in
the summer. It doesn't take much loose powder to "float" the studs though, completely defeating
their effectiveness.

> My brief experiences on the road suggest they are not suitable for smooth pavement. Asphalt is
> slippery, and noisy, almost like a wheel with low tire pressure that skids out in a turn. I think
> smooth concrete would be hazardous, and steel plates, etc would be much worse.

I have ridden studs extensively on asphalt, as I use them on fast club rides. I haven't found any
particular problem with them being slippery. They are a bit noisy, making a buzzing sound very much
like static. I like the sound, particularly when you corner them hard and they make a sound more
like popping bubble pack. Concrete and steel might be somewhat slippery, concrete roads are pretty
rare around here, so I haven't had a lot of experience, but I haven't noticed anything
extraordinary in the few encounters I've had with brief stretches of concrete road, off-road slick
rock or steel decking.

 

[A Muzi]

> "Bob Flumere" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires.
> >
> > The tag on them suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that
> > perhaps the stud casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips
> > are already quite proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the
> > holes in the tire.
> >
> > I really don't want to expose my mountain bike to the road salt that is on all of our roads here
> > in MA. if I can avoid it.
> >
> > Anybody have any comments, tips or ideas why the break-in period?

"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> My guess is that the break-in period is to seat the studs in the rubber. I know there's a shoulder
> on the stud (http://www.enteract.com/~icebike/images/dobsonstuds.jpg), but I doubt
that
> the recess in the tire has a matching groove (I don't see how it could be molded). I think that
> after a few hours of the stud wiggling under load in
the
> tire cavity, the edges of the shoulder will bite into the rubber. High tangential forces before
> then could pull the stud out of the tire.

Both IRC and Nokian mold the tread with a recessed opening for the stud that's T-shaped in cross
section. It's easy to "see how it could be molded". The mold includes a protrusion that looks like a
nail head . That is of course the shape of the stud, too. Rubber is plenty flexible enough for that.
Pull out a stud and replace it - it isn't hard to do.

But I still don't see a reason for "break-in" except maybe the rider's software.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Jussi.Mikkola]

I think that at least in a case of Nokian Extreme 296 you will need this "brake-in" period also to
expose the tungsten carbide pins out from the steel body of the stud. If you look the Nokias site
http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/winter/index.html and compere the Extreme between the HAKKA WXC300
or REDDIE'S REVENZ 336 you will see that in those tyres the tungsten carbide pin is already exposed
and sharp. Without the "brake-in" period in some hard surface the Extreme will not have as good
traction on ice as it could have.

I have used Nokian Extreme three winters mostly for commuting, many mails on bare asphalt . The
studs do not show any significant wear.

Jussi Mikkola

Bob Flumere wrote:

> I am the proud owner of a pair of new Nokia 256 "Extreme" studded snow tires.
>
> The tag on them suggests 30 miles of riding on the road as a break-in period. I thought that
> perhaps the stud casings needed to be worn down to expose the carbide tips, but the spike tips are
> already quite proud of the casings. Also, the studs all seem to be well seated into the holes in
> the tire.
>
> I really don't want to expose my mountain bike to the road salt that is on all of our roads here
> in MA. if I can avoid it.
>
> Anybody have any comments, tips or ideas why the break-in period?
>
> Bob Flumere [email protected] Riding the frozen trails here in MA. almost every day.
>
> [email protected]

 

[Peter Cole]

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news[email protected]...
> > My guess is that the break-in period is to seat the studs in the rubber. I know there's a
> > shoulder on the stud (http://www.enteract.com/~icebike/images/dobsonstuds.jpg), but I doubt
> that
> > the recess in the tire has a matching groove (I don't see how it could be molded). I think that
> > after a few hours of the stud wiggling under load in
> the
> > tire cavity, the edges of the shoulder will bite into the rubber. High tangential forces before
> > then could pull the stud out of the tire.
>
>
> Both IRC and Nokian mold the tread with a recessed opening for the stud that's T-shaped in cross
> section. It's easy to "see how it could be molded". The mold includes a protrusion that looks like
> a nail head . That is of course the shape of the stud, too. Rubber is plenty flexible enough for
> that. Pull out a stud and replace it - it isn't hard to do.
>
> But I still don't see a reason for "break-in" except maybe the rider's software.

From Nokian web site: http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/tech/index.html

"TUNGSTEN CARBIDE STUDS -Tungsten Carbide stud pins, developed for passenger car studs, last for
years and give great traction on ice and hardpacked snow. Avoid cheap steel imitations, which last
10 times less! -Light coldforged Aluminum body on high-end DH & XC studs (Freddie's & Hakka WXC).
IMPORTANT! Brake-in advise for Nokian studded tyres:
1.Ride for approx. 50km (30miles) on road surfaces. 2.Avoid rapid acceleration and braking. 3.Only
careful brake-in will ensure that the tyres and studs are optimized. (You still might loose couple
of studs during the normal use due to great friction, but that won't effect on tyre performance)."

The above implies that the risk of not breaking in properly is loss of studs. I know that was a
reported problem with the Hakka WXC at one point. Even if the molded recess has a "T" cross section,
it seems the studs still need to seat themselves, perhaps the shoulder on the recess isn't quite as
deep as the head of the stud and wears in to the rubber a bit.