Rewriting Mountain Bike History?

[GrahamJohnWallace]

@Rikoned - nice write up. This press release sounds positive:
https://suomityres.fi/story-continues/A new chapter for Suomi Tyers begins now.pdf

I hope they have kept the moulds for the 650Bx54mm Studded Hakkapeliitta tyre and decide to reintroduce it. This would be perfect for modern mountain bikers who ride in in snowy/icy conditions. Maybe also a 700C version of this tyre for the 29er's?

 

[manuelschafer]

I hope they have kept the moulds for the 650Bx54mm Studded Hakkapeliitta tyre and decide to reintroduce it. This would be perfect for modern mountain bikers who ride in in snowy/icy conditions. Maybe also a 700C version of this tyre for the 29er's?

Maybe soon Hakkapeliitta will mnifest again,
defo both diameters needed out there

edit,
updated my last post prev.page as i stumpled about some cool info
(perhaps a link to it is already hiding within this manifesto thread ? & if not its there now!)

 

[Nabeaquam]

Maybe soon Hakkapeliitta will mnifest,
defo both diameters needed out there

I use 26x1.75 studded front and 26x2 studded rear. I live on a small lake and the road around it is plowed in the winter. There is another lake, six miles away that also has plowed winter access. These plowed roads are snow covered, even after they’re plowed, so that the only way to ride them is with a fat bike. Early in the winter I pack a connector in the snow. I start with packing a base with my 4 wheel drive truck and then use my ATV after each snow. Eventually the ATV starts to get stuck and I can’t pack and then I have to use a mile of pavement to connect the two plowed roads. Now we get thaws, sometimes rain and a freeze. In these frozen conditions I can ride the whole10 mile loop without a problem. When it gets warm and then freezes there is a hard crust that forms. You can then ride a mountain bike on them without damaging the groomed trail. I’ve run into others riding standard mountain bikes on the groomed trails when it’s hard crust. I have ridden my klunkers on crusty groomed fat bike trails.

If you have ice and it’s raining, studs aren’t safe. Get the winter tires with carbide studs, the stainless studs don’t last if your route has some pavement. I ride, on purpose, from ice patch to ice patch in these conditions to extend my tire life. I guess my point is that 26x2 is all you need for ice.

 

[greencat]

You can ride anything on snow and ice if you've a mind to. One winter's eve, they got caught out around here and didn't grit the roads. It was minus 5 overnight, thick ice everywhere, and I had an early train to catch - and a journey to ride at the other end and no chance of taking the mountain bike on the train.

I rode my Brompton to town. It took about twice as long as normal, and on one particularly bad and steep stretch, I thought "that's interesting, no grip at the back. Oh, now there's no grip at the front either. Right foot down, no grip. Left, no grip. Oops this is beginning to feel a bit sketchy". I slowly laid the bike down, and gently crabbed on hands & knees over to the side of the road pushing the bike sideways into the ice so the pedal acted like a crampon.

 

[Tsundere]

You can ride anything on snow and ice if you've a mind to. One winter's eve, they got caught out around here and didn't grit the roads. It was minus 5 overnight, thick ice everywhere, and I had an early train to catch - and a journey to ride at the other end and no chance of taking the mountain bike on the train.

I rode my Brompton to town. It took about twice as long as normal, and on one particularly bad and steep stretch, I thought "that's interesting, no grip at the back. Oh, now there's grip at the front either. Right foot down, no grip. Left, no grip. Oops this is beginning to feel a bit sketchy". I slowly laid the bike down, and gently crabbed over to the side of the road pushing the bike sideways into the ice so the pedal acted like a crampon.

I cross a small weir on my daily commute, water sprays up in a very fine mist, when cold enough it builds a clear veneer of black ice that you cannot see onto the short bridge that straddles it. It only happened once, I popped my front wheel up the low step as I turned off the footpath at my usual reckless speed and away it went, bike and me, slid across the glazed planks before crashing into the railings.

Once you get over the initial shock it's quite a buzz, assuming nothing is broken.

 

[greencat]

I cross a small weir on my daily commute, water sprays up in a very fine mist, when cold enough it builds a clear veneer of black ice that you cannot see onto the short bridge that straddles it. It only happened once, I popped my front wheel up the low step as I turned off the footpath at my usual reckless speed and away it went, bike and me, slid across the glazed planks before crashing into the railings.

Once you get over the initial shock it's quite a buzz, assuming nothing is broken.

Totally. I was laughing like a drain when I was doing it at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

 

[Nabeaquam]

You can ride anything on snow and ice if you've a mind to. One winter's eve, they got caught out around here and didn't grit the roads. It was minus 5 overnight, thick ice everywhere, and I had an early train to catch - and a journey to ride at the other end and no chance of taking the mountain bike on the train.

I rode my Brompton to town. It took about twice as long as normal, and on one particularly bad and steep stretch, I thought "that's interesting, no grip at the back. Oh, now there's no grip at the front either. Right foot down, no grip. Left, no grip. Oops this is beginning to feel a bit sketchy". I slowly laid the bike down, and gently crabbed on hands & knees over to the side of the road pushing the bike sideways into the ice so the pedal acted like a crampon.

Yeah, that happens. Top of a steep slope, loose traction, feet slip, down you go, slide 75 meters to the bottom and hike a bike through deep wet snow, through the woods to the top. It was raining over ice. Too slippery to walk so I figured a studded tire bicycle ride would be safe. Never do this.

 

[Rikoned]

I hope they have kept the moulds for the 650Bx54mm Studded Hakkapeliitta tyre and decide to reintroduce it. This would be perfect for modern mountain bikers who ride in in snowy/icy conditions. Maybe also a 700C version of this tyre for the 29er's?

I read on a Finnish cycling forum awhile back (I can't find the link at the moment) that the last incarnation of Suomi tyres were made in Thailand (similar to most of the large tyre brands). If they contracted the work out perhaps they are still in storage in Thailand.
In the Finland factory they added the Finnish made ice spikes and labels and boxed up etc. If I recall correctly the tyres were marked made in Thailand and the boxes made in Finland. I have not seen the tyres so can't verify this.

Perhaps it is time to lobby the new parnership for what you want!?

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