I am looking on continuing my mtb riding through the winter and I am in the market for a set of studded tires. I am also looking on getting some feed back from people that ride around the same area I live (Sullivan County NH).

I really did not set a budget as to what I would spend. I really just want to purchase a set that is of quality. The brand that I seem to keep coming back to is Nokian, but then there's a list of styles, ugh.

My winter riding loops would consist of paved roads, dirt roads, packed snowmobile trails, and trails packed down after snowshoeing over them a bunch of times.

What do you use?

Thanks,
Jim

Jim my experience is that unless you are going to be on icy conditions you don't need or want studs. They are noisy, bumpy, and often times studs come out of their setting if ridden in conditions that are not designed for their use such as pavement. That being said I do have a set of studded Nokian for my Carver 96er that I will mount up when conditions merit. For 90% of my winter riding using my mountain bike a good set of knobs seems to work best for me. That's riding rail to trail, snowmobile trail and dirt/mud roads. I have never used them on a road bike. I suppose if you were a year around commuter using a city or cross bike having it set up with studs would be a good idea from a safety perspective. IMO