Nokian ice tires

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

I am new to winter riding. I was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have (2) new Nokian studded ice tires.(1) extreme 296 and (1) Hakka WXC 300. I am not sure which one to use on the front and which one to mount on the rear. I live on the east coast of U.S.A. and ride single track and fire roads with mostly hard pack snow and ice, but also slushy at times. I am also not sure how to break these tires in. Any help would be appriciated. Thanks

I have used the WXC 300's and the Hakkapeliita 240's on my MTB and a cyclo-cross bike. Both tires are outstanding in ice and snow. However their performance on asphalt is less than stellar as the studs make them squirrelly. If all you are doing is off road riding the WXC 300's will work the best (run the 300 on the front and and 294 on the rear, the 300 has better grip). If you are commuting the 240's will function the best in all but the biggest snow/ice storms. If you want more advice, I would suggest talking to the people at All-Weather Sports (http://www.allweathersports.com/).