I've been winter commuting for years, in New Brunswick at that where we get real amounts of snow. This is what I ride... http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1902188/ and there's a couple more pics in my album. I'd like to get some better shots of my homebrew studded tires. It's a GT hardtail with XT parts, BB7 brakes, RaceFace components and sweet mavic rims paired with XT hubs. There are 200 studs per tire, the center knobs being a set off 100 5/8th" screws from the inside out line on the inside with a cruiser slick that I cut the wire bead off of. Damn sweet!!. My commute is uphill and I get better traction than cars. I've passed several that were stuck, including buses. When I have the time I've hopped off the bike to help push them out to pass them again as they slowly get up the hill. Fun.