Are snow chains a thing still?

[Robotstar5]

I had Pirelli Scorpions fitted to my "baby hippo" (Freelander I) and they always got me to work and back, I had to go up one hill which had packed snow when the big Merc SUV in front of me lost traction and slid back past me, I had almost reached the summit when I started to lose traction, but a bit of throttle to get the traction control working and I made it

My current Grand Vitara has Michelin Cross Climates fitted and I haven't got stuck yet.

 

[Bobupndown]

How do you find the Latitude Cross performs in the mud and the loose?

I have been running Maxxis Bighorns on the truck because it was what I could get in a hurry, but rarely need something that aggressive, and on-road they're extremely loud with adequate but not great grip in the wet (although loads better than the BFG's they replaced).

There's not that many AT tyres that are rated much better than my current MT's for wet grip, but the Latitudes are supposedly are, so if they didn't sacrifice too much grip in the mud, might make it worth switching.

I don't drive 'off road' apart from a 1/4 mile gravel lane to the house and pretty wintery conditions due to the remote area where we live, and the occasional caravan site. They are however a pretty great tyre in all the conditions I've encountered. Previous to these I had Continental Cross Contact ATR and various General Grabber AT tyres. Early days, maybe 5000 miles on them but I'd say they are equally good as the Continentals and time will tell if they have the longevity of the GGs.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

The Onspot system looks good, but probably too expensive for the private user.

Bit fancy for me!! I got 8 chains with my truck, you only run chains on the front and one rear axle rather than on all 3. I’ve got to do some extending to get the 4 to fit on my 39” XMLs

 

[Onoff]

In the current "big garage sort out" I came found a set of boxed snow chains bought years ago from Lidl. I think bought for the MK1 Focus, never used. Then I had the MK4 Golf GTi and found the chains were too small for the tyre size. Must excavate them fully and see if they'll fit anything were currently driving.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I live in London...snow chains are not much use because the roads are usually blocked with cars anyway if we get any snow.

Back in the day I use to get out at 6:30am just to avoid the nutters...these days I can just stay at home which is rather nice.

 

[Onoff]

With a car now, not a care would be given for a bit of snow.

You would down here. Still absolutely lethal. Roads are thick sheet ice in places. No gritting been done either.

4 routes out from here that are steep, single track hills. Had to come down the worst tonight because of a diversion on the better route home. Lost it a bit once after a concentration lapse but luckily nothing oncoming and the traction control / ABS or whatever worked admirably to keep me in a straight line until I regained control.

The long route is 3½ miles along the bottom of the valley road civilised, gritted road.

 

[carbon]

I use snow chains on my truck but not for snow. I attend a few steam rallies etc through the summer months, the last one I went to was in early September after a week of rain the field seemed quite firm but had soft spots and due to the internal layout in the trailer it doesn’t provide much load on the drive axle. The truck doesn’t have diff lock and it can spin wheels on wet grass when the ground is soft. I only have chains on the outside tyres but they can provide the extra grip to manoeuvre in these conditions.

 

[charlysays]

I saw a VW Passat with snow chains in Carmarthenshire the other day!

 

[bricol]

I've only ever used snow chains to throw mud up the front of my mum's house trying to get a RWD Alfa with a 25% LSD off her sloping front lawn.

 

[northwest]

Back in the day I use to get out at 6:30am just to avoid the nutters...these days I can just stay at home which is rather nice.

That's me. I am "in" now until it goes away.


Saw these:

only in America! (I sincerely hope).

 

[Robotstar5]

That's me. I am "in" now until it goes away.


Saw these:

only in America! (I sincerely hope).

A recovery guy on Youtube has the Onspot chains fitted to his trucks and they are very effective, saves having to stop and chain up when road conditions change.

 

[fizzy]

That's me. I am "in" now until it goes away.


Saw these:

only in America! (I sincerely hope).

Boadicea would have loved those on her chariot

 

[Smallfry]

Boadicea would have loved those on her chariot

Its BOODIKKA now or something, according to the muesli sandal plaiters these days.

 

[bricol]

I had Pirelli Scorpions fitted to my "baby hippo" (Freelander I) and they always got me to work and back, I had to go up one hill which had packed snow when the big Merc SUV in front of me lost traction and slid back past me, I had almost reached the summit when I started to lose traction, but a bit of throttle to get the traction control working and I made it

My current Grand Vitara has Michelin Cross Climates fitted and I haven't got stuck yet.

Lancia has Uniroyal Roadsports on, and I too haven't got stuck.

Admittedly there is no snow around here, and I haven't actually gone anywhere since Christmas day . . .

 

[northwest]

Lancia has Uniroyal Roadsports on, and I too haven't got stuck.

Admittedly there is no snow around here, and I haven't actually gone anywhere since Christmas day . . .

Cheat!

 

[zx9]

Street tyres, roadbike, snow and ice. feck that... I tried that years ago and went on my ear with a audience going down a mainstreet when it swapped ends suddenly & I decided that keeping my good bike good would be better served with it sleeping warm in the shed & wrecking a more suitable winterbike.
The perfect combo for me seems to be a enduro with dirt bike geometry and suitable boots... Some motox 2 stroke is a bit lary in icy conditions so smoother delivery of a 4 stroke but with a weight penalty...
View attachment 525651
The only bad bit about this sp400 is its a bit heavy when its really icy to dab back upright & the rear is a intermediate that I keep meaning to change, but have been too tight to take off before its worn out properly. A twinshock xl125 is even more perfect in these conditions. I had a dodgy job once where we checked up on and took food supplies up to security in remote compounds in wales and we took a transit, got as near as we could in it, and we got the bike out the back & I finished the job on my xl125 with a box bungied on the pillion with stuff for the poor sod in question. Quick warm up in their cabin and a brew, then head back to the van for the next drop.
Good money and fun, but looking back now, I'd have been proper fubar if anything had gone wrong on that last leg...

A XL125S was my introduction to riding bikes in the snow, I spent hours one weekend in about 1985 riding round a local industrial estate I have no idea how many times I fell off but I did not cause any serious damage to me or the bike and I learned a lot.
About ten years later was the next time we had a serious amount of snow in London and I had a KLR600, this time it snowed mid week so I would ride to work as per usual. It was about eight miles from South London to Bloomsbury, I only fell off once in Waterloo and was first in work so had to wait for a manager to unlock, I waited for hours because there were almost no buses or underground as it was effected by snow on the open air sections or the drivers had stayed at home.
All good fun when you are young, though given the right bike I would do it again without much hesitation.

When I was at college riding the XL125S there was a girl on another course with a SP370 / SP400 which always looked like fun.

 

[dobbslc]

The girl or the bike?

 

[Bobupndown]

I've only ever used snow chains to throw mud up the front of my mum's house trying to get a RWD Alfa with a 25% LSD off her sloping front lawn.

I'm sure she was so pleased

 

[bricol]

Cheat!

Didn't get stuck in the RWD Dodge either

All the way to Derby and back on Christmas day in it.

(Cruise control at 73, all the way up the M1 to the M62, mostly on the inside lane, conveniently kept empty by convoys of cars over in lane 2 and even 3)

And again, nowhere since.

Did have some slight slippage on the frozen park slopes on the way to and from the dentist this afternoon on shank's pony though.

 

[bricol]

I'm sure she was so pleased

My mum was pretty good about such things, being a farmers daughter of the 40's and 50's.

Sat quite happily in the passenger seat of that Alfa as we both looked out of her passenger side window as we made progress around wet roundabouts in Leeds one day . . . with a transaxle and a nice 2-litre twincam, it was a wonderfully balanced car. My future other half wrote it off when she was still married to someone else who bought it from me many years before we got together.

Creased a mate of mine when we were about 14/15 - did something to cause clouds of smoke to billow out of the side door of the garage where we were . . . my mum opens the house back door and " . . . are you playing again?" . . . "yes" . . . door closes . . .

My mate reckoned his mum would have rung the fire brigade before coming out to teach him some new rules with the slipper or wooden spoon . . . which admittedly my mum had also made good use of over the years.