Last season I was looking for some added insurance for those iced out areas and installed grip studs into the lugs of my 1.6 track.. Needless to say I installed 102 Fast-Trac 1.625" studs a couple weeks ago into the same track. Huge difference in low snow areas.

 

My non studded tracks last forever and for the handful of days its that locked up and froze soild I don't feel the need to stud.

 

I have a stock 1.365 track on my Assault and also thinking of the same. Here is south western Quebec, it gets warm fast and come end of march the trails are all iced up. Back into sledding after a 14year severance. i'll see in end of march / early april if I would need to stud or not knowing that it's a 500$+ additional investment. I bought this 2011 switchback to do some off trail riding which i never done before since my old sled's were touring sleds. only had this sled for 4 days now, only took it out twice since it wasnt registered (registered yesterday), but planning on going out today after work for a little rip since I adjusted the front shocks...

 

Personally, IMO the only reason NOT to stud would be on a dedicated, off-trail long track. Studs help with traction, both for acceleration and stopping.

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We have 2 sleds in the house. One studded, one not studded. I ride both on and off. There is no substitute for a studded track. The increase in acceleration and braking in all conditions is undeniable. No matter how much snow we get there's always ice on hills in the woods and many uphill starts from roads. No problem with studs.

 

In the same position and I do ride them both also, I do miss the studded track when icy on the non studded sled and the last few days the trails are hard packed with some ice spots and again studs just down the middle would help solve that.

 

Great comments from all, thanks for the info and keep it coming !! 👍

 

I've been running the 1.25" ice ripper for about 10,000 miles now and I would never go back to studding a track. If your not racing it has all the stop and go you need for a safe ride without all the weight and maintenance that comes with studs. I plan on switching to the 1.60" ice cobra if I ever wear this one out.

 

stud it. your life may depend on it.

 

Hard to say about these deeper lug tracks but after riding a 1.25'' lug with studs i wouldn't go back to an non-studded track. Studded tracks are just safer, keep the sled running cooler in thin /icy snow condition, have better traction and braking. Seen too many accidents with sleds in quebec that weren't studded that were avoidable if they had some studs..

 

kind of like when i hit the groomer on tug hill 2 years ago. 2nd ride, no studs yet. could have died, and studs may have prevented it all together. i damn near stopped as it was. had studs for the following week. much better , and what a hole shot!

 

I recently purchased a sled with a 1.6 lug track and I ended up installing IGRIP studs into the top of the lug. I always rode sleds with studded tracks and even though these are not your conventional studs down the middle of the track it at least provides some sense of security.

 

I have also thought that might be a way to kill two birds with one stone and still have some of the safety benefits of some type of studding. Tks 👊

 

If you ride trails it's a no-brainer:

My life is worth more than a few hundred dollars...

 

Mine as well and everyone else, great video thanks for sharing, never was about the $$ easy fix !! 😎

 

I hate studs, but all my sleds have them. Went up an icy hill Saturday and the unstudied sled in front of my couldn’t climb it and was actually sliding backwards. I went around him. I have damaged the heat exchanger on my current sled. Next sled I’m hoping to get an ice ripper track

 

So the ice ripper has the small studs in the lug ? does that have the same traction as a trinational stud ? I would think not as much ??

 

My wife and I have both had incidents related to non-studded sleds in our long sledding careers. We would never own a sled that wasn't studded. Not even a chance. One single icy corner (common) and you become a believer. Not to mention braking on hardpack, etc etc etc. Of course its not as necessary if you are putt putt driver with no real excitement or capacity for driving your sled.

 

Safety safety safety. Imo studs are a no-brainer. I also have come upon riders with unstudded tracks...and they'd be frozen, stopped, spinning on the crest of a road crossing.

Spinning the track, and sweeping whatever snow was ON the trail off the trail. Revealing "boiler plate" underneath. I have stopped a few times, matter of fact I drove a girls sled in that same situation for her.

I had to back down the incline and show her the proper "approach" tactic you need when there's ice underneath a small amount of powder. I find that half the folks who ride unstudded tracks..don't know HOW to ride an un-studded track properly.

This is a no-brainer. I'm not big on the ice ripper. I'm too old school maybe. And I generally upgrade every few years so I'm not as concerned with track "longevity".

 

all it takes is once. as i said, your life may depend on it

 

Can't tell you how many time one us in our group has missed a groomer, lucky all had studs and remained in control to either stop or be able to safely ditch the sled. The one time i rode with a guy in the group he claimed studs were a waste of time and funds needed to support his beer habit. Well, about midway through our bag trip we came to a obscure 4 way intersection with our lead guy locking his sled up. All of stop safely except tail end charlie with no studs and he was locked up sliding right at us. By some luck his sled slid up over the trails snowbank and flipped missing all of us. We just watched in disbelief and laughter. Needless to say he never rode with us again.

 

I mean, cmon man. If your coming that close to the groomer all the time, and you claim studs are the reason why you don’t hit. Seriously? Also, sounds like all the studs in the world wouldn’t help your buddy Charlie. He needs to get rid of his sled and keep us all out of danger.

 

I like my ice ripper track , has all the stopping I need without the hassle of conventional studs. 2014 switchback

My 2016 Grand Touring does not have studs, back in 2016 Ski Doo did not offer that model with the ice ripper track. I should go with the igrip studs or something similar or change the track

 

Nice video and proud member of FCMQ myself, but this test is extreme, we don’t ride on bare is all the time but I agree a sharp icy corner and your eating bark.

but these new tracks that have the little studs on the lugs them self, any good? Like the Camso Ice Cobra 1.6... ? Or ice attack XT

 

I’m in Quebec also. I agree in general nobody runs on glare ice. On the other hand I’ve got up in the spring after a very cold night to have to ride on a totally frozen freshly groomed sheet of ice. These mornings without ice scratchers you wait till the sun comes out and temps rise to soften things up and then you leave, it’s that icy. I will not ride without studs. Pre studded and Gripper type work but not anything like real studs. For the guy that punctured his heat exchanger. It’s better than a punctured lung.

 

Ran studs for a long time, until I was making a green snow cone in Quebec 50 miles from anything. Not fun. Now I run studless and don't miss them. If you need studs to slow down enough for a corner or you're in the trees, then perhaps you're running to hard.

 

Ditto. Tossed one through my cooler in Quebec. That was 15 years and 15,000 miles ago and I haven't run studs since.

There are times I miss them, but for most of the season I don't need them.

 

Ha ha ha good one slimjim

im on the fence, not sure if I will or not stud. I don’t drive aggressively and just starting back from a 14years severance, so...

 

I trail ride only and have never ridden without some form of track traction product. My 2 cents.

 

Si what would be a good middle ground? I see most of the patters are minimum 3 studs per row. i was looking at woodys.

 

What is it 600 or 800? With a 600 you would get away with 2 per bar. Track length will dictate how many per bar also. If your basically studding for safety and control then the longer the track the fewer per bar. So for example an 800 146 I’d go 3 per bar.

 

No comparison when you are in an icey corner or climbing an icey hill let alone the braking benefits.

Hate what they do to the pavement and trailer but I will always stud my track.

 

As much as I wanted to keep the 137 / 1.6 washout studs, after reviewing all the feedback and based on my personal riding style, looks like a row down the center is upcoming.

What brand and who's studs ? I have Woody's on one sled and Mack's on the wife's. Thanks Again, GREAT INPUT From ALL !! 👊 👍

 

Pretty hard to beat a simple tree pattern with woody's gold diggers, and using as many woody's aluminum double backers as possible.

 

i use woody's megabites. i also use square backers which are a pain in the ass but i line them up perfect. when you look after if they are turned , they are loose.

 

even track longevity can be good if you are smart. just like a regular track. roll over the knarly stuff, not wot. i use the square backers so i can see loose studs before they get me