I bike all year round in Toronto, and don't use studded tires. They aren't any better in snow than tires with treads. If you're going any significant distance they slow you down too much to be useful. They're great on glare ice, but that's usually only a problem for a week or so in the fall and a week or so in the spring around here. Frozen slush is grips OK with regular tires. Our city is very aggressive with salting the roads (not necessarily clearing away snow unfortunately), so ice isn't really a huge problem even when you would think it should be. Corrosion is.
My tips for getting your bike ready for winter riding are largely maintenance related:
- Grease your stuff up. I am talking everything on the bike that can be greased should be. Use any cheap waterproof grease (snowmobile grease works great - works in extremely cold temperatures without seizing, waterproof marine grease is awesome for not washing away). Grease your seat post. Remove any bolt that goes into your frame, grease it, and replace it (no water entry into the frame is a good thing to prevent corrosion). Take your cassette off and liberally grease your freehub (prevents hub corrosion from salt over the winter), then put the cassette back on. Use a syringe to apply waterproof grease to every pivot point on both your front and rear derailleur. Pull the jockey wheels out of your RD and grease them. Grease your headset. Take your axles apart and repack them with grease (replace the bearings if they don't look shiny). Take your pedals off, grease the threads, also remove the axles and grease them, then put them back together and back on. Pull your brakes off their pivots, and ensure the pivots have a good dollop of grease too.
- I get a small bottle of nail polish that matches the colour of my bike in the fall and touch up any paint that has been scraped or damaged over the summer. Then clean the bike off, and wax it with car wax (makes mud and snow fall off better over the winter).
- I have found that replacing my brake pads with Kool-Stop ones (either the salmon, or the dual compound black/salmon) significantly improves braking all the wet winter long.
- This winter I've purchased some spray on dry silicone lube that I'll be spraying over the front and rear derailleur periodically to try and keep grit and salt off of them, and to use as a water repellent lube for cable housings.
During the winter:
- Regularly lube your chain with a thick 'wet conditions' type of lube.
- Regularly check your rims and brakes (grit can kill rims quickly, and you don't want to be cycling on cracked rims).
- After every long ride (or after 3-4 short rides) take a large watering can of boiling hot water out to the end of your driveway and rinse all the crap off your bike, then bounce it a few times to knock the water off.
Post winter:
- Replace your chain (it probably will have worn out).
- Replace your cables (and probably the cable housings every two winters).
- Check your cassette for signs of wear, and replace if necessary.
- Repack hubs with grease.
Essential winter accessories for bike:
- Lights (I commute at 6:00 am and it's pitch black all winter . . . I run two bright tail lights most of the winter (really like the cygolite Hot Shot and the Planet Bike Superflash Turbo for this), and two bright headlights when visibility is poor - foggy/snowing)
- Reflective tape (like lights that are always on and don't need batteries!)
- Fenders (keeps slush and crap off your drivetrain and headset - also off your face)
- Studded flat pedals (you can use any type of warm winter boot, the studs grip your feet very securely, you can take your foot off easily when you start to wipe out and need to get a foot down)
- Face mask . . . this is the most important cycling item of clothing for winter. You can get by with a ski jacket, heavy gloves, hat, and warm boots, but your face gets WAY colder cycling than you would running or jogging, or doing most regular winter outdoor activities. I cover my face pretty much all the time that it's below freezing.
YMMV - I've done four cycling winters, commuting 11 miles each way several times a week, (plus fun rides in the winter) in Toronto and that's what works for me.