I had always studded every sled that I own, but always worrying about tear outs and holes in heat exchangers made me look for something different. The Ice Tech tracks are the best thing in the sled world for a long time!!!! You will not get the same traction that you would get with a heavily studded track. You will get a sled that is very safe on icy corners and all other areas that studs help. The trade off for slightly less traction is a lot less weight and no worrys about stud failure. Durability of these tracks seems to be excellent I have two of these tracks with over 8000 miles, they still look great. TRY THAT WITH STUDS