Hot answers tagged winter
37
In the winter you will have to contend with:
Ice and snow on the road
Wet
Freezing bike parts
Cold winds
Overheating
1. Ice and snow on the road
This past winter I used the Schwalbe "Marathon Winter" tires for a 3-mile commute along a rural highway and town streets in central Vermont. Our winters are quite a bit more severe than NYC, but if you have ice ...
18
Here's my solution. Take off wheels, pedals, and handlebars, and place the bike under the bed. Ok, that may not be the right solution, but it might point you in the right direction. If you start taking parts off your bike, you can fit it in a pretty small place. You might even want to consider taking parts off and storing everything but the frame inside ...
17
-20C is -4F, cold enough to be uncomfortable for humans, but not particularly cold for mechanical equipment. You will notice that lubricants get stiffer, but generally they warm up rapidly when you ride and the stiffness will be gone in a minute or two. Hydraulic fluids, et al, should be good to -35C or below, though they will stiffen before that, ...
16
I ride year round, and it can get very cold in January/February. Layers are your friend.
here's my winter riding gear:
annotated on Flickr
The trick is the windproof shell. With that on, it's VERY easy to stay warm, even down to -30˚C or lower. And windproof layers on hands and feet. Wind is evil when it's cold. EVIL!
One trick I use is to put a layer ...
16
Studded tires are a must on ice. They are expensive, but well worth it! A couple of points to consider that have not been mentioned:
Footwear: Winter specific riding shoes or boots. For mountain biking and cross, I ride with Lake boots. On the road, I use an older pair of road shoes that have been stretched to accommodate thick wool socks and neoprene shoe ...
14
I have a continuum of clothes that I add on as the weather gets colder.
During the summer, I ride like you do with shorts and a t-shirt. As things cool of a little bit, down below 60F/15C, I'll put on a windbreaker over my t-shirt and some full-finger gloves on my hands. The next step for me is to add an Under Armour Cold Gear shirt (many companies make ...
13
I wear a Bern Brentwood with a winter liner in cold weather. It's a certified bike helmet, but designed more like a ski helmet. The winter liner does a great job of keeping my ears warm without wearing any other protection, but doesn't block traffic noise. It is vented, but not well enough that it makes my head cold. It also has a clip in the back for ski ...
12
Wash it. Dry thoroughly. You can even wax it if you truly love your ride...
Lube the chain
Lubricate all pivot points (derailleurs, brake handles, etc)
Loosen the tension on the cables and put a small amount of grease on the cable ends.
If the hubs haven't been overhauled in a while you can do that.
Remove the seatpost and if metal apply a light coat of ...
12
Well, this probably sounds gross and I'm kind of reluctant to say it, but I'm able to blow the snot out of my nose without hitting myself or my bike. I try to only do it when there's no one around, but occasionally that isn't possible. Basically, I turn my head so my nostrils are towards the ground and exhale forcibly through my nose. I'm not sure it will ...
11
Like the other answers, disc brakes are the only way to go if you plan on your brakes getting wet at all. After riding disc brakes for a while now, I will never go back, even in good conditions. I would also really recommend hydraulic disc brakes over mechanical ones, especially in poor conditions. With hydraulic brakes, you don't have to pull as hard to get ...
11
As mentioned in this answer to another question, I commute all winter in central Vermont with a Giro 9 ski helmet and goggles. The winter weather here has lots of sleet and snow with temperatures mostly in the 5*F-20*F range with sub-zero temps at times.
This Giro helmet [and apparently many recent ski helmets] conform to the ASTM 2040 safety standard. ...
11
Bike-specific full-finger gloves are generally going to give you more dexterity, allowing you finer control over shifters and brake levers. They'll also have padding in the places you need it when riding. However, very few of these gloves will be warm enough for winter riding.
The best solution I've found is to ride with a few layers of gloves, using ...
11
Here a few other considerations:
Make sure bike is 100% dry
Yes oil chain and all other gears, bearings etc...
If bike is steel, oil or repaint any exposed metal
If bike steel, add nice layer of car wax and buff
If bike is carbon, polish with Lemon fresh wood furniture polish
If saddle is leather polish'er up with some mink oil or other leather conditioner
...
11
There's no great way. The main problem is that inhaled cold air causes an automatic reaction in the nasal passages to create more mucous. And to a degree simply having cold air blowing against the face around the sinuses creates the problem. Some people will experience this worse than others.
You can try using some sort of scarf or maybe a surgical mask ...
10
Your area gets colder than mine. I ride through winter, but mostly deal with rain, puddles and cold.
Basics: for wet conditions (puddles, rain), you need fenders (aka mudguards). The fuller the coverage the better, and mudflaps at the end are good. See this comment on the useful accessories community wiki for the specific model I happen to use. You'll ...
10
Most rides in the cold I start out freezing. Once my body has generated some heat I'm great. Typically my outer layer is wind blocking followed by a jersey. Depending on the temperature I'll have either a long sleeve polypro shirt or just my arm warmers under that.
I have both leg warmers and fleece lined tights. I wear the tights if it's colder. If it's ...
10
Yes, get a jacket. Also, you can get reflective bands which you can put around your ankles - I think these show up really well to drivers.
For road riding, it's all about being safe and that means you need to be seen by others. Top of the range expensive lights will help you see where you're going. They will help drivers see you too, but most drivers have ...
10
While the obvious answer is that you really should have lights and a reflective jacket or vest, I'm assuming this is the real world and you have limited resources! Let's go by what conditions you ride in:
If your route is mostly well-lit and being seen is more of a requitement, I'd concentrate on a decent cycling jacket or safety vest. I prefer ...
10
Hypothermia can sneak up on a person. Unless you're paying attention, you usually won't notice until you're extremely cold. Hypothermia can slow your reaction times and cause severe lapses in judgement, so be very careful out there! It's best to avoid it altogether, but if it happens, don't trust yourself to make good decisions.
As far as what to wear: ...
10
It depends on your anticipated conditions. If you're planning on off-roading in snow you need tires with fairly heavy lugs (though too heavy will just collect snow). For ice you definitely need metal-studded tires -- riding a bike on ice otherwise is like riding on grease.
If you ride mostly on roads that are fairly heavily traveled by autos the best ...
10
I live in Yakutsk, Russia, where the temperature sometimes drops as low as -45 °C.
I don't think anything can break if all your parts are in good condition. But I think you shouldn't let your bike stay out in the cold for too long. I suspect the oil in the suspension fork can freeze, temporarily changing it into a rigid fork.
You will need ice tires if you ...
10
From a theoretical point of view, there are some possible methods to take water out of a fabric object, such as a shoe:
"Replacing" the water for another, faster drying liquid and letting it evaporate;
Squeezing the water out directly by compression and twisting (not usually adviseable);
"Force field" like gravity and centrifugation;
Capilary action (which ...
9
Personally I would go with the finish line wet as opposed to the dry.
Typically I use the dry if I want something that will keep my chain looking clean as well as lubricated. From personal experience I have found that I need to reapply the dry lube more often.
I will use a wet lube, sparingly mind you, for the nastier conditions.
Having wasted your ...
9
what are the drawbacks of using an
exercise bike?
Noise (you mentioned this)
Many quickly get bored riding on an exercise bike
Promotes bad cycling form
Can be large, heavy, expensive
My favorite alternative to riding in the snow in the winter is to ride on rollers. The rollers I have used have several advantages
Not as boring
Amazing for form
...
9
Wrapping with plastic for a season will result in trapping moisture, instead of keeping it out. Moisture will penetrate unless you do something extreme like vacuum-sealing (which isn't practical in this case).
You're better off making sure the bike is well-covered to keep off precipitation, but can also breathe to allow excess moisture to evaporate.
...
9
Drop bars in of themselves are fine for winter riding. However, there are some peripheral issues involved. Your average flat bars will offer a bit more control in slippery conditions because flat bars are much, much wider than drop bars. A bike equipped with drop bars may not be the best bike for winter riding. But properly configured and sized drops can be ...
9
Rain, hail, and snow don't hurt a chain. Salt makes it rust, and dirt wears it out.
Salt: You won't get all the salt out without removing the chain from the bike. The chain is doomed. You can, however, easily delay this till spring with regular application of wet chain lube. A bit of rust won't hurt if you ride regularly.
Dirt: Given that the chain only ...
9
I have seen people trailer them, but for a local race here, many people go car free and strap them to the top tube extending back behind the seat, usually onto the rack.
Found many images using google image search for "carry skis on bike"
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5471607772_40dc377ed0_o.jpg
8
While a bike helmet may be better suited for crashing on a very hard surface (tarmac, concrete), skiing helmets are presumably well suited to handling an impact agains the vertical things skiers hit (trees, lift poles). In that respect, a ski helmet might not be as good as a bike helmet but it ought to provide an acceptable level of protection.
One ...
8
ICEBIKE has a good page describing studded tires, including how to make your own. The basic process is as you describe: drive screws from the inside of the tire and cover them with something to protect the tube.
Count the knobs and evenly spread out the 25 screws for each side.
Punch holes, from the outside of the tire, into the designated ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
