Trek Roscoe for winter commuting?
 

In Alberta here - last winter I was on a rigid bike with 29 X 2.25 Ice Spiker Pros. Good for many days, but those tires are not great for mashed potatoes and rutted snow/ice on MUP's after people walk/bike etc., and it re-freezes. Much of my route is plowed, but there are always sections that those tires just don't work in. Frustrating to lose all momentum as the front tire veers to one side or another. Commute is 20 miles.

Was considering a fat bike, but I think it would be too much work to commute that distance. Big sale on the Trek Roscoe 7 right now locally. Was thinking that bike with the 27.5 X 3 Wrathchild studded tire and suspension fork may do the trick. That tire has more open lugs for snow/slush where the Ice Spiker just gets pushed around. I hate driving to work in the winter so trying to ride as many days as possible.

Thoughts?

Twenty miles would be too much for a fat bike. Running lower pressure on the bigger tires, in addition to the suspension fork should be much more stable on ice. Still, though, 20 miles is a long distance for a MTB...or is that round trip?

Round trip.

I recently bought a Salsa Timberjack and the Roscoe is very similar. Trek was out of stock nationwide when I was shopping but I'm sure it would have been a hard pick between them. It's just a really straightforward fun simple trail bike. And one feature that's better than the Salsa, it will take a standard rack without it sitting weird. I'm sure you could get it to do almost anything. There's TONS of vertical tire clearance because it's the same frame or nearly so as the 29er X-Caliber.

It wasn't the tires that were the problem. It was the rigid bike. A suspension fork will climb up and over ruts and soft spots while a rigid fork will just plow into it and get knocked off line. A lot of the problem is that the rigid fork requires more countersteer to get out of the rut and you simple can't countersteer so the wheel plows into the rut and you lose control.

I'd say yes to the Roscoe and no to new tires. Get the Roscoe (or something equivalent in a 29er so you can use your other tires). It will make your commute much easier.

On a side note, I'm often amazed at how people think that mountain bikes can't be ridden for more than a few miles. I've done 160 mile, 4 day mountain bike tours on knobby tires. I've done 25, 50, metric centuries and even centuries off-road with knobbed tires. Riding a mountain bike for 10 miles one way and then 10 miles back eight or nine hours later is hardly a "hard" ride.

Doing 20, 50, or 62 miles on a MTB one time is one thing. Having to do it day in a day out is quite another. Sure, I could spend all day out on the trail with a MTB, but with the daily grind of commuting to work it takes its toll.

When I first started commuting by bike I thought that 20 km was too short a ride, so I'd go an extra 10 or 20 just to make it a decent ride. That didn't last long. Now I take the shortest (and safest) route possible. The same thing will happen with commuting with a MTB; it'll get old real quick and you'll be looking for something faster soon after that. That's just my own experience. YMMV.:D

I ride bicycles to work for two reasons: to get to work and because I like riding bikes. I don't necessarily need to get to work as quickly as possible and, quite frankly, the mountain bike changes up the ride significantly, especially if I ride it off-road along trails I've found on the way to work. But I would not use a road bike (the fastest possible way to work) in the snow. For that I use a mountain bike with knobbed tires or studded tires that are suitable for snow, ice or the in-between storm times here in Denver. Laying on the side of the road because that fast bike slide out from under you on ice has a severe impact on your commuting times...not to mention the scrapes and bruises.

canuckjgc's experience with rigid bikes is much like the experiences I had with commuting on rigid mountain bikes back in the distant past before mountain bikes had suspension. Adding front suspension to a mountain bike in conditions where the roads are ice rutted makes the experience a little more endurable and even a little fun. Adding rear suspension helps as well for the same reasons it does for off-road riding. It's a bit of gilding the lily and I wouldn't ride a full suspension bike all the time but it does help.

I think it's just lack of finesse and poor technique...Personally I prefer a rigid fork, yes it's more challenging in rough terrain but I enjoy the extra challenge. Lowering tire pressure is enough suspension for me.

I can agree with that.

A Friend in the USCG, bought a fat bike here, when transferred
to USCG base on Kodiak Island,

He got some studded ones..

For ease of Shipping, all Far bike tires Are folding bead, AFAIK..

No, it isn't a lack of finesse. I've ridden both on the same bike. My forks have lock outs and I've tired to ride with the fork locked. The bike digs into the snow and gets thrown off line with the fork locked but glides and stays on line over the same snow with the fork active.

As for making the ride more challenging, why? You are already riding in snow and cold so why make it harder?

Along similar lines, I do play with tire pressure a lot in winter and it helps. Low pressure for ruts and mess, higher pressure, when the roads are clear to get my tires rolling better (this is tires with a well rolling center line). The suspension I get helps. Also the more square tire shape makes it less likely to be pushed around than with a fully inflated round-ish tire

There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold

I bought the Roscoe and ordered the 27X3 Wratchchild Plus tires. Hoping this is a better winter commute. The Rockshox Judy has a coil fork so with some lightweight oil it should perform ok in the cold I'm thinking. My route is full of ice ruts and car tire ice ruts so the suspension is the way to go.

All this talk about stuff that helps reminded me of this guy.

Funny video, even though it seems pretty sure that guy was faking that accent. First comment is the best "You don't have to turn your phone sideways to record a video... but it helps."