Winter-ready Commuter - does this bike exist?
 

I’m looking for a winter-capable commuter. It will supplement my usual bike (Jamis Bosanova from 2011). I’ve compiled a list of criteria, and I haven’t found a bike that has all of them. I’d love to hear if anyone knows of a bike with these elements. Or, alternatively, I’d love to hear feedback on why my criteria are silly.

• flat bars
• Disc brakes
• thru axles
• clearance for wide-ish tires (40s) while using fenders (I plan to run studded tires)
• internal gearing (e.g., Alfine)
• not too expensive
• no front suspension

Thanks for all input!

I think it’s pretty unlikely that you are going to find a bike with both internal gearing and through axles. Other than that, you could build this bike on of a lot of different frames.

Thank you. Is there something incompatible with internal gearing and thru axles? I’m a bit ignorant on both, to be honest.

Not technically, I suppose... there just aren’t any. Chain tension would make it inconvenient at least. The anti rotation washers need a drop out that drops out

google says Rohloff makes one, but your wallet isn’t going to want to hear about it.

I found you a thread about how to make it work on a Surly
https://forums.mtbr.com/surly/gnot-b...h-1044463.html

Thanks again! I read that thread, and it sounds complicated. I’ll be happy with internal gearing OR thru axles.

:lol:

What's winter like in your area? For reference, I'm in Minneapolis area.

I like your list. My one edit was single-speed instead of internal gearing. I had a hilly commute and kept it small gearing for the climbs and freewheeled down.

OTOH - I've never purchased a winter-commuter, it's always been re-purposing an older bike that meets most requirements.

I agree with Hypno Toad, your feature list seems pretty reasonable. I'm in SW Ontario for reference. I'm not sure I'd include thru-axles as a must have.

I've done singlespeed, and while it was serviceable I prefer IGH. I like having higher gearing for clear days and lower gearing to churn through snow drifts when necessary. My dislike of freewheeling downhills may be unreasonable. :)


You could consider any frame with semi-horizontal forward-facing dropouts. A threadless headset would be ideal but not necessary - makes finding bars/stems easier. To winterize, build up a wheelset with drum or roller brakes and IGH, which is what I've done to improve the all-weather performance of my non-disc Surly LHT. Make the front a dyno-hub for bonus points.

I'll echo others in saying that I don't understand your desire for thru-axles. While I have never used one, I also never had any problems with QR skewers and I use disk brakes.

The REI CTY 1.3 almost ticks all of your boxes, plus belt drive which I find great for winter commuting (less maintenance than a chain).

I say "almost" because only the front wheel is thru-axle. I'm not sure the Alfine IGH has a thru-axle option, but in any case the bolts allow a really solid connection to keep the belt tensioned properly.

$1350, which I think is a good price for what you get ("not too expensive" is subjective...).

Mine just finished it's first year as my year-round commuter. 5000 miles on the mean streets of Boston and I'm still really happy with it. I posted a review here a while back, you can hunt that down.

https://www.rei.com/product/122465/c...es-cty-13-bike

Have a look at Surly or Soma. They make disc brake frames with drop-outs which can be build up with IGH.

Per above, it looks easier on the ones not made for thru axles. Frustrating!

Salsa makes a few frames with “Alternator” drop outs which will accommodate IGH in the rear and whatever fork in the front. Fargo, Mukluk, Timberjack

This ^^.
My "winter" bike is a folder because it has to go on a train (Chicago area). I went to a roller brake on the rear wheel to put a stop to the severe rim wear that was happening as a result of the salt and slush. The rear hub is a Shimano Nexus 8-speed, which has been virtually bullet-proof over about 10,000 miles. I have a dynohub and a nice, bright LED headlight and a rechargeable rear light. The bike has fenders so I don't wear the slush. IMO, the best adaptation to winter was the addition of studded tires; I'm too old to take a hard fall. ;-)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aa272bd9d.jpeg

My winter-adapted commuter thawing out in the men's room at work.

EDIT: Also mudflaps!

Priority makes some good options (except for the thru axle)

I ride a Salsa Journeyman in the winter in Eastern Iowa. It is a quite hilly area with pretty extreme winter conditions. We had a good stretch of sub zero (F) last winter, even dipping down below -30 for a few days. Combine this with a good amount of snow and ice, as well as super salty, ****ty surfaced roads, and i think a bike that works well in the winter here would work well just about anywhere. I commute everyday, year round, and had great luck with the Sora equipped Journeyman. Granted, there is no thru axles, or hub gearing, but it checks all of your other boxes. With the full cable housings and reliable mechanical brakes, i had zero issues the entire winter, with minimal maintenance. I did install a rustbuster chain and run sintered pads on this bike. My fenders clear a 650x48 tire, and also a studded 700c (i switch between 2 wheelsets depending on conditions). I have the drop bar version, but Salsa offets a flat bar version as well, and both are reasonably priced. Lots of mounts for commuting gear on the frame, and little worry about rust with the aluminum frame and carbon fork. I didn't miss a shift the entire winter with traditional derailleur components, even through ice storms. Just my 2 cents.

Breezer Downtown 7 Step-over? MSRP $699. Comes stock with 700x35 tires and fenders, don't know what the max would be. Not disc brakes though. Not sure Breezer makes any discs.

I don't think Surly offers a stock Straggler build with flatbar (like they used to for CrossCheck), but you could buy a Straggler frameset for $500 and build it up exactly as you describe (except thru-axles)

Or if you REALLY want wide tires, how about a Krampus?

Surly's "hybrid" this year uses a Bridge Club frame*, which is basically in between a Troll and Ogre without their special features. I think it would be a fine bike to own but it doesn't really tick willweb's boxes.


https://surlybikes.com/uploads/bikes...-2000x1333.jpg

* say "bridge club frame" out loud five times fast

Thanks everyone very much for the feedback. There’s a lot of great stuff here to consider.

As I was poking around, I came across the Presidio from Marin. Does anyone have any experience with this bike? The higher end versions stretch (actually, break) the “not too expensive” factor, but I’m curious what others’ impressions are.

https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/20-presidio-4-dlx

Instead of the highest version of the Presidio, might the Priority 600 (with a Pinion gearbox) be a better value? https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/the600

Those are pretty sweet. I didn't even know Marin was still in business!

1 and 2 are pretty good value, and the price jump to 3 for a belt drive I'd say is worth it. More than double price jump from there to the 4 DLX I don't think is worth it for rack, fenders, kickstand, generator hub, and lights.

It's a nice touch that the rear rack and fender appear to be a single item (I've always thought that's an obvious design plus that should be common), but the front fender is laughably short -- it needs to get down near the ground to protect your shoes at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

So of that range, if you like the belt drive, I'd recommend buying the 3, and adding as many of those extra features you want. I bet if you shop carefully you could do it all for another $300.

If the belt drive doesn't catch your fancy, the only difference I'm seeing between the specs of the 1 and 2 are 3-speed --> 7-speed, and alu fork --> steel fork. And the paint on the 1 looks way cooler. You already have fairly wide tires, going to a steel fork is not going to make that much difference in comfort. So if you are in a flat area and can get away with a 3-speed, I'd get the 1. The extra cash can go towards the fenders etc that you want.

I agree, the level 4 upgrades are all to more expensive parts, but needlessly; and the accessories come cheap.

But it does have a thru axle fork :-p

Go all in and do what I did.

Buy a velomobile.

1 -Fully enclosed drive train, so rain, snow, etc don't affect it. Still have to hose off the wheels and other metal parts when they start salting the roads, though.

2- Three wheels, so it can handle a little slipping and sliding in much more treacherous conditions than a typical bike.

3 - Fully enclosed (not shown with 'race cap') which makes it reasonably comfortable at much lower temperatures!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c50b26220b.jpg

The Priority 600 is the least expensive way in the U.S. to buy a new Pinion gearbox bike. It is solid, smooth, and practically bombproof. One thing to keep in mind is that it runs with 650b rims/tires, which is increasingly popular for urban/dirt cruising, but has only one studded tire option that I am aware of (Suomi A10) for your winter riding.

I would think the perfect winter commuter must have a sealed chain guard that houses the entire chain assembly from the rear derailleurs and cassette to the chain ring. If it's a commuter, it'll be riding through urban salted snow and slush.

Maybe a Fat bike. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear...kes-explained/

The hilliness (didn't know that was a word) of your commute could direct the decision; how bad is it?