This summer, I decided to build a dedicated winter bike, so I could keep my nice bikes clean, and not have to fuss with tires every season. The idea is that this bike will live in my back yard behind the compost pile until the salt trucks come out, then will go back there after the spring rains wash the salt away. For my purposes, winter cycling is defined, not by snow but by salt.
The frame is a 1972 Schwinn Varsity. Sure, it's heavy, but I think it only adds a few pounds to the overall bike. The wheels are a series of lucky bargains: Sun CR18 rims on sale for 8 bucks apiece at Niagara Cycle, spokes from Dan's Comp, and a Shimano coaster hub that I got on eBay for a buck. Tires are studded Nokian. Everything else is from my bins. The chain is pre-rusted, from last winter on another bike.
I love the Ashtabula crank. Of course it's been surpassed by higher performance components, but it was an innovative solution to a complex problem when it was invented.
