mattbur

This was my first ride in the snow on my winter bike. I had the tires studded for a bit now but waited for a good amount of snow to get it out. There was about 8" of snow on the road and the township hadn't plowed yet. Well, it was much more difficult than I thought it would be...I guess the 8" was just too much. It was a short ride but good to get out none-the-less. Next time I'll wait for the plow to go thru. lol

here's a pic.

GrainBrain

Some awesome winter bikes! I just use my mtb, nothing special. For this year I drastically upgraded the lighting which is the best thing ever. Some Amazon cheapie 1600 lumen beast with an external battery pack. I run continental cross kings with the black chili compound, seriously grippy when inflated to 32 psi and still rolls great.
@DQRider that's a gorgeous ride.

DQRider 

Well thanks, @GrainBrain, I appreciate that. I really struggled with the thought of using this rare Barracuda for a winter bike, but the fact that the paint finish was in such good shape helped me make the decision to go ahead. As long as I keep it nice and watch for any scratches - and treat them as soon as they appear - it should get through the salty season corrosion-free.

rumrunn6

swapped the Proteks for the 40mm Marathon studs. moved the barmitts from the other bike. so I guess this is my winter bike. test ride in the parking lot & around our condo complex road including an icy hill. it passed muster. too late to go for a ride. I took it easy today cuz of a 36 hr headache





ordered an accessory extension (for the light & sportcam) cuz the barmitts cover up a lot of the bars

rumrunn6

yeah deep snow is definitely harder to ride thru than on top of a thin hard layer

mattbur

Rum, I noticed the pic of your tire and wondered about the length of the stud protruding. I followed the instructions on studding a tire and used the #8 self tappers as described in the article. I have 6mm protruding from the surface of my tire. Is that too much?

In your opinion should I snip some of that length down a bit. Now I wonder if too much stud sticking out will make it more difficult for me to peddle...more resistance maybe.

You have a nice set-up there. If I end up liking this winter biking I may have to make some add on accessories to mine. What model Trek is it?

Tony

rumrunn6

the bike is a Trek 7.0 Alpha. pretty darn basic, nothing fancy but reliable. if I have time I'll try to measure how much stud is showing on my tires, do you have a closeup photo of yours? here's what mine looked like w/o any snow embedded (last winter)



and this was on the first ride

Metieval

studs and tread are over rated.

Minimal maintenance, however once the salt starts working... IT gets messy mud guards are a very desirable thing to have on a winter bike.

rumrunn6

that's badass but did you stay upright on that?

rode on solid ice covered by several inches of fresh snow today

Metieval

I went down once. I got too comfortable and hit an off camber. to be fair I couldn't stand on that off camber either. as in I tried to walk back out onto the road and couldn't

ice absolutely not, but if there is snow laying around, I can ride on it. Snow isn't nearly as slick as people think it is. I also generally ride better on slicks than I do knobs. Knobs really only helps when the sun is out and the snow surface is tacky. (Super rare in Ohio lol)
Edit: Knobs help on deeper snow also. I just find knobs to be slippery when there is just a dusting of snow. Not enough surface contact.
That fresh snow looks SO FUN!!!!

Hatchet

This is my first winter bike commuting, and I thought I'd try a fat bike. So far, so good. Last week we had a ice storm of sorts and for the last leg of my commute my rear derailleur froze, so I got a chance to try a single speed!

Hatchet

Love that old GT frame, I am thinking of doing something similar with an old Schwinn...

rumrunn6

sweet cudda used that Saturday over some nasty hard bumpy ice

srestrepo

i have some other pictures but this is my GT Grade after my first full week of commuting in the snow.

hope you guys like it

kingston 

Jury Townie with the spikes on for the winter.

DQRider 

While this is not a purpose-built winter bike, it did just fine on the cleared MUPs in our area on Saturday. As long as you steer a straight course across the ice patches, there is little danger of falling.

noglider 

I have a whole fleet of winter bikes. I share it with the rest of the city. These bikes weigh 50 lbs and offer an upright riding position. The older ones have 3-speed hubs, and the new ones have continuously variable ratios. All have a drum brake in each wheel.

daBiker

Winters are brutal here in northern Arizona. Need to carry extra sunblock and some PBR pounders to keep cool.

rumrunn6

if the roads are clear, I can still ride this bike

ussprinceton

all my photos of my winter bikes are on photobucket. Can't access them due to the pop-up adds. I'll try to take new ones and upload them on imgur

GrainBrain

Thought I'd throw this one up here, second big snow of our season.

@daBiker, I'm insanely jealous!

rumrunn6

another bar mitt man

adele87

Screen Shot 2018-02-12 at 1.44.11 AM.png
This is my bike that I am using for winter. It's new. It is a 2018 Trek CrossRip 2.

GrainBrain

I love the picture, it just says "Old man winter, I'm coming for you! And this time, it's personal!"

digitalmouse

My newest winter addition to my stable of recumbents: A used Sinner Mango Plus velomobile!