JonathanGennick 

I love a rain like that, because then I can get out and really enjoy the studded tires. Normally the studs are extra rolling resistance, but on smooth ice they are a delight.

alias5000

Just slowly starting to give my bike a pre-winter overhaul, so that it rides smooth and well during the cold session: wheel brings, remove dirt and grime from the drivetrain, redo rust prevention measures, get lights and fenders back into prefect condition.
GF just finished some hand-knit lobster gloves for me yesterday

mcours2006

I'm still riding my three-season bike, but it won't be long now before that gets put away for the season and out comes the winter bike with longer fenders, wider and/or studded tires. I'm not looking forward to it, but it'll give me a chance to clean the other bike.

BobbyG

I'm not done with 2018 until midnight Dec 31st. It's drier and slightly warmer here in Colorado Springs than where you are, with less traffic. Before I bought studded snow tires I had more "treadmill" days indoors, but I never really have had a no-biking season since moving here 26 years ago.

Jim from Boston

Studded tires IMO are best on so-called "black ice," or hardpack snow, but, just a couple minutes ago I posted to another thread, "Rolling resistance and weight vs puncture resistance"

Stadjer

Yes, but in the evening or the next day the ice is probably gone through a change of weather or salt is sprayed, or it's gotten worse and everybody stays home. Changing the tyres would make sense if there's snow and ice for a longer period of time, but it can always change suddenly here. Having a full chaincase, because of that weather, doesn't make changing the tyres any easier.

noglider 

@Stadjer, we call that freezing rain. Luckily we don't often get it in the NYC area. I understand Ohio gets it often.

Jim from Boston

The Annual "Put My Bike Away for Winter" Thread
, but I just did. I think these lame winter cycling threads really “jump the shark,” when the California and Florida cyclists chime in.

FYA, there is a current thread on the Winter Cycling Forum, “Emergency Winter Cycling Kit?,” and I quote such stalwarts as @mcours2006 of Toronto, @PaulRivers of Minneapolis, @rumrunn6 of Boston, and @dabac of somewhere.

JonathanGennick 

I leave my studs on all winter. It's just that I enjoy them more when there is smooth ice to ride on. I'll actually veer into icy patches on purpose when I'm out riding.

Stadjer

Yes, appearantly is quite specific to certain weather conditions, which does not help with trainslation. With things that are about the same everywhere like rain you get clear 1 on 1 translations, now I wasn't sure wether it was black ice, freezing rain, glaze ice or something else. I'm not much an ice skater myself, but you can see at 1.40 it's smooth enough:

That wouldn't work for me, it's not even certain ter will be snow or ice at all, and if there is it's usually a few days and maybe another few days in a couple of months.

noglider 

That video is amazing. Now I remember stories of ice skating in the Netherlands I read when I was a kid. You seem to get a lot of ice. I have never seen anyone skating in the street or on the sidewalk. The video suggests it is fairly common there. Here, people only skate at rinks. In the north, they skate on lakes and rivers, but some places that used to be safe are no longer safe because of climate change.

Ged117 

Put me down for the Schwalbe studded winter tires. Excellent on ice and reasonable amounts of snow. Last winter here on the north shore of Lake Ontario was indeed brutal. Last I heard, the forecast for this one looks better. Yesterday was sunny and nice and I took the Voyageur out for what is likely the last time before April and I'm sure I will miss it. This weekend I'll do the pre-winter workup maintenance on the Norco, and then in a few weeks the studded tires will go on for full winter mode. It works out well for inclement weather as a cheap commuter with disc brakes - though a bit heavy. I've going to switch out the old pedals for my new V12 platforms which should work very well with my hiking boots on the winter commute. All I want for Christmas is a Brooks B17 Imperial to go with it. The Voyageur is spoiled with one but I'm very tired of the standard cheapo saddle on the Norco.

As for the winter commute ride, the primary concern is distracted drivers as per usual. My commute is along side streets with a few short sections of main arterial route along a painted bike lane. The city has launched a pilot project to snowplow the bike lanes this winter (yay) which means I'll be able to keep to my route. There are a few sections where I'll have to be extra vigilant due to the aforementioned iced / fogged car windows and sleepy drivers. Honestly I'm not looking forward to it as much as I once did, despite the positive feeling I get from the ride. If folks would just slow down...

pdlamb

The roads here are dark at night, lightly cycled any time of the year, but I'll keep on riding until/unless we get snow or ice.

I'm actually glad for the end of DST. It gives me another hour of light for the morning commute. In the evenings I prefer it to be dark than getting dark; the glare of the setting sun worries me (I'm not sure I'm visible to the driver fighting to see the road without getting blinded), and I frankly thing I'm more conspicuous at night. I've got 2-4 rear lights, and 1-3 front lights, and people who would otherwise not see me or think, "I can pull out in front of that bicyclist" see the lights coming and wait for me.

alan s 

alias5000

Right something I didn't consider when going the 'one-bike-can-do-it-all' route for commuting: it has to be fully assembled again by the end of a maintenance session. Having spare bikes makes this much easier...

Papa Tom

Jim From Boston & Others,

I do realize this topic has been beaten to death over the years, but in this world where so few people really communicate with each other anymore, I consider any thread that gets people talking a success.

Sure, it's going to be another endless succession of people bragging about how they ride all winter, and sure, there are going to be some who sound critical of those of us who don't. But yin and yang makes the world go round.

NiGoCo

I'm in a good location to ride all year. Even with the time change it's still dark my entire commute in and still daylight on my way home.

Bikewolf

Of course, it’s more fun if you can ride as long as possible — without having to stop.
A smooth surface helps. But sometimes snow/ice can hinder your progress. And then there is crazy traffic :-/

no motor?

Not yet, I ride until it gets to be too slippery outside. Then I'm done until spring.

Stadjer

There's a lot of water so if it freezes hard for a while there's suddenly a great outdoors to enjoy with canals, lakes, ditches and ponds, often connected. But it's always an 'if' so when it freezes the people feel they have to take the opportunity and there's a skating fever in the country. Sensible people, often over 50, who go out on very thin ice because it might be gone tomorrow and they'll have to wait for years maybe, they've fell through a few times in their life. After the ice has thickened safely, everybody who can skate will skate, most of them never go to a rink allthough that's relatively popular too, but natural ice has a different appeal, people love the sound of the ice (cracking), the low sun's light, the wind and the blush that is said to be unique to skating. It's like track cycling vs recreational cycling, just a few rounds on a small lake in the woods, on a close by canal but also young parents doing a 30 km tour pushing a baby stroller. It's safe because it's crowded, not like the huge lakes with only a few skaters like in Scandinavia or the US where you have to drive to. On top of that there is "11-city tour-fever", it's a traditional 200 km event that needs more than a couple of weeks of hard freezing and can only be finished by the good skaters who are tough and in good shape. It will probably never happen again through global warming, but after a week of very low temperatures everybody gets their hopes up and it's in the headlines everyday. The last one was in '97. It's seasonal madness.

So when the streets freeze up smoothly, they have to take the opportunity too because the canals and lakes might not freeze up at all. It's not as enjoyable as 'real' ice but at least the fanatics didn't miss an opportunity to skate that year. Come to think of it, cycling on ice is much easier than cycling on frozen rain, it's a bit less slippery, the surface is more predictable and there's no canter.

noglider 

Fun stuff, @Stadjer. Thanks for the descriptions!

CreakingCrank

Threads like this make me appreciate being able to ride year-round. A dozen or so 110+ F summer days is a small price for an entire winter's riding season.

Steely Dan

Threads like this make me appreciate being able to ride year-round. Several dozen days of riding on studded tires is a small price for never having to ride in triple digit heat.

fietsbob

Temperate rain forest lands with Pacific Ocean Current off shore , is Goldilocks..

Neither too hot, nor too cold. but for a couple days ..
80s in summer is hot , here but not for long

under 0C is rare, and short term.. too ..

I have an old MTB with Studded tires , for the days when it's icy...




...

JonathanGennick 

It's a good topic though, and it's interesting to learn about conditions elsewhere on the planet. The variation in what "winter cycling" means is pretty amazing.