knucks

Anyone do this, or rather do you just get knobby/cross tires and mount them on your ride?
I put fenders and some cross tires on, but I'm a little uneasy about the salt/water/ice buildup and it messing up my bike.

Obviously I can wipe it down after each commute, but just curious as to what you all do.

uke

I got two bikes. Neither are "winter bikes", per se, but I figure life's too short not to ride what you've got.

jpdesjar

i put some conti twister cross tires on my steamroller for winter and i have that big clip on fender for the back...might get a set of full fenders soon but meh...

elTwitcho

I've got a winter bike. Platform pedals with Powergrips to accomodate boots, Linear Pull brakes, full fenders and cross tires. When the weather is wet or ****ty I ride that, and when it's dry enough to accomodate riding fast safely, I ride my MASI

ZiP0082

well put! i agree.

jhaber

If they put salt down in your area during the winter having a dedicated winter bike makes sense. No point in ruining your best bike. I have been told that if one does have a winter bike that it makes sense to just leave it out all winter instead of bringing back and forth from inside leading to constant freeze and thawing but I can't verify that myself.

dayvan cowboy

I have a dedicated winter bike, but due to my budget it currently lacks a chain and brake cable. Hopefully by after Christmas. Thankfully right now I'm on winter break from school and don't really need to get anywhere fast in the snow/slush.

jpdesjar

what's the deal with steel frames freezing and thawing? is it bad for the frame? hmmm...need to look into this i suppose, anyone have anything on this?

Sixty Fiver

The ice bike... it's a 1988 Kuwahara Shasta with a fixed gear conversion that is running studded tyres that is also my winter / messenger bike.

Yes... I live in a wintery hell.

nahh

Leaving your bike outside to prevent freeze/thaw makes some sense... Just leave it somewhwere secure and where it won't get wet from the elements.

planyourfate

I bring my bike in after every ride and leave it in my entry way. It's warm there and drys quickly. I dunno about leaving a bike outside; I mean I've heard it being done, but I don't really get the point...freeze thaw is going to happen when its outside anyway. I prefer to keep mine inside where it can get the ice melted off and I am certain the brake cables aren't going to be frozen in place the next time I need to stop quick.

I've been doing research about winter foot retention...anyone have any suggestions about it. Right now I've got no retention so I can Fred Flintstone it if I happen to hit ice (which is often). But I was thinking I might just run a nylon strap sorta loose a la powergrip style.

Saddle Up

Not quite hell here, I'm next door, we get the Chinook winds to break up the winter. I grew up near your neck of the woods so I understand completely.

joetotale

No, but I will build one up once I get all of the insurance money to replace my dead Trek conversion. I currently have a Steamroller, which isn't exactly a premium piece of craft, but I would prefer to let an old road frame take the constant Chicago sleet and salt assault than my Steamy.

I'm thinking maybe an old Alu frame, maybe a Technium or Trek 1000 or something, for that. Though after taking my brother's SS 29er for a spin in Detroit over the Thanksgiving weekend, I'm leaning in that direction as well.

What I'm trying to say is that I want 10 more bikes.

crawdaddio

Yep.
Aluminum trek mountain bike.
Why worry about your nice bike?
'specially in chhicago where winter road sludge/slush/salt is hell on bikes.

solbrothers

solbrothers

Duellist

I've been riding my usual track bike, though I'm considering getting a real cheap singlespeed with fenders and knobbly tires. Still, the thought of leaving my beloved LeJeune at home and not enjoying my commute nearly so much is galling.

I hit a huge patch of black ice this morning, couldn't swerve around it or stop. I held my breath and rolled right over. I didn't skid at all. Quite astonishing.

2bdfrnt

Ride this...

Go to his site.

ianjk

No real freeze/thaw for about 4 months for me.

Just keep the bike outside because every time I bring it in:

a. I have to clean up a huge mess of sand/salt/slop from my door to the basement.
b. Have to clean up a pool of water/slop after it thaws out.
c. Have to deal with brake cable freezing when I bring it back out as moisture somehow manages to get in there.
d. Have to deal with salty water seeping into every nook and cranny of the bike/components.


I have a pretty safe place to lock my bike up (have a couple junkers unlocked in the back yard to deter bike thieves) and have a ghetto-fied winter beater that looks like something a bum wouldn't even bother riding.

p.s. Winter tip: plastic BMX saddles don't get wet

52x15

Well that depends, do you have snowy winters or not? Up in Minnesota we get some nasty snows, but we also have reral cold snaps with no snow. When it's snowless I ride my regular road bike(but with stomp pedels to accomidate boots). If it's snowy (like right now, 2" unplowed) then I use an 18" BMX bike. In snow I like somthing lower to the ground because I have less of a distance to fall. And also because of the low gearing, and high RPM's, your legs don't get to cold.

Kol.klink

Get some Full fenders, some merino wool, Make sure you have tools, And just ride, I ride Slicks all year round i find cross tires have less traction, i'd rather spend the money on warm clothes, and avoid 26" MTB tires like the plauge they the worst winter tire i've used


I ride the same rig all year round last year i got a new wheel set in the spring, My hubs were shot, but i that was more due to them being **** than the winter, Repacked my headset, gave the bike a good wash come april, and i was good to go. i built a winter rig lasy year, but i missed my fixie too much.

Ken Cox

I ride in snow and ice 24/7, sometimes when only the snowplows and sand trucks take to the road.

Two years ago I fell on ice, broke four ribs and punctured and collapsed a lung.

Besides the pain and inconvenience, this cost me a month of work.

I have since built a dedicated "Ice Bike," which I ride whenever I have concerns about the snow and ice.

For my Ice Bike I chose a Surly Karate Monkey frame because it has a curved seat tube that allows the rear wheel to come forward more, under the saddle, which in turn lightens up the front wheel and lets it climb more easily over ruts and otherwise accommodate unexpected "bumps" in the snow.

I put studded knobby 3.25" Nokian 294's on it, and with a 32 tooth chainring and 17 tooth cog this gives me 54 gear inches.

At 54 gear inches I can cruise at 15mph on dry pavement and still have plenty of torque for rutted snow.

I put a Cane Creek Thudbuster seat post on it because I found that unexpected bumps tended to throw me off the bike, and the 3" of travel on the Thudbuster keeps me on the bike no matter what.

On previous winter bikes I found that my brakes and derailleurs would sometimes freeze solid, especially with freezing rain or with mixed slush, and so I chose a fixed gear bike so that I wouldn't need brakes or derailleurs.

Nonetheless, I have a cantilever brake fore and aft, just in case I throw a chain, or if I get going fast downhill and can't get my feet back on the pedals.

I ride with up-angled bullhorns because I feel much more in control in rutted snow than I do with flat bars or drops.

I have a cut-down metal fender in back to get rid of the majority of the rooster tail that comes up with water on the road, and no fender in front.

I went with the above fender style because snow sometimes sticks to the knobbies and packs up between the tire and the fender; and, with a lot of unsupported fender, the snow can bend and break the fender.

So, I ride with a minimal but well-supported metal fender in back, only.

I put a water bottle cage on the downtube in order to hold a water-bottle-shaped battery for a ten watt headlight on the bars.

I have another battery in my pack that goes to another ten watt light on my helmet.

I commute 7.5 miles to work, day or night, rain or snow, and, with this bike, it takes me 35 to 45 minutes depending on the amount of snow on the road and whether the ruts have frozen.

Since I started riding this bike, I have had to get off the bike and backtrack on foot to a better road only once, due to VERY deep frozen-solid ruts.

Because of the side studs on these Nokian 294's, I can climb the sides of frozen ruts even at an oblique angle, except for the instance mentioned above.

I have found that the fixed gear gives me more control in ruts and on very bumpy snow.

I would like to have a third bike, something like a Surly Steamroller, that would accept Nokian 106's, as this would give me a more efficient bike for those days when I have ice and snow but no ruts.

ZiP0082

Ken: that Karate Monkey sounds amazing -- do you have a picture of it built up?

brandonspeck

My "Winter Bike" is a Trek Soho-S.
Full fenders, knobby tires, etc.

I love the frame because it's more like a mountain bike. It's also aluminum so it's not subject to any of that "thawing" nonsense I hear about steel frames in the winter. It sounds kinda bogus to me.

But yeah, I love it. The gearing is pretty mellow, and I get through the snow and ice fairly.

Although I try to avoid the ice at all costs. does great though.

centuryman

Constant freezing and thawing is not the problem. When things like eyeglasses and bicycles are brought into a warm environment from the cold they fog up because moisture condenses on the cold surfaces. Some people think this moisture condensation on the inside (unprotected side) of the tubes will result in a rusting problem. IMHO it seems pretty minor compared to the riding environment. If you're worried about it just get some tube protecting spray and use it. I ride year round and have always brought bikes into the house after cold rides. In 30 years I've never had a problem with rust from condensation on the inside of the tubes.