baldilocks

My riding has really stalled. I had not put my studs on because we've had no snow or ice. We finally got snow, but it looks like tomorrow it will be 46. I don't know weather to put studs and err on the side of caution. I suppose the worst thing i would have to do is re-stud my tires. I'm in northern Indiana. Is anyone else having a wimpy winter? How are you dealing with it?

wolfchild

Yes we've had crappy weather in my area too for the last few weeks. Snow, ice, rain, freeze/thaw cycles, cold, warm...it's been a mixture of everything... I continue to ride, I am not going to give up riding because of crappy weather. Last night we had a little bit of snow, and the temps went below freezing, I started my new years day by riding singletrack mountain bike trails for about 2 hours this morning.

baldilocks

So have you been riding on the roads? If so, have you been using studded tires?

SalsaShark

I have 2 wheelsets setup for the winter bike this year. One has studded Schwalbe 700x35 tires, the other Gravelking SK 650x48. With disc brakes, a wheel swap takes about a minute to switch if needed for weather predictions. Has worked great for me. Majority of riding has been on the 650b wheelset this year.

bpcyclist

It is currently 54F at 2 pm and the sun is shining here in Portland. For those of you who have not visited Seattle or Portland in January, I congratulate you. We normally have two colors here this time of year: grey and black. We will probably set some record highs today in parts of the state. It is just ridiculous. We are so far behind on precipitation that the forest fire situation people are already freaking their stuff about what's gonna happen in July. Or maybe it will be April this year. Who knows. The weather is just not normal here in the least. And no, I do not want to get into a discussion about the global climate--not the intent of this post. Hopefully, noone else does either...

wolfchild

Yes, we had a couple of very icy days throughout December of last year, I had to use studded tires several times during my commutes on pavement.

baldilocks

I've put the studs on. Eventually I will get a second set of rims. I figure it will be cheaper to replace worn studs than fix a broken hip.

parkbrav

Sorry for joining this thread late. I use studs all winter on pavement, mostly for the peace of mind. Ever since 2015 ("Snow-meggedon"), Boston has been getting mild winters. In fact, last winter was the 2nd lowest snow totals on record (it rained a lot though). I still wear the studs even if it's just dry pavement.

Point is: studs for the peace of mind, especially if it does snow or for when it freezes over.

As it's my safety, I have absolutely no guilt about studs on dry pavement (ok, maybe just a little). Would you feel bad about keeping studs on your car if you drive a car? I doubt it.

baldilocks

Yeah, you are right. It just sounds better hearing it from someone else. Last year was my first year with studs. One morning I went out and it seamed fine half the way to work. Then I went down one street that was a sheet of ice. It looked like glass all the way down it all 4 lanes. I did fine, but I wouldn't have rode if I'd have known because car's were sliding all over. But from the day I put the studs on last season I needed them, and If they wear down this year, my safety is worth new studs. Besides, I'll have all summer to buy them.

Ghazmh

I’d say we’re having what feels like a mild winter in the metro Boston area to me so far. I have been dealing with it quite nicely by riding more winter miles than ever before.

parkbrav

Agree it's been mild in Boston. The Polar Vortex usually doesn't impact us until the last week of January and first week of February (on average the coldest week of the year).

Usually it starts snowing in February and March.

rumrunn6

my ride day is Saturday (forecast 57 degrees & partly sunny/cloudy). have to decide if I want to ride the road or mountain bike. the studded hybrid will get no use.

Sunday will be 66 degrees & raining. I get out of work at 12, maybe a bonus ride this week?

need to start riding after work again cuz February/March loom on the horizon. gotta get more rides in before then ...

wipekitty

Well, I'm in the non-deep South for a year

I originally thought it was overkill to bring three bikes for a year, but I'm happy I did. I've got the road bike (for nice weather, and road biking), the crappy single speed (rain), and a gravel bike with studded tires. On those few occasions with a combination of rain and temperatures that drop below freezing, it's nice to have the studs ready to go.

I don't think anyone down here has ever seen studded tires, so that's fun too.

parkbrav

Hey Congrats! I hear that a "cold day" in the deep South might be cloudy and 68 degrees. Care to comment? How does that compare to good-ole Wisconsin?

I say that here in Boston where the temps are a record high for this day of 66 and sunny

wolfchild

It's been raining so hard today in my area that some local areas are in danger of flooding...Unbelievable that this is happening in the middle of January.

bobwysiwyg

Ditto here in Michigan. Got up this a.m. and it was 56F . Two hours later it was 36F!
Lots of rain, aerial flood warnings, etc. So far only half the NOAA prediction for January-March is holding up.

wipekitty

I'm in NC this year - so it still gets "cold". It goes below freezing from time to time, and I've actually had to wear leggings and a jacket for the commute quite a bit, though there have also been plenty of shorts days! Apparently daytime highs below about 55 are considered "cold".

You're right that 68 is a cold day in the Deep South. I did some time down there as well. Winters were weirdly too hot for my taste - NC has a nice little chill to the air and falling leaves, at least!

vs. Wisconsin: It's kind of nice avoiding the sludge for a bit, though I still miss those cold, sunny mornings with fresh snow. Summer though - I am going to die down here. The AC is already running...

rumrunn6

T-shirt & shorts yesterday! sweat was pouring off me. it was crazy, but a welcome freak change. the wind was crazy! knocked over my bike twice, not while I was on it tho. was braced up against a tree cuz I thought other, bigger ones, would snap off suddenly