snow_echo_NY

anyone else?

in NYC i counted 4-5 cyclists other than myself. a couple of them were pushing their bike.

this morning i swapped my 700x28 gatorskins for my 700x40 nokian hakkapeliitta studded tires and went to work.

well there was nothing plowed. i was slipping and sliding everywhere.

on the brooklyn bridge, i greeted one of two snow plowers. dodged the tourists (yes they're still there in this blizzard, just like me) and got into manhattan.

it was a ghost town. roads were not plowed, but the building porters were furiously clearing the sidewalks. but there were hardly any pedestrians (or motor traffic either). i rode the sidewalks then to work b/c i kept getting pushed around by the snow in the roads that had been trafficked before me.

over untouched snow, riding over it was fine.

c'mon - who else?? tell us your story today!

snow_echo_NY

here i wrote up in @Colorado_Kid's post

i rode in! wrote up a ride report. it wasn't great. the winds were high and the snow is coming in really fast and sideways.

it's grey and a complete blizzard here on the east coast. white out conditions. the snow is coming in sideways and it's coming in fast and hard. it's really white out conditions here but not much accumulation i would say about 1 in when i was out there this morning - but the wind keeps blowing it around. it's cold here so nothing is melting really. but it's a ghost town.

i got up at 6:30 and started to go to work on changing my wheels out - i have wheels with studded tires, so i switched my normal wheels for those. unscrew the wheel, disconnect the caliper brakes, take it out, put the new ones on, re-screw those in the drops, re-connect the caliper brakes. give it a spin. pump the tires. and go. i wiped down the rims too so that the brakes would have something clean to work on.

i biked in on my bike - changed out my tires this morning for studded tires. it was slippery. almost nothing was plowed. as i got onto the bridge i finally saw the plow descending the bridge to plow the entrance way which i just went thru. i pulled over, gave a wave and kept going. it was surreal but i've seen this all before - just not in awhile i would say. when i got to manhattan - still nothing plowed. but the bldg porters were out there in full force clearing the sidewalks. only there were hardly any pedestrians, nor cars out there. it was deserted for sure. so i rode the sidewalks b/c the streets were too slippery, i was getting pushed around in the uneven snow.

it looks like "snowmageddon" out there. dark and scary.

evan326

You're better than me, I wouldn't chance my commute on my road bike.

rhm

Yesterday, no way. I stayed home. I could have got to work before it started, but to get home I would have had to leave by noon... not worth it.

Today, Friday, I have ridden to the station, interesting ride with some poorly plowed streets and some that haven't been plowed at all. Now I'm on the train in to the city. Something tells me the citibikes won't be available today, but we'll see!

mgw4jc

Got any pictures?

PatrickGSR94

Does it look anything like this from 2 years ago?

rhm

It's pretty much slush in the midtown Manhattan streets now. The travel lanes are clear, but the edges, where bikes go, are still thick with dirty slush. And drivers seem a little on edge.

Abe_Froman

Just been riding through 0F and a couple normal snowstorms here in Chicago.

How do you like the Nokian tires? I've got the studded Schwalbe Winter tires, which are OK. I figured with the semi-smooth tread they would roll ok on non-blizzard days. If I realized how poorly they rolled, I think I would have gone for something more aggressive that would have been better going through snow and rutted snow/ice.

rumrunn6

only in New York, those guys

rumrunn6

I road yesterday & as I started, I remember distinctly thinking, this might be fun but sure glad I don't have to commute in this! hahaha, sorry

rhm

Hey I only just now read the title of this thread !

Didn't anyone get caught in that snowstorm we had a couple weeks ago? I was riding home from the station that afternoon, it was coming down hard, building up fast. Good times! I like riding in an inch or two of fresh snow. The drivers freak out, though, which spoils the fun.

kellichou

Glad you're keeping it real and showing us how it's done, Snow Echo! Good work! Signed, an impressed Colorado girl

robertorolfo

Doormen?

PatrickGSR94

a.k.a. porter

arbee

A quick inquiry, because your subsequent post mentions your bike has studded tires: How were the tires on the Brooklyn Bridge?

For those from Away, between the anchorages, the Brooklyn Bridge’s pedpath is surfaced with wood. If it’s not dry, it’s craptacularly slippery. Unless it’s severe clear, I avoid it.

Because of temperature, 2 days after the storm there’s still plenty of ice out there.

snow_echo_NY

Typically in regular tires I tend to slip back on the “uphill” - I just deal with it. Whether snow or ice...The bike doesn’t do that with studded tires and I tend to have better traction - It was also well plowed so not very much of an issue that day...!

snow_echo_NY

I suppose you can think of them as doormen but they’re not the ones manning security or the doors - they’re the guys that take care of running the building making sure all is taken care of. But they were smart to keep shoveling as it came down bc it piled up in no time and I’m sure got pretty heavy pretty quick.

snow_echo_NY

I missed all these posts!
@evan326 - riding on a road bike is probably a really bad idea. I only have x28 and x40 and I knew I would need a fatter tire - unfortunately that’s the fattest I got. If I had space and $$$ for a fat bike I’d use that in a heartbeat
@rhm I can’t believe how badly the roads are plowed I feel like NYC has gotten worse with this. I saw some citibikes out today Saturday and the roads are still a mess...
@mgw4jc I can probably pull off some vid from my fly 6. I’ll have to look that up. It’s probably not too great but I’ll try for the heck of it

snow_echo_NY

They are knobby as heck and thus super slow. I don’t mind as I’m not looking for less rolling resistance- but my commute is on the short side - it’s virtually a warm up ride - there are some recommendations I saw on the ice bike list.

If you want a faster tire I would stay away from Nokians it sounds like they might be one of the slowest.

Here are some excerpts:

“The winter tire you ride should depend on the typical conditions that you ride in. Are your roads typically plowed but moderate or frequent ice? Then Schwalb Marathon winters are great in my experience. If however you're riding a lot of unplowed rutted snowy icy roads, then Nokian Hakkepitas are better as they have excellent side studs with aggressive knobs plus have softer rubber (with downside they're heavier and do require a bit more clearance). Finally, if you don't see a lot of snow and are riding mostly pavement with the odd patch of ice, then my preferred rubber is the Continental Topcontact Winter II. No studs, but very high tech tread that grabs slick ice extremely well, and has extremely soft rubber contact. I have full sets of all three types mounted and change wheels when conditions change. But if I was only going to run one pair, it would be the SAhwals


“I replaced a pair of 10-year-old Nokian Extremes with Schwalbe Marathon Winters two years ago. They handle very differently. The Marathon Winters are remarkably free-rolling on pavement, hardly any slower than the Marathons I use in summer. The Nokian Extremes, on the other hand, were like tractor tires – painfully slow and noisy on pavement, but superb on soft snow. And on ice, the 10-year-old Nokian Extremes still provided better turning traction than the new Schwalbe Marathon Winters.

The Schwalbe are great for riding errands around town, and they’re fine on patches of ice as long as it’s fairly smooth and I don’t have to turn much while on ice. But I don’t feel nearly as secure or relaxed on ice as I did when using the Nokians.

snow_echo_NY

I didn’t - was away on holiday or out of town when it happened- hah that’s very true.

I should update - I didn’t ride back home bc winds picked up to 35 mph from 25 mph and I also got a flat tire when I returned to the bike (indoor storage) I must have pumped it too much? The tube was 2 years old at that point. Didn’t have a patch kit or extra tube cuz I hardly use the tires... tried repumping but it was not holding air. Rode the subway back and read my book instead. Today I went to the bike shop and got it replaced - and bought an extra tube and patch kit.

Fri I didn’t get to ride bc LBS was closed. Heard from my husband that it was a mess and the bridge was the best part as it was clear.

Riveting

I've never ridden my studs on wood before, but I'm guessing that studded tires on a wooden surface (wet or dry, not snow/ice) must be about the best traction any bike could ever get? Except for maybe knobbies digging into firm, moist clay.

rhm

The problem, wouldn't you know it, is the cars.

Skinny road bike tires slice through fresh snow and make good contact with the pavement. As long as you ride where cars haven't driven yet, it's fine.

After a few cars have packed the snow down, it's a different story. The packed snow prevents bicycle tires from making contact with the road, but isn't hard enough to support the riders weight. Riding to the station on Friday, even my 2.3" smooth tires were breaking through that snowpack where the street wasn't plowed. That's when I had to walk. Ugh.

Luckily it was only a few short sections.

Bikewolf

Isn’t that what commuting in the snow (and ice) really is, for all of us — biking and walking?

Me too says 'ugh' sometimes. To be honest. Courage!

smokeysurvival

I've still been riding regularly in Manhattan and Staten Island despite the snow. The bike lanes on 1st and 2nd avenue (below 14th street) are still pretty bad last I rode there. The East River Greenway starting by the 23rd street entrance, till the narrow section at the con-edison station, is still impassable on wheels too as of yesterday. Lots of the Allen street bike lane, all the way down Pike street, aren't cleared very well either as of a few days ago. I can say the new Greenway on Richmond avenue on Staten Island is pretty clear though last I was there. The Queensboro bridge path is clear as well but I'd assume getting onto 2nd avenue afterwards would be a nightmare.

noglider 

I left the city on Friday morning and got back this afternoon. On Friday morning, I measured about nine inches of snowfall, but that's going to vary a lot, as the accumulation was uneven.

I saw some folks on bikes today. The streets are still messy. I'm not eager to get out there.

On Friday this week we might have rain and high temperatures. I hope so.