WCfix

This fall i'm heading off to Logan, Utah for college and I need a solid road bike that i can cruise around campus on, as well as go on long rides and that's good for the harsh winters. I'm from california so i've never needed to worry about snow and ice.

What is a good road or cyclocross bike for these tough conditions?

irclean

In my experience, an IGH, disc brakes, and room for fenders & studded tires are essential to a worry-free winter commute. If you want to go a step further, belt drive is ideal for harsh weather. All of these features are hard to find on a road bike, but there are some examples. If you're willing to forgo the gears, and your knees can handle a fixed gear or SS, your options go up and prices go down. Also, belt drive and disc brakes aren't necessary for a competent winter commuter... but they sure are nice!

Probably the best example of winter ready road bike is the Civia Bryant. If money's no object there's the Co-Motion Cycles Americano Rohloff. I'm not sure, however, that I'd want to subject a $5000+ bike to winter conditions, much less lock it up at school.

A more budget-minded option is the Mercier Kilo WT5 from Bikes Direct. You have to assemble it yourself or have your LBS do it for you. According to BD it has room for 45mm wide tires which opens up options for studded tires. It doesn't have belt drive or disc brakes, but as I said, that shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

And let me be the first to say that a used Craiglist MTB armed with a set of studded tires would be the cheapest way to go. Ideally you should look for an older, rigid (non-suspension) model with eyelets and braze-ons for fenders & racks.

Good luck and ride safe!

PS. You can ride a derailleur-shifted bike in the winter but be prepared to do a lot of maintenance and/or cleaning. Returning to your bike to find a frozen derailleur or an iced-up cassette is a real drag. I'm speaking from experience here, and I learned to keep the bike parked in 4th gear just in case.

fietsbob

Add in The tires,: I have run a set of Nokian Mount and ground W tires for many winters,
studded 26x1.9 .. 106 studs, there is a row on the sides, but not down the center.
so they have been OK on dry pavement, and black Ice, in combination.

They are a bit slower, but I'm not in such a rush when Its hard to walk on the stuff
with out studs on your boots, too

German Tout Terrain , imported by peter white, is another disc only bike frame,
with a rear rack welded on, as part of the frame..
still a bit posh for the dorm racks..

I'm just running drum brakes on my winter bike, built up around
an old 80's stump-jumper.. now I just park it after the thaw.

ride my Rohloff hub bike the rest of the year, the best of the IG hubs.

Schwalbe makes a 406 tire with studs, you could put those
on a Dahon Folding bike , and bring it inside. probably find a place
to stow one of those in the corner of the Dorm room,
or off campus apartment.

Treegreen

I'm late to the party but I've commuted to USU in the winter in the not so distant past while working on a graduate degree. You'll need some decent clothing if you haven't already thought about it. I've been out and about in minus degree weather more than once and pretty routinely dealt with below 20 weather. The roads are generally kept pretty clear unless a storm just hangs around dumping snow for a while, but you'll definitely need some knobby tires. I've seen plenty of normal tired folks eat it on campus because they couldn't keep traction. In my experience the ice will get you long before the snow will.

Do yourself a favor and check out Aggie Blue Bikes on campus. When I was around we got free lube and open access to the tools. They run some repair classes, but you can also get one-on-one instruction as specific as taking your entire bike apart, stripping & painting it, and putting it back together. They can also give you some tips about the winter riding. Not much of a culture for it really because of how ungodly cold it tends to get. *edit* I bought a hardtail Scott Mtb that I hybridized for winter riding and still have it to this day, works great. You may want to look up the local bike swap too, I've seen some pretty good deals and it beats having to lug a bike from California to Utah. The local stores aren't bad either if you are planning to buy in town. I and my friends all used Joyride or Sunrise at one point or another.

jamesdak 

Well let me add in my Utah winter riding experience after a year of doing it. I'm over in the Ogden Valley which is the next valley over from Cache Valley.

What I used last winter was a 2008 Raleigh Mohave 8.0 with studded snow tires. This bike has disc brakes which were a plus. Good fenders are a must. I wound up modifying mine with some cut up 2-liter bottles to get better coverage.

The main problem I had was the cassette packing up solid and freezing. What happens is the chemicals on the roads melts the snow and then this wet slush, mixed with sand and gravel, gets in your cassette and freezes solid. Then you are down to one gear only and even that gear can skip if you exert any torque.

I am looking for a cyclocross type ride for this year that I can have a IGH and disc brakes on. Add on full fenders and studded tires and all should be well. Still searching for the perfect model myself.

joshbikes

I have been riding through harsh new england winters for years now. I have turned to this forum and other online sources for helpful tips on making it more feasible to ride year round. Unfortunately, most of the bikes i have used (whether single speed, multispeed beater, or internal hub) require some major maintenance once spring rolls around...and it gets rather pricey!
What i realized 2 years ago was the beauty of folding bikes. The ability to bring your bike inside with you is the best way to keep things working the way they are intended. And bringing a bike inside (whether my apartment, a friends place, or work) is far more feasible with a folding bike. Unfortunately, folding bikes do not handle as well as traditional bikes; and this is even more apparent in less than ideal conditions (aka any day during winter). Well thats what i thought until late january of last year...
I got a Montague boston 8...and i realized that it is the PERFECT bike for winter. Internal hub lets me change gears and not have to worry about an exposed derailleur freezing, the fenders keep me dry and clean (well mostly), and best of all it handles as well as any traditional bike.

The reason why is that Montague bikes are full sized. Full wheels, full sized frame, and yet it can fold and fit into a car's trunk (apparently even a smart car, but who drives those?), under a desk at the office, or in a closet (which is where i keep mine).

Seriously try a Montague! I am a fanboy, but these bikes are legit. I mean the military uses them! Ok now im just rambling...time to go for a ride!

oh i added a link to the Boston 8, the bike i ride! (i also have a caad 9, but that is only ridden when it is nice out, which wont be until march or april...ugh)

https://www.montaguebikes.com/boston-8-folding-bike.html

Snowman219

It's gonna snooooow tonighhht woooooo!!!

jamesdak 

LOL, yep! Put the snow tires on the Subie and the studded tires and fenders on the Mountain Bike. I've picked up a beautiful 2003 Kona Jake the Snake for winter riding but it's so nice looking I am hesitant to expose it to the elements.