avole

Have to say I really don't like cycling when the temperature drops below 10°. I mean, I do it, and obviously warm up, buy all that palava of warm cycling gear, wet weather gear, riding the slower bike with mudguards gets to me. Plus, there's the hazard that if the temperatures are above freezing, but there was a frost, you are sure to hurtle round a shaded corner and spot the ice at the last moment.

Contrast that with heat. Yes, you need lots of water and suntan lotion, and tropical middays are not a good idea until you've acclimatised, but that's about it..

And, yes, it is cold, raining and I have to cycle down to the local supermarket, which is what prompts this thread !

GrainBrain

Oh yeah, give me above 30°c (86°f) over our current 0°c any friggin day!! We're not close to the tropics, but with all our corn fields midsummer can get very tropical here. I really, really enjoy walking out at 4am and having it be 74°f already. I have no difficulties handling heat and humidity.

Though if it has to get cold, I'll take our winter over yours. Temps plummet from 0°c down to -18°c (0°f) which is awful, but that also means very little liquid precipitation which is nice. Also Iowa is sort of arid in the winter, so we don't really get much snow either.

JonathanGennick 

Summer. No question. I like being able to just hop on the bike and go. Winter means a lot of thought about clothing, having to change clothes which is a bother, and then there's worry over wearing the wrong items and getting cold or too warm a few miles out when it's too late to bother going back home to change. Summer is way more forgiving and pleasant.

Marcus_Ti

I'll take the cooler side, being the same latitude and climate as you.

Can always put on more layers and get comfy. When it is 40C out and 90% humidity and 25C dewpoint....there's nothing you can do other than ride at 0500 before dawn before the weather gets evil.

fietsbob

I happen to like a summer @ ~ 20 - 25C .. with a 5 knot breeze..& winter at 8~10C is what I have here.. ..

kingston 

My comfort range is around 25-90° F (-4-32°C). I can ride any distance at my normal pace in that range. I rode 50 miles both yesterday and today at right around freezing. Below ~25 I use a different bike and different clothes so it's much slower and my rides tend to be shorter. I'm good down to around zero (-17°C), but when it's that cold, I can't stay out for more than an hour-and-a-half or so, and it's pretty unpleasant the whole time. I don't go out below zero anymore other than my one mile commute to the train station. Above 90 I'm fine up to as hot as it ever gets here as long as I back off the pace and drink enough water.

rseeker

I couldn't answer the poll because I like em both. There's something to like about every temperature I'm seeing.

I like extremes because they're an interesting challenge. A hot day means you're managing temperature, hydration, exertion and keeping it all in safe ranges. Although there was that one hot day coming up the hill toward home where my body felt like a thermometer with the mercury about to blow out the top. I think that was because I had just been on open pavement with a 20F heat bonus.

A cold day means you're managing sweat, temperature and skin exposure, plus trying to do all your other stuff like eating and drinking without having to open up any layers. Cold days make me feel energized and alive. At 35-40F I'm at a happy steady state for comfort.

The one thing that's hard is trying to ride first thing on a cold day after just waking up. That's tough to do. Sometimes I do a walk first to give me time to adjust and ease into it.

wolfchild

I prefer cooler temps. My favourite time of the year is fall, winter and early spring...I hate hot summers.

GadgetGirlIL

My most miserable bike rides, hikes, and runs were all in hot & humid weather. I will take cold weather over days in the 90s. I could never live in the southern part of the country. If I was ever to move, it would be further north. I've lived in the Chicago suburbs my entire life.

I do like having more daylight, though, in the summer.

DaveQ24

pdlamb

Lovely spring and fall weather, all 4-5 weeks of it.

GadgetGirlIL

Hah! Just noticed that we both have avatars with our bikes in the snow!!

Ferrouscious 

I love it when it's boiling hot out (granted, in Ohio, that's 100F max). So much less stuff to carry. Just sunscreen, shades, water, and summer kit. I had to learn to love hot weather because my pathetic Weinmann 500 hand springs-I mean brakes- work best when it's above 86 degrees. Plus, less people on the MUP and best of all, "mere mortals" think I'm crazy. *begins maniacal and unsettling laughter*

2_i 

Low temperatures are far more easier. 10C is not even a temperature to notice. I had been riding so far within the range of -30C to +44C. The toughest had been 42-44C particularly on a mediocre bike. In any case you do what you need to do. Any temperature is usually easier to tolerate while riding than while walking. I did not even put any special underwear down to -30C, just wore the same pants I wear in spring or in fall. Try skiing off a top off a mountain at -30C which is not that uncommon around skiing resorts. Then biking at -30C in the flats is pretty much a matter of fact. Unfortunately in my area you do not get any lower

mtbikerinpa

Summer is so much easier to get motivated, though hydration is a bit bigger deal. I commute year round when it isn't raining, but winter takes so much more layering and laundry. Finally invested in semi-winter shoes (bontrager JFW) and heat packs and that takes the edge off the frozen SPD issue. Skinsuits and such are so much more comfortable and simple to ride in, but not in winter.

madpogue 

For most of North America, 10C isn't even close to "winter". That's a mild spring. If you're looking for a low threshold that's comparable to a >30C on the high side, it's more like <0C. Just looking at the overall cycling population here, it doesn't drop off at all at 10C. It's at about 5C that the "fair weather" folks hang it up. Below 0C, the majority of those who remain are characterized by the "bzzzzzzzz" of studded tires on pavement.

Wilbur Bud

Nothing to do with temperature for me. Best cycling is when it doesn't rain. After that the absence of wind would be icing on the cake. 10C isn't really cold in my experience. -15C and I can tell it's cold out and change the way I dress. 30 no problem either. I even like 40 C. But, almost all my rides have a duration of one hour, so I might feel differently if I was touring or looking for a ride duration of 5-6 hours.

Daniel4

To choose a preference means you also have days when you decide you don't want to ride. I didn't vote. Plus, I didn't like that reference to global warming.

I've ridden below -27C and above 30C. When you're riding, and you've prepared for the weather, it really doesn't make much of a difference.

LesterOfPuppets

My least favorite is 0-5° C and raining.

When I lived in Wyoming and rode a lot of gravel and MTB, in the winter I usually prayed that it wouldn't get above -5 or so, just so the trails would stay firmly frozen and non-muddy.

Rollfast

10C = 50F and that's groovy!
>30C = under 86F and that too ain't bad.

Sounds like Northern California or Seattle to me.

I don't see the problem, that's wonderful to me.

LesterOfPuppets

Yeah, 30 is about the top of my comfort range for cycling, but I'll still ride up to 44 or so, just more slowly and more stops to refill the water bottles.

DrIsotope

So between 10ºC and 30ºC, right? 50ºF to 86ºF. Of my roughly 1,100 recorded rides, I have just 41 with an average* temperature of 10ºC or below, and a mere 67 above 30ºC. So almost exactly 90% of the time, it's in that "comfort zone."

What I do like is a day where the temperature is consistent, whether that be hot or cold. That is something we seldom get. On Christmas Eve, I put in 82 miles-- when I left the house, it was 41ºF. By the time I finished, it was 73ºF. I think I'd rather it just be 90ºF the whole time. Certainly easier to dress for.

*though averages often don't provide an accurate picture-- I have plenty of rides with averages of 84-85ºF, but peak temperatures well over 100ºF. Usually for the reason listed above, I leave the house in the upper 70s, and get home when it's over 100.

DaveQ24

noglider 

You call 10º cold and 30º hot? Ha!

I agree with @LesterOfPuppets that 0º-5º and raining is perhaps the worst. I haven't ridden in Wisconsin-like conditions, but I might like it.

Still, I prefer summer. Sure I get hot, but wearing shorts is worth a lot to me.

wipekitty

10º is great. So is 30º. All things equal, I'll take a dry 10º over a humid 30º.

I start to jump off the heat wagon when the dewpoints hit around 18º. If the dewpoints are over 21º or so, I know it's really gonna suck.

I'll take Wisconsin winters and a solid -15º C over 35º C and humid. Actually, I'll take cool and rainy over heat and humidity, but cold and snowy winters over either. Of course, Wisconsin gives you all three, sometimes in the same month.