Best technique for riding down an icy hill without studded tires?
#26
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studded tires really donīt help with mushy snow right? only on icy road? How much traction does one get on icy hills (going down) with studded tires on a 1990s 8 speed 26 mtb with panniers and a fat rider? I crashed twice already going down hill due to the road being too slippery but I canīt get around it because my place is on top of a hill.
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Thread moved form General Cycling to Winter Cycling.
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Snowy / Icy conditions, wear 'regular' winter boots, with BMX-style flat pedals, and drop the saddle so that you can use your feet as 'Flintstone' style outriggers.
If I was going to be riding in the snow / ice on the regular, i'd look in to a fatbike, or at least an MTB with the biggest tires I can fit.
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Imagine yourself on this icy hill on 2 instead of 4 wheels. Cheers.
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#36
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I had a bike path that had a drainage problem and regularly got coated in ice when the rest of the ride was dry. Go off to the side and take the grass/gravel if you can.
Otherwise, studded tires help some, but if there's enough snow or slush on top, you'll still slip a bit, just not as severely as ice and no studs. Take it really, really slow.
#37
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Imagine yourself on this icy hill on 2 instead of 4 wheels. Cheers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HfDZixZFzms
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HfDZixZFzms
1) "First" of the season. Even in cold climates, people forget how to drive when the first snow falls.
2) Everybody in the collision has locked their wheels. The only car that avoided the collision and survived was the taxi who kept his wheels turning.
Actually, I think you may come out better on two wheels. When you do fall, between you and your bike, there will be a lot more surface contact that you will not slide a long distance. This will give you time to run or crawl out of the way before the next car comes.
Last edited by Daniel4; 01-21-18 at 11:26 AM.
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Depends on many things. Do you have to stop or slow down at the bottom of the hill? Is it at all curvy, or can you just go straight down? how long and steep is it? What kind of ice?
Oh, and it depends on your skillz, too.
Oh, and it depends on your skillz, too.
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Just noticed this thread. There's a hill at the end of my street that's often solid ice in the mornings during February. I can negotiate it with my studded tires, but I realize that the cars can't stop, and their strategy is to hope for the best and stop when they hit the small portion of salted road at the bottom. So I hop over to the sidewalk, which is also solid ice, but no cars.
#41
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Best technique for riding down an icy hill without studded tires?
Dan
#42
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Once when I cycled to work after a night of ice rain, a coworker asked if I found it slippery. I said "Only when I get off the bike."
After that day, I carried cleats.
Advice to the OP: Get studded tires or Grip Studs, or Slipnot bike tire chains. Your risking a fall isn't worth not spending the money and worrying about it.
Last edited by Daniel4; 03-03-18 at 09:11 PM.
#43
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Lower the seat enough so you can slide both boots on the ice, tripod style. Gentle rear braking is OK. You can go a bit sideways to control speed. Did this all the time when I was 13. Nowadays, the studs go on in December, off in March, which is a good deal easier.
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how do you manage this when thereīs like zero traction to begin with? Unless you have spikes in your shoes or some type of crampons.
#45
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I would point that sucker straight ahead, not use brakes (they will make you slide) and pray to make it to bottom. Now, if I had a choice with hill, get off bike and walk it.
#46
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Obviously won't work in zero traction. Given some snow or other source of surface roughness it can work, or at least did when I was thirteen. Winter boots with sharp tread can gig in pretty well at -10 or so. Black ice is pretty hopeless, though.