jhill44

Hello all,

I'm a long time rider, who just recently started riding to work with the nice weather we've been having in Chicago. After about a month of it, I'm totally hooked and can't bring myself to ride the depressing EL train downtown again.
Anyway, it seems a lot of you have a "winter bike" that is usually an old MTB or beat up roadie. I have been riding my '08 Felt F1x and am wondering what I'm gonna do when it starts getting cold and wet out again. I know that is a long way off, but I definitely want to continue to ride year round.
My thought is that, with fenders the Felt should hold up fine in the wet and cold. I have an old steel converted fixie lying around that I was debating converting into a single speed commuter (for cheapness, simplicity, and ease of cleaning) but after going through what it would cost to buy parts, it doesn't seem worth it. Would the Felt make it through the winter without needing a completely new drivetrain? What is your justification for a winter bike.

And because everyone likes picture, I have included a picture of the Felt (I know its not super nice, but I love this bike).

ThermionicScott 

Salt. Ice. N+1.

SlimRider

Every cycling commuter needs and extra bike, just in the case of emergencies. It would appear that you're already on the right track. However, I would strongly suggest that you convert your fixie into a single speed and allow it to take the roughest Chicago winter days, while the F1X suits your fancy for the remainder of your most blissful days.

PS.

You don't want to wake up late one morning with a flat....Suppose your F1X needs repair at the LBS. That might take several days....

Cycling commuters must always abide by the N+1 rule!

tjspiel

Personally if I could have a single bike that worked well for all my cycling activities then I would have only one. It's much simpler to only worry about one set of lights, tools, and accessories.

If my bike has a flat I fix it. I also do all my own work so there's no worry about having it sit at an LBS for days. If my bike were out of commission for a day or two, I have the same backup I use for when there's 4 inches or more of unplowed snow on the ground. My feet and the train.

That being said, I do have a winter bike. The bike I like to ride when the roads are good doesn't have enough clearance for studded tires.

My winter bike is actually newer and more expensive, - largely due to the disc brakes and gear hub. Road salt and grit are tough on the components.

treebound 

Last year where I was contracting for work there was a guy who was close to riding year round, basically one bike all the time, Trek drop bar commuter, 10x3 brifter setup, fenders and rear rack, disc brakes. He had another bike or two at home, but anything short of glare ice would find him riding.

If you're okay with using your bike in the winter then go for it. Stay up on your maintenance and enjoy the ride

wphamilton

[h=2]Why have a winter bike?[/h]
Winter before last, even here in Atlanta we had a sudden ice storm followed by weeks of ice and snow, very choppy ice with re-frozen snow on top and for several days no way was my road bike going to make more than half a mile with me on top of it. A winter bike would have been handy (had the offices not all closed down). Your bike probably IS a winter bike, but then some of the inclement weather can be really hard on a bike and you hate to subject your nicer bike to that.

SnowJob

+1 to treebound

I used to ride a crappy mtb as my winter bike. I rode it through 5 winters. It's the salt and sand that get's ya. The sand eats away at your gears and chain and the salt gets into your components and goes bad until you gotta lop 'em off at the wrist. (Who's laughing now lx rear der? muahaha). I converted the bike to singlespeed to avoid having to deal with shifters that wouldn't shift and derailleurs that needed to be demucked nightly. I didn't feel like riding my "nice" bike through the crap because I felt like every bit of salt and every grain of sand took a few days off the life of my beloved.

However, treebound is right. If you keep on top of maintenance and cleaning then you'll do fine. Be especially sure to clean the chain, cogs, and chainring every day, and your drivetrain should make it through without too much trouble.

Your old fixie might be a good simple winter ride, though. A lot of people around here switch to fixies during winter because they feel they can control the bike better. What kind of parts were you thinking you need to buy for it?

Rhodabike

I put studded tires on my main commuter, an aluminum hybrid with a hub gear and disc brakes. The internal gearing and disc brakes make it much more useable in winter than a derailleur gear bike would be. I suppose it's a "winter" bike, because it's only in spring/summer/fall that I use the touring bike for commuting, and then only on longer days.

Chris Chicago

how far is your ride?

I can relate to not wanting to ride the el. for me it's the bus that's depressing and to be avoided.

best thing about a second bike is having a backup or safety net to keep you off the el if something goes wrong with the first. the next best thing is variety, different bikes different rides.

SlimRider

TJSpiel says:

Much of what you say here is quite true TJ, but what if you awaken late and have a flat? ...Having a spare bike can be quite handy. Also, the overwhelming majority of us cyclists are not that mechanically inclined. Therefore, most of us are at the mercy of the LBS mechanic. Traveling by foot and by train are both wonderful alternatives to commuting by bike. However, to many us, cycling would remain a preferred method of commuting.

Ahh...and there goes the dreaded N+1 rule again. It's practically inescapable!

Ahh...and yes, my friend! That's why having a single speed for the windy city's most nefariously inclement winter days, would be best suited for just such an affair...

Besides, Chicago is mostly flat anyways...

deinonychi

We don't get much snow in winter here, it doesn't get very cold (teens). When it does snow I use those days to run the car, as it does need to be used occasionally.

My winter bike is set up more for my own convenience. Thumb shifters work better than STIs with heavy gloves or mittens. Racks and panniers front and rear carry any extra clothes I need. It may be warmer riding home in the afternoon, when I don't need to wear as many layers. I have semi knobby tires for the gravelly roads in winter.

alan s 

I commute on the same bike year round. For winter riding, my only change is to install studded tires on a second wheelset when conditions warrant. I also use that bike for offroad trail riding and touring. However, my commuter bike is not nearly fast enough to keep up on race pace group rides, so I do need a second bike for that. Also, serious mountain biking would require a front or full suspension bike, but I'm not into that.

tjspiel

I would change the tube and be on my way a few minutes later. In fact I think I've actually done that. If I remember right I ran over some glass the recyclers broke in our alley. I chose to change the tube rather than hop on the winter bike because that bike would have probably needed air in both tires anyway and in general I just don't enjoy riding it as much.

What happens if you awaken late, get half way to work and have a flat? What if you have some other mechanical issue on the way to work?

Bikes are fairly simple machines. If well maintained, they're going to be pretty reliable. Having a 2nd bike as a backup can be handy but it would also require some work to make sure it's always ready to go. Personally I wouldn't keep a 2nd bike just as a backup.

ThermionicScott 

+1. I'd even say that if you can't fix a flat, you have no business venturing out on your bike.

nubcake

A spare bike although nice is certainly not needed. I like to ride my nice bike year round and I built it to be able to handle year round commuting. Your felt is a pretty nice bike as well and could easily handle the elements with a few simple precautions. I would get full coverage fenders for sure, along with that make sure to keep the drivetrain clean and well lubed and you will be fine. Living in Chicago you really do not have to worry much about rim wear so that is not much of an issue.

You may want to re-pack your hubs with a quality water proof grease going into winter but if the bike has a lot of miles that is probably not a bad idea anyways.

In my experience if you take care of your stuff worst case you might need to put new cables and housing on the bike at the end of winter and possibly a new chain but even then you come out cheaper than fixing up your other bike and you get to ride the bike you love all year and isn't that why we do this? To be able to ride the bikes we love more?

Ride the felt, its a cross bike, it was built for horrid conditions!

SlimRider

TJSpiel says:

TJ, you've just got to admit the fact that you've got skills. Skills most commuter cyclists can only dream about!
Unfortunately TJ, most cyclists just aren't that mechanically inclined. That goes for commuters too!


ThermionicScott says:

Personally, I believe that there are many cyclists that can't fix a flat. IMO, for quite a few commuter cyclists and roadies, that's the total extent of their bicycle mechanical expertise.

However, even if they do know how to fix a flat, that doesn't help their job situation, if they awaken late and have to take an extra 15-20 minutes trying to fix a flat.

Bottomline...It can do nothing but help to have a spare bike, if you're just the average commuter cyclist.

Bikepacker67

I'm carfree going on 7 years, and I survive on two bikes.

A road bike (soon to be my new Surly LHT)
And a hard tail MTB (currently a Kona Lanai)

In the winter, I slap Nokia studded tires on the MTB.
Simple stable.

DVC45

Why are we talking ' bout Winter already?

SlimRider

Kinda depressing, huh?

Bikepacker67

Ya, really.
Shouldn't we be talking about how to take sink baths at work?

Bike Gremlin

If it holds fenders and 28 mm or fatter tyres, it should do OK in bad weather. No problems. Drivetrain will be changed when it needs to be changed - it's a tool, a consumable.

Having said this, I do have a do it all hybrid (37 mm tyres, steel fenders, racks, lights, sidestand etc), and a light roadbike for joyrides when I don't carry much things, change of clothes etc. I wouldn't drive roadbike in snow, but apart from that, no good weather-bad weather bike. Just work horse and joyride machine bikes.

AdamDZ

I don't have a separate Winter bike, but I do have a dedicated commuter bike. I simply wouldn't want to wear out a nicer bike for commuter duty. On a really nice day I may ride my roadie or my Disc Trucker for fun, but rarely. Roads are bad too along my route. I ride with fat tires (26x2.0) and in Winter I just keep a set of wheels with studded tires so I can swap them if conditions become icy.

treebound 

I don't think I'd fit in the sink at work.

alan s 

Winter is approaching in the southern hemisphere, perhaps?

ItsJustMe

I have only one bike. In the winter I mount studded tires. It's been OK for me for 8 years now. In an emergency I can just drive my car. This has only happened once, I broke a rear axle and it took a few days for a new wheel to arrive.