Winter Cycling - can you buy a winter bike?

I bought my old Diamondback for 9 bucks. Making studded tires for it now...probably put about 10 bucks total into that (plus a bit of time). It's perfect for the salt and snow up here in the North...and if it turns to rust-dust, I don't care! :)

http://webpages.charter.net/agrow2618/DSC00115small.jpg

You might not want to use a top-of-the-line bike for a winter bike...not a new one, anyway. But, a real "beater" or a cheap Huffy? Not the best idea, either. The 'beater' may not have the best components, and cannot be fitted with such niceties as...disc brakes! Need I say what is wrong with a Huffy on THIS discussion board?

For what the OP wants to do, I'd say a lower- to mid-end LBS mountain bike, disc model (or a higher end one that is a few years old)...hardtail. Hardtails are easier to maintain, and if you want a rigid? Just change the fork! (Rigid disc forks are available.) There is room for fenders and the "fat" studded tires...the flat bars you want...and even bosses for a rear rack, and room for a--horror!--kickstand...for when you must, for example, park it in the garage, to let the snow and ice melt off, prior to parking in the regular spot in the building! This is something that I must do. (There is no pillar to tie it to there, and I can't just leave it lying on the floor.)

As for whether to get hydraulic or mechanical discs? If you have hydros on the bike already, keep them. I have had no problems with mechs. and frozen cables. (The routing would minimize this anyway.) Get really good lights, front AND rear, because you WILL find yourself out in bad weather at times...and you need them to be seen, even if it's snow and it reflects the light so YOU can see.

Yes, drum brakes also work well; V's are the best rim brakes, but do the "nothing then sudden grab" trick on occasion when the rims freeze up! If you think that would be fun with a sidepull, a V can be even more "fun"--if you like scary things!

Internal gear hubs? They work really well, and shift more reliably than a deraillieur! And, they don't clog up with snow and ice. They are not all sweetness and light (pedalling), though: the grease used to lube the Nexus hub (Shimano) tends to get really stiff when it gets cold, and there is no "winter-weight" version available. The models that use oil (Sturmey-Archer) and, I believe, with the Rohloff's own lube (if you can afford a Rohloff to begin with!), the weight of the lube can be adjusted easily. The extra weight? You won't notice it, since you will be going quite slowly anyway..and all lubes stiffen a bit, even those in deraillieur hubs, and no doubt that which surrounds a fixed-gear hub's bearings! Fact of life in winter.

Use Power Grips on a mountain-type quill pedal or a BMX platform pedal system. Boots just do not like normal toe clips (don't fit), and, unless you get special versions, such the Lake winter shoe, which are designed for cleats, they are hard to adapt to clipless pedals. (Some people have.) And, the Power Grips or BMX platforms do let you bail out/off the pedals really easily should you need to "dab"! (And, you will.)

Hey I picked up my bike today!!

http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/2061/dsc003236409yh.jpg

Now I just need some snow! (it was 65 degrees and rainy in Cincinnati today! Yuck!)

Congrats...snow is coming by end of the week I hear.

I have been riding a GT tequesta (about 10 years old) this winter in Calgary. It has no suspension and cantilevered brakes. So far I have ridden on bare pavement, slick ice, wet ice, hardpacked snow, loose pack snow (not very deep) and footprint ice (very bumpy).

I have never found the canti's to be a problem, even down to -20 C. (Real cold in farenheit)

Mind you I definitely prefer my bike in toronto with V-brakes...


Question that isn't being asked.

Has anyone really had trouble stopping with boring old (cheap) cantilevers? I mean, I've used cruddy old Shimano pads and had no trouble. I use cantis with drop bars and Diacomp 287 levers. I like them better than V-brakes.