Winter bike design

[hound-dog]

I bought this book called Atomic Zombie's bicycle Builder's Bonanza and built a winter bike called The Hammerhead. Had a friend help me put together the steering, but it's a great bike. No amuont of snow slows me down and my car has spent most of the winter in the driveway. Glad I found that book! The guy has a web site called Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines.

Anybody got a design suggestion for a trailer that's good for pulling behind a bike in winter? Thanks a bunch.

[DCCommuter]

So do you have pictures of this thing?


Anybody got a design suggestion for a trailer that's good for pulling behind a bike in winter? Thanks a bunch.

A sled?

[2manybikes]

I bought this book called Atomic Zombie's bicycle Builder's Bonanza and built a winter bike called The Hammerhead. Had a friend help me put together the steering, but it's a great bike. No amuont of snow slows me down and my car has spent most of the winter in the driveway. Glad I found that book! The guy has a web site called Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines.

Anybody got a design suggestion for a trailer that's good for pulling behind a bike in winter? Thanks a bunch.

I took a look at the Hammerhead. It's a trike. Trikes are lousy in the snow compared to two wheel bikes with studded knobbies.

All amounts of snow will slow you down, a lot more than a bike!

Making three tracks in the snow compared to one is terrible. Having about 1/3 of your weight on the back wheel in ideal conditions is lousy compared to a two wheel bike having 1/2 or more. If the terrain is uneven when using a trike the traction is even worse.
A MTB with knobbies will be better in snow, and with studs will be better on ice. If the snow is too deep and you have to lift or pull the bike, the trike is much worse too. Going between trees in the woods is tough also with a trike. It can be useful on the road, but in any snow it's going to be much more work, and have poor traction. If you are going to pull a trailer in much snow over an inch, switch to a two wheeled bike and get a one wheel trailer. Forget pulling a trailer in 5" of snow with that thing. Try riding that trike in 5" of snow.

Google " ICEBIKE"

[hound-dog]

Never have needed to ride in more than a few inches of snow. Streets and bike paths are plowed regularly. Works like a charm for me and never been stuck yet, even in a few inches of power snow. Sure gives me one heckuva workout, but worth the extra effort. I'm not in it for the speed, mainly getting from point A to point B, getting exercise and leaving the gas guzzling beast at home. Finding a decent place to park and lock it up is sometimes a challenge, though.

Tried pulling a small plastic sled behind it with some success, but not very practical. Whenever I get a digital camera I'll post some pics.

[2manybikes]

Never have needed to ride in more than a few inches of snow. Streets and bike paths are plowed regularly. Works like a charm for me and never been stuck yet, even in a few inches of power snow. Sure gives me one heckuva workout, but worth the extra effort. I'm not in it for the speed, mainly getting from point A to point B, getting exercise and leaving the gas guzzling beast at home. Finding a decent place to park and lock it up is sometimes a challenge, though.

Tried pulling a small plastic sled behind it with some success, but not very practical. Whenever I get a digital camera I'll post some pics.

Just the other day I measured the ground clearance from my pedals to the ground on my snow bike. It's about 5.5 inches. That means I give up before it gets to consistently 5.5 inches. When it gets close to the pedals and it stays that deep I have to stop and rest once in a while. It's almost not worth the trouble on a two wheeler at 5".
I would love to see a picture. What kind of tires are you using? Do you have multiple gears?

[CBBaron]

This is a winter bike:
http://i1.tinypic.com/mw76yr.jpg
My new winter ride

[ghettocruiser]

Pugsleys are insane. Thanks for the hi-rez pic.

I think I'd take a race-type trike over a studded-tire bike on an all-ice circuit. My Nokians wash out under hard cornering. I think on a trike you could work with a lot more drift in the corners.

[2manybikes]

Pugsleys are insane. Thanks for the hi-rez pic.

I think I'd take a race-type trike over a studded-tire bike on an all-ice circuit. My Nokians wash out under hard cornering. I think on a trike you could work with a lot more drift in the corners.

It depends.

Don't drift using a studded bicycle tire unless you want to rip some studs out. Drifting is a lot better with an engine to recover, or to do a power slide. With a human powered device you lose a lot of momentum. I have out cornered a Wincheeta on pavement on a road bike, the Windcheeta rolled over.
Trikes do tip over, I also have tipped over another trike, similar in design to a Windcheeta. It also depends on what Nokians you are using.

[GreyGoat]

oh man there's that pug again!... BOING!

[2manybikes]

oh man there's that pug again!... BOING!

At least he has snow. I don't. :(

[CBBaron]

At least he has snow. I don't. :(
That snow was very brief. We got a trace of snow that melted the next day. That is the second time since Christmas we have had a trace. I'm still waiting for a decent snow to test out the Pugs. We have had an unseasonably warm Janurary. Maybe Feburary will change that.
Craig

[Domhannic]

Winter bike design can't be confused with biking in the snow. Anyone riding soon realizes that there are many snow conditions. And there are as many types of bikes and riders that brave the snow either by choice or not. Riding in the snow when you have to probably isn't for this thread so.......One type of bike design generally covers many conditions. One speed gearing with lower inflated tires and hand brakes and a small frame. The small frame is essential in my opinion when crashing. Less bike to get tangled up in. I just instructed my 12 year old on proper crashing technique last week on our frozen lake. The bike slid right out from under him and he was left standing.

[hound-dog]

Just the other day I measured the ground clearance from my pedals to the ground on my snow bike. It's about 5.5 inches. That means I give up before it gets to consistently 5.5 inches. When it gets close to the pedals and it stays that deep I have to stop and rest once in a while. It's almost not worth the trouble on a two wheeler at 5".
I would love to see a picture. What kind of tires are you using? Do you have multiple gears?

Front tires are huge maxxis - I find that wider is better on the front to "float" over snow rather than digging in. On the rear, a thinner knobby tires seems to work best, as this cuts deeper for better grip. My trike has 36 speeds, with a mega-range rear cluster for seriously LOW gearing. On a regular bike, if you go too slow, you flop around, but my trike can just plow right through the deep stuff. The slushy snow does slow me down quite a bit though. My legs are burning after a 30 min. ride, but worth the effort. Sure helps my pocketbook riding my bike more than taking the car out!

[2manybikes]

Front tires are huge maxxis - I find that wider is better on the front to "float" over snow rather than digging in. On the rear, a thinner knobby tires seems to work best, as this cuts deeper for better grip. My trike has 36 speeds, with a mega-range rear cluster for seriously LOW gearing. On a regular bike, if you go too slow, you flop around, but my trike can just plow right through the deep stuff. The slushy snow does slow me down quite a bit though. My legs are burning after a 30 min. ride, but worth the effort. Sure helps my pocketbook riding my bike more than taking the car out!

Can you get your hands on a digital camera? Is that your trike on the web page?

[The Selector]

good for you that you are enjoying your newly built bike :) it sounds awesome

[ghettocruiser]

Don't drift using a studded bicycle tire unless you want to rip some studs out.

You know, two seasons of rather hack riding on my Nokians (a 300 and a 296) and I have yet to lose a stud. This includes a rather unfortunate incident where I locked up the back wheel on dry pavement when a bus pulled out in front of me. Like fingernails on a blackboard. But the studs are all still there.

Off topic.

[hound-dog]

Can you get your hands on a digital camera? Is that your trike on the web page?

If you scroll down this page http://www.atomiczombie.com/book-bonanza.htm to The Hammerhead, that pretty much looks the same as mine except mine's flourescent orange. I'm working on getting a digital. Never lend stuff to friends, it comes back broken. :(

[2manybikes]

You know, two seasons of rather hack riding on my Nokians (a 300 and a 296) and I have yet to lose a stud. This includes a rather unfortunate incident where I locked up the back wheel on dry pavement when a bus pulled out in front of me. Like fingernails on a blackboard. But the studs are all still there.

Off topic.

The ice grabs the studs better than the pavement and is more likely to pull out a stud. They are easliy replacable, and losing one or two does not matter much. It's a pain if you can't get some studs and you lose a lot.