Commuting - Getting ready for winter...

What are you doing to get ready for winter's commuting? I only bring it up, as there are a few short months left to prepare. I can't wait to try out the new tights, shirts, and long underwear I bought on sale this summer.

Mostly, this is helping me get through the sweltering, sweaty, humid days left of summer. I smile thinking of riding the commute with studded tyres, in a snowfall, at 15F. I wish it were tomorrow, but then I would be complaining about something else.

I'll wear the same things as last winter -- full-fingered gloves, multiple shirts, runner's pants, fuller jacket.

My bike? Nothing.

But then again, a San Jose winter is just wet and once every so often will drop below freezing. I usually ride into work with temps in the mid/high 30s and low 40s.

hopefully i'll be living somewhere in the south west by winter and be wearing the same stuff i wear right now :)

Clothing wise I think I'll stick mostly with what worked last winter, my Sessions snowboard jacket + fleece was good down to -38C as were my fleece pants and cheepo pant shell. I need to come up with something better for my feet though, perhaps a set of neopreme overshoes would keep my feet warmer when it hits -30 and below.

Bike wise I am still undecided. My old clunker would make it through another winter, I'll need a new studded tire for the front though. However, after riding my quality MTB to work all summer I don't know if I can go back to the 40 lb steel 5 speed POS. I've got a better POS taken apart and painted that needs a new cog set, chain, cables and fork to get back on the road. I might use that bike this winter but I don't know if I want to sink the money into it. I think I might start browsing around for a well used quality full rigid MTB for this winter.

One thing I would like is a set of Shimano 324 pedles for what ever I ride (so long as it's not clunker, wouldn't want them to rust into the plastic covered steel cranks) that way I could clip in when the conditions are ok, but go on the flat when it is icy or there is deep snow.

Ideally, I'd love a 2004 Kona Dew Deluxe (http://www.konaworld.com/2k4bikes/2k4_dew_dlx.cfm) with a set of 324's and Nokian studded tires but I don't have the $.

:) I am doing a complete rebuild of my Trek 6000.The entire drive chain(bb and hubs)will be replaced and have a healthy dose of grease applied to them. I will have 3 blinkers on the rear rack and 2 on my helmet.
I'm also trying something new with my caged pedals to see if it blocks the wind out. If it works I will pass it on to everyone.

This year, I will get at least a front Nokian tire. I've gotten through five winters of riding gingerly without studs. I'd like to have a bit more traction on ice, of which we have been getting quite a bit.

Paul

I did nothing to prepare for our winter. I don't know if I was successful or not - it still hasn't arrived! :p

I suggest covering the "open" parts of your bike, like the seat tube/seat post opening, the headset (unless it's a cartridge bearing), and cover your steerer tube with grease to avoid rust (unless it's not a cr-mo tube). I've also heard that drilling a 1/8" hole at the bottom of the bottom bracket shell allows trapped water in the frame to escape.

To cover these parts, I've tried using inner tubes (to no success), lizard skins for the headset, and regreasing the seatpost more often.

Originally posted by naisme
What are you doing to get ready for winter's commuting? I only bring it up, as there are a few short months left to prepare. I can't wait to try out the new tights, shirts, and long underwear I bought on sale this summer.

Mostly, this is helping me get through the sweltering, sweaty, humid days left of summer. I smile thinking of riding the commute with studded tyres, in a snowfall, at 15F. I wish it were tomorrow, but then I would be complaining about something else.
:)

Don't ever underestimate your contribution to these forums.

(In my parts, Naisme, "winter" is slightly chilly. People can't believe I actually ride in "winter." But that's when it's nice and cool!)

What will I do for "winter?"

Probably throw on a windbreaker, full-fingered gloves and long pants (and plastic bags between my socks and shoes, if it gets "cold.")

:p

I knew there was something I had forgotten, my gloves. Fortunately there is still time to find them. I really like the Gore Tex Windstoppers, I just haven't found them anywhere. Of course I haven't really looked either.

Get out the warm clothes, the Lake MX-300 winter shoes, snap on the winter wheels with the Nokian studs and go.

Winter and autumn are both "four letter words" to me.
I'll talk about it when they it gets here. :fight:

Right now I'm trying to cope with the fact that the days are getting shorter. <Grrrrr>


Seriously, the most important thing for me is to make sure the batteries for my lights didn't go dead (won't charge any more) during the summer. Buying new ones won't be cheap.

Since this upcoming winter will be my third NJ winter to commute through, nothing too special. I have a full complement of winter cycling clothes and baselayers and stuff. As far as weatherizing my bike, I don't do much, I have a steel bike which is already started to rust a bit but since the bike is 8 years old, I figure I'll just get another bike when this one falls apart. i already use a fender for the front and my rack takes care of the back. I don't have a set of snow tires but I have survived through the winter with just full knobbies. I normally use semi-slicks on my bike in the non-winter months.. Most of my commute it is just slushy and rare I get patches of ice.

jay

This year will have studs. I last used studs when living in Maine and even though they slow you down, they work well. I almost bought a Rocky Mountain Fusion for the winter but decided to keep my older cross bike and get at least another year out of it.
I am looking forward to those cold ( maybe down to 10f) days. Much colder is almost too much work.

I spent the past three years commuting here in Maine on a Trek 6500 mountain bike with a Nokian studded tire just on the front. I found that a studded rear tire did not add enough for the extra drag it adds. No wipe outs even on black ice.

This winter will be my first using a velomobile (enclosed recument trike). At 70 pounds, I think I should be able to get by without any studs....depending on how much slippage I incur on the rear tire.

I have been using a Schwinn w/26 X 1 3/8 tires but have been thinking of buying the entry level Trek Mt. Bike 3500 for this winter and adding a rack, fenders etc. Does anybody have any suggestions ? I do not have a Mt. Bike so this is new territory for me.

Get one with a rigid fork, suspension don't work so well in cold temps. I don't know what the Trek 3500 has, but check into that.

My Trek 6500 has Rock Judy shocks. I have not had any problems and it gets pretty darn cold here in Maine. This said, the shocks add little value and could lead to higher maintenance over the long haul.

I am going to get rid of my wireless comp setup for the winter bike. My bike storage is dry but cold, just a bit warmer than it is outside, and the various batteries in the wireless system do not like it a bit.

--J

I pull off all my lights and computer when storing my bike at home or the office. This only takes a second. You can also use lithium batteries, which are less prone to become effected by the cold.

Yes, it only takes a second to pull off lights and comp. But neither the wireless sensor nor the receiver come with a QR mount, so I would need to remove all the batteries (3) to keep them warm. That takes a small Phillips screwdriver, a coin and appr. 5-10 minutes of finger-freezing monkeying.

I will rather buy the wired mounting kit, with the only battery located in the comp.

--J

Couple of things that I should get around to putting straight before too long.... but may not manage all of them ;).

Swap the posh "summer wheels" from my newer bike for the older set.

Check that my lights are working - could use some new rechargeable batteries in the headlamp esp. as some of the newer NiMH ones have higher capacity over the old Nicads.

Check that seatposts & stem/ steerer tubes are greased to prevent/postpone seizure from ingress of rain, road salt etc.

Squirt some corrosion preventer inside the frame of my steel bike.

Overhaul wheelbearings.

Get my high visibility jacket out of mothballs.


Cheers,

Ed

You guys are hardcore. It won't even cool off here until October. We’ll probably only have a couple of really cold spells in the winter. When the time comes I’ll look to you guys for knowledge and inspiration.

Creep dog
"creepin up on em"

Yeah, in MN winters, suspension is typically more of a pain than a help. Skip it if you ride in real cold weather lots.

Originally posted by Chris L
I did nothing to prepare for our winter. I don't know if I was successful or not - it still hasn't arrived! :p

You know, we really should stop rubbing it in to those poor souls that actually get weather. ;)

Actually, Allister, you mean get REAL winter weather.

The poor boy... one day in a Chicago winter storm would have him yelping all the way back to the South Pacific!

;)

I was just thinking of this today! This morning it was 7C, I needed my windbreaker and my wind pants for the ride. My wind pants are really cheap and don't breath - my legs were soaked after the ride.

I've started looking around for something for my legs, I need to prepare for -40C as all winter I hope to ride to work. There isn't much in town and I'm looking online now. I'm thinking my cycling shorts, some kind of wicking layer, a pair of warm tights/pants, then a wind proof shell. I have no clue what to do with my feet, right now they're good until 0C in my cycling shoes.

This will be interesting.