winter bikes

[MUDDY88YJ]

Hi i am looking for a new bike for winter cycling i live in boston and commute 13 miles each way. I am considering 2 bikes an IRO Rob Roy Single Speed cyclocross $599.00 or second a Motobecane Fantom CX cyclocross $499.00 or should i stay with a rigid mountain bike with studded tires. What would you recomend any other bikes? Thanks for the help

[Commuter8]

Hi i am looking for a new bike for winter cycling i live in boston and commute 13 miles each way. I am considering 2 bikes an IRO Rob Roy Single Speed cyclocross $599.00 or second a Motobecane Fantom CX cyclocross $499.00 or should i stay with a rigid mountain bike with studded tires. What would you recomend any other bikes? Thanks for the help

Hey, I started commuting this winter on a KHS Flite 100. Its fine as long as there is no ice on the road, and I stick to the main streets that have been cleared (I live in Halifax,NS, same weather as you). I love riding fixed in the winter, summer etc, and it really is great in the snow. If you can get a single /fixed speed with room for fenders and 32mm studded tires from Nokian, go for it.

I ride without fenders and I am getting damn wet.. I should know better, but I started riding fixed in November and have been putting off getting fenders.

[JasonC]

I'm not an expert at this, but I'd think spending as little money as possible for a winter bike would be best. But then again... I'm cheap :)

One of my co-workers went the Wal-Mart route for a winter bike. Don't know how much he spent, but it couldn't have been that much.

I think I've also heard of others buying used bikes every other year or so for winter use.

Either way, winter tires and fenders are probably the best things to add on to any bike.

[pinkrobe]

You might want to post in the commuting forum - much more traffic there. For what it's worth, fenders are an excellent idea. Your tire choice should be determined by the amount of snow you get, and whether you have to deal with ice or not. If you get a lot of snow and ice, get studded tires - Nokian and Schwalbe are your best bets. As to the bike, I would lean toward the Fantom Cross [although I would go for the model with the carbon fork] as it will have better parts than the IRO.

[aboyd]

I recently purchased the Fantom Cross and really like it. Although winter riding in Alabama is somewhat different than Boston.