I am about to move to Philadelphiaand was wondering what winter road biking was like in the area? When does snow season normally begin? I am thinking of buying a road bike for the first time but if most of the year it's gonna be hard for me to ride then I might as well get a sturdier mountain bike instead. What do you guys suggest? Thanks :)

The Philadelphia area generally does not get much snow, and when we do, it doesn't last for long. This winter I think our largest snowfall was under 6 inches. We do get ice on occasion (we got one bad ice storm this winter) but again, it's gone in a day usually. FWIW, I've been biking to work for the past three winters and have never missed a day because of weather. I do have studded tires for my commuter bike though but they only get used a handful of times each year and some rides they end up on dry pavement the whole time (our weather is either very unpredictable or our weathermen suck).

You can expect the possibility of snow from as early as late November to as late as early April with the largest snowfalls occuring between January and March. About those big snowfalls, in my 29 years, the most I've ever seen fall in one storm was about 3 feet though I have also seen 6 inches of ice. Keep in mind, this is my personal experience and the actual record books may disagree.

My suggestions: if you want to ride outdoors a lot, a road bike will be all that you'll need in this area. You may be riding in a 35 degree rain, but narrow road tires will be fine. If you want to ride outdoors every day, you'll need a second bike or at least a bike that can accept knobby/studded tires for the occasional bad weather. If you dislike cold rain, buy a trainer :)

I rode my beater bike all winter and never had a problem (aside from general crankiness the few times I was caught out in the rain). We only had one real snowfall here in Center City and it all melted the same day, but I understand it's usually a little snowier here in the wintertime.

Thanks for the replies :) I plan on buying my first ever road bike and I don't think I'll have money to throw around for a beater afterwards, so my bike should be ok if I bike through snow but give it a shower afterwards with water to remove the salt? Are studded tires available on road bikes too or are they only available on mountain bikes? Thanks again.

You may want to consider a cyclocross bike if you are concerned about riding in foul weather.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Brian

You may want to consider a cyclocross bike if you are concerned about riding in foul weather.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Brian

+100000. I would highly recommend this- the 'cross tires can be swapped out for 25s when the weather gets nice.

I ride all winter in the Princeton area, not too far from Philly. As noted, not too much snow, and what falls, melts quickly from the roads.

Pennsylvania born and raised - these past couple years have been extremely tame winter-wise. We tend to have a lot of issues with ice (hell in a car or on a bike) and PennDOT is a bit lacking in ability to do their jobs properly unless you live in the heart of the city. Still, if you're in the city you shouldn't have much of an issue.

I rode a Trek 5000 all winter long except for the occasional snow falls and it was fine. As long as you don't ride when the roads are soaked you won't get too much salt on your bike, just the dust kicked up from it. Philly actually has some great training rides going on all winter long at night in Fairmount park. The Quaker City Wheelmen run a ride called the bulldog ride from daylights savings time in the fall until daylight savings time ends in March. Its at night and the roads are empty and its really fun. There are the points races at Mount Pleasant in February through March at night as well. If you are gonna do serious road riding just get a road bike, no need for studded tires in Philly, if anything just get some tough road tires to handle the cinders and other debris you may encounter. Snowfall has been tame the past few years and if it did snow it melted fast. Ice wasn't too big of an issue for me either for road riding. Just get a road bike if you wanna road ride in the winter, Philly is fine for it.

I ride road year round. No issues. Only a handful of days it got too cold for my taste (10 degrees and I stay inside :) ). I usually don't use any different tires either, but did use Vittoria Revolution KXS tires this year and they worked out well (and they're still going strong).

Try not to mention the word winter again. Thanks.:D

I agree with the general consensus regarding mild winters in Philly. I have been commuting for a year with no cold season issues beyond cold hands. As much as I despise PennDOT they are decent with getting to the major roads when snow accumulates. I would venture to say that any day when you would have issues riding because of the weather you would have a similar degree of weather-related difficulties as a rear wheel drive car-- with the heater turned off.

Just keep it slow and be cautious.

I barely remember snowfall.

I think last year we had maybe.. 5 days of snow?