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11-25-08, 01:16 PM
So I ran into an interesting problem last night. We had the first real snowfall of the year in Montreal and it managed to hit as I was commuting back from school. Luckily (or so I thought) I was on the 'winter bike' I'd been building all fall. An 85 dave scott ironman. The bike is equipped with 32c avocet cross tires and normal exage single pivots.
I've been concerned about the usefulness of such a twitchy, tightly built bike for winter use. Though last weekend it fared just fine in the mud on mt royal, I naturally assumed it would handle snow just fine. Wrong, in about two inches of snow I found it to be dangerously unusable. The front brake would lock up the front wheel when applied with any reasonable force at all. At low speeds the toe overlap , short stem, and tight fork made the bike almost impossible to maneouver. Braking from moderate speeds was downright horrifying with the front wheel locking up completely and skidding across the snow.
I've ridden two winters and never had this problem. I started as a messenger last year (february) and didn't have this problem once on my old bike (univega hi 10 roadie with 3 speed hub and steel front wheel) but it seems unavoidable right now. What can I do to fix this. Luckily I have another univega I could build up but its a shame to abandon such a nice ride.
advice?
I've been concerned about the usefulness of such a twitchy, tightly built bike for winter use. Though last weekend it fared just fine in the mud on mt royal, I naturally assumed it would handle snow just fine. Wrong, in about two inches of snow I found it to be dangerously unusable. The front brake would lock up the front wheel when applied with any reasonable force at all. At low speeds the toe overlap , short stem, and tight fork made the bike almost impossible to maneouver. Braking from moderate speeds was downright horrifying with the front wheel locking up completely and skidding across the snow.
I've ridden two winters and never had this problem. I started as a messenger last year (february) and didn't have this problem once on my old bike (univega hi 10 roadie with 3 speed hub and steel front wheel) but it seems unavoidable right now. What can I do to fix this. Luckily I have another univega I could build up but its a shame to abandon such a nice ride.
advice?