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Alright, Boston... No excuses, if you haven't already, get out there and tear it up!
http://www.zweknu.org/pics/snow/p/boston_snow0004.jpg
http://www.zweknu.org/pics/snow/p/boston_snow0006.jpg
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I'm glad Minneapolis doesn't look like that yet.
You stole our snow. Give it back!
Nice one.... I thought it was going to stop last night, woke up with old man winter and his brass knuckles hitting me in the back of the head. Oh wait that might be the wee hangover.
I'm just not ready for this!! errr I hate you boston. Oh well I guess it's just time to break out the sled. This being boston though I could see things going one of two ways, either it gets warmer tomorrow and stays arround 50 until december or we get 6" on wed. all I know is it's a pain to get out of my house because I live at the end of a private road and they don't plow it.
I just bought a fresh set of tires for the Bianchi but it looks like it's time to bust out the snow bike.
Today's project is now overhauling the hubs on the beater and make sure she's ready to get me to work tonight.
Gotta go shovel now. Boston weather sux.
I'm glad Minneapolis doesn't look like that yet.
What are you talking about? Riding in snow is fun. I can't wait.
I've been thinking about building up a winter/offroad bike sometime soon, now I can't wait - might have to start in on that next weekend. There's a good chance it will have a freewheel though (gasp!), at least for a little while.
thats beautiful. I wish there was a winter in the uk.
What are you talking about? Riding in snow is fun. I can't wait.
Yeah, it's fun, and I'll ride all winter - that doesn't mean that I want it to start right now. As much time as I can buy is good.
Very beautiful from a distance, I was in Kentucky last winter for Basic Training.
Not so sure I would be so gung ho about winter biking anywhere but here. I mean I'd do it, but boy would I complain!
thats beautiful. I wish there was a winter in the uk.
I'm from Toronto where we have a beautiful white christmas most years. My parents however are British and currently living in Paris. Since we no longer have a 'house' in Toronto, we have decided to spend christmas in England (Oxfordshire), so I get to enjoy another moist bonechilling christmas where you wipe the mud off your boots, not the snow.
The plus side is we are going to Switzerland for new years so I can get some sweet ass skiing and boarding on the pistes.
Wow.
Shiznaz, do you need a congenial American sidekick? I'd be more than willing to follow you along to those destinations. What do you say?
What is this. A dating service?
Yeah, this is our "rain mixed with the snow Saturday morning"... Turned into 4 inches of the white stuff, and wet and heavy at that. Sadly today worked up to the 40s, so much of it is gone. I really prefer it to be nice and cold if it's going to be snowy, now it's chilly and slushy. Anyhow, I got in a bit of riding this morning. Had to help a friend move so I didn't get to go back out though. I need to get a cog for this thing and go fixed now that winter is here. In the spring I'll build up a flipflop if the wifey lets me. :)
bostontrevor - remember that you can use a fix/fix with a freewheel. Don't buy a wheel with a hub that has one side free, it's unneccesary. You have a lot more options with a fix/fix wheel...
yeah, I regret getting flip flops on both my wheelsets.
Now that winter is here I've finally put away my more summery bike. Right now its in the unheated shed that attaches to the ride of our house. Somehow I feel bad for it leaving it there in the cold and dark though. I could bring it up to my room but I'm on the third floor and don't have too much room for it. Plus people would think I was wierd for sleeping with my bike.
You stole our snow. Give it back!
we got lots down here, come get as much as you want.
I'd mail it but with our postal service, it would evaporate before they deliver it
Very beautiful from a distance, I was in Kentucky last winter for Basic Training.
Not so sure I would be so gung ho about winter biking anywhere but here. I mean I'd do it, but boy would I complain!
junioroverlord, I love the signature, but buddy, at least spell my pseudonym right! "lacklust" just seems so... umm... not me.
You have a lot more options with a fix/fix wheel.
BEST QOUTE EVARRR!!!1
This will be my sixth season of winter riding here in Madison, WI.
Second season of SS/fixed. Can't wait for that first ridiculously deep day when you get the "crazy ****er" looks.
man, if i lived in boston right now, i'd have a lot more bikes....or at least one more...a nice 5 or 6-speed roadie with fenders, DT shifters and aero levers. in addition to my two trackies and that other bike...with the derailleurs and the gears and the brakes...
man, if i lived in boston right now, i'd have a lot more bikes....or at least one more...a nice 5 or 6-speed roadie with fenders, DT shifters and aero levers. in addition to my two trackies and that other bike...with the derailleurs and the gears and the brakes...
OneTin- i know you were a Boston rider in the past, but why all the gears? To each his own but you couldn't pay me to ride anything other than a fixie in the winter. Especially around here since
they don't plow for sh!t and the roads are always super wet.
My 2 cents.
junioroverlord, I love the signature, but buddy, at least spell my pseudonym right! "lacklust" just seems so... umm... not me.
oops my bad. I need to pay more attention whilest typing.
I can't wait to get to the east side of the country.
S/F,
CEYA!
This will be my sixth season of winter riding here in Madison, WI.
Second season of SS/fixed. Can't wait for that first ridiculously deep day when you get the "crazy ****er" looks.
Agreed. I especially love the looks when I ride during the first big dump directly to the bar.
OTS, I know a lot of people here who prefer geared rides but put them away come winter. Most of them put a fix into active duty. It's not worth it to them for the derailleur that turns into a solid block of ice, and the salt and grime in their drivetrain and throwing off their shifts (when not frozen solid as mentioned before), plus it's a nice addition to the brakes which may be frozen over too. Winter's the perfect time for a FG ride (or an internally geared hub).
Speaking of which, I picked up a Pro Max/Open Pro wheel this spring which I love as much as a person may love a material thing. Am I asking for trouble to continue riding it this winter. I'm not worried about the bearings, they're cartridge so they can be trashed as far as I'm concerned. Most of the winter is dry pavement, but then there are the sort of warm days with the briney slush. Am I going to have a lot of hub body or rim damage? Pitting? Do I really need to build up a winter wheel. Tell me I don't.
PS: there was still quite a bit of snow this morning off the beaten path. I got out there before the temps climbed over freezing and day two was also quite awesome. I really love snow. :)
oops my bad. I need to pay more attention whilest typing.
:)
Speaking of which, I picked up a Pro Max/Open Pro wheel this spring which I love as much as a person may love a material thing. Am I asking for trouble to continue riding it this winter. I'm not worried about the bearings, they're cartridge so they can be trashed as far as I'm concerned. Most of the winter is dry pavement, but then there are the sort of warm days with the briney slush. Am I going to have a lot of hub body or rim damage? Pitting? Do I really need to build up a winter wheel. Tell me I don't.
I ran mine all last winter without any problems (although I eventually had to swap in a new axle because the stupid nuts froze in place - as one's nuts are bound to do during Boston winters). So far so good - rim and hub are happy and ready for more winter riding (my stupid dad was in town all weekend so I couldn't get out for a snowy frolic. grrrrr...).
I ran mine all last winter without any problems (although I eventually had to swap in a new axle because the stupid nuts froze in place - as one's nuts are bound to do during Boston winters).
True. My nuts are freezing right now.
(edit) I couldn't help myself :D
OneTin- i know you were a Boston rider in the past, but why all the gears? To each his own but you couldn't pay me to ride anything other than a fixie in the winter. Especially around here since
they don't plow for sh!t and the roads are always super wet.
My 2 cents.
i like variety. i'd get a 5 or 6 speed roadie because i already have a nice track bike, and a winter track bike. i have a really nice road bike, but not a beater roadie. some days it's just too cold to put up with a fixed gear.
it's also nice to have something that you paid $350 for that works and you don't really mind if it gets all jacked up from the weather to ride, instead of your track bike that you spent $1050 on.
i rode a full fendered, 21-speed bianchi eros for a lot of the last winter that i lived in boston because it was just fun. granted, i pretty much just stayed in one gear the whole time, but it was nice to be able to shift for the hills instead of stand up and brute force it. don't get me wrong, fixed on slush and grime and snow is great! it's just nice to coast every once in a while. even here, where it's mostly just one long bland as **** season, i still want to coast every once in a while.
some days, i just didn't want to be chilled to the bone and have to leglock. the cold made my knees feel so much worse when i rode fixed, coasting in the cold was always nice. one of my messenger friends was going to build up a merlin frame with 8-speed dura ace as his winter bike.
another thing abot me is that i'm pretty meticulous about keeping my **** running properly, which involves making sure it gets cleaned at least once a week in the winter.
OTS, I know a lot of people here who prefer geared rides but put them away come winter. Most of them put a fix into active duty. It's not worth it to them for the derailleur that turns into a solid block of ice, and the salt and grime in their drivetrain and throwing off their shifts (when not frozen solid as mentioned before), plus it's a nice addition to the brakes which may be frozen over too. Winter's the perfect time for a FG ride (or an internally geared hub).
i don't really prefer gears over fixed or vice versa. i enjoy both equally for different reasons.
another thing abot me is that i'm pretty meticulous about keeping my **** running properly, which involves making sure it gets cleaned at least once a week in the winter.
One could substitute lots of words for that "****", most of them funny.
when running fixed in the winter, is it better to put the more agressive tire in the front or back? i don't want to pay for a pair of studded tires, but i do want to get the most out of one. common sense seems to suggest putting it in back, but a lot of pictures seem to have the opposite going on.
i'm a big proponent of skinnier tires in slush and winter muck in a city-type environment. thinner tires cut through it to the street better. wider tires just ride on top of the muck and slush and slide around.
the point at which wider tires become more useful than thinner tires is when you have something over 6" of accumulated snow, and you have one of those iditabikes with the 5" wide tires to spread the weight of the bike and yourself over a greater surface. 26x2.125s, studded or not aren't going to do a whole hell of a lot on freshly fallen, unpacked snow.
when running fixed in the winter, is it better to put the more agressive tire in the front or back? i don't want to pay for a pair of studded tires, but i do want to get the most out of one. common sense seems to suggest putting it in back, but a lot of pictures seem to have the opposite going on.
I tend to agree w/ OTS that thin tires are just as good in the city. The real danger in super-nasty, icy conditions is that the minute you move your weight away from center in order to turn, the bike just slides laterally and you fall over. Thicker tires don't help with this all that much. However, to answer your question (finally), I'd say put the more aggressive tire in the back, since that's where your power comes from.
Also, notwithstanding everything I just said in defense of skinny tires, I now run 35s, not for winter traction, but because winter snow and sluch tend to hide potholes and other tire-eating obstacles, and changing a tire in 10-degree weather is a pain. Chunky tires make for fewer flats.
I'm not sure since I haven't used them, but I'm pretty sure that I've heard that studded on the front works better. The main reason that you would want to use them is more control over steering. The traction on the back usually isn't much of an issue except when you are first taking off from a stop. I'd check in the winter cycling board for more info...
Put it in front. Nobody cares about being able to sprint off a light if they can't keep the front under them going around a corner.
Put it in front. Nobody cares about being able to sprint off a light if they can't keep the front under them going around a corner.
I always want to sprint off a light. Of course, I'm also stupid.
nice pics, whats all that white stuff?
They tell me it's the anthrax.
when running fixed in the winter, is it better to put the more agressive tire in the front or back? i don't want to pay for a pair of studded tires, but i do want to get the most out of one. common sense seems to suggest putting it in back, but a lot of pictures seem to have the opposite going on.
Rural legend has it that a guy from a bike shop in Decorah Iowa built a 40 hole Sturmey archer (3-speed) hub on to two 36 hole 26" rims, stretched a 26x1.75" knobby tire across both rims (didn't use and tubes), and mounted the tire on a suspension frame with wide tire clearance by the stays. As many of you may know, with the right washer, a Sturmey archer 3-speed can be converted into a fixed gear. So the obvious solution to winter traction is to build a wheel like the Iowa guy, and throw one of those washers into the hub. As for the front wheel, well you can put whatever you want on there; perhaps even a ski.
Watery shlosh falling from the sky today... my 3rd winter, this.
What's the skinniest studded ice tire? Nokian makes a 28mm I think
A friend of mine makes his own snow tires by putting carpet tacks through a regular tire, then reinforcing the inside with Mr. Tuffys and duct tape. With this method, you could probably make as narrow a studded tire as you wanted.
A friend of mine makes his own snow tires by putting carpet tacks through a regular tire, then reinforcing the inside with Mr. Tuffys and duct tape. With this method, you could probably make as narrow a studded tire as you wanted.
cool. Will give this a try
First snow ride today, about 4 inches of powder snow in the woods, realised I need a studded front tyre. But it was very nice, all silent snow swooshing, frose my feet off though. Ended up at the sea and had a cup of real sweet strong coffee
First snow ride today, about 4 inches of powder snow in the woods, realised I need a studded front tyre. But it was very nice, all silent snow swooshing, frose my feet off though. Ended up at the sea and had a cup of real sweet strong coffee
Great pic!!!!!!
For sure.
As anyone who knows New England might predict, it's been generally really nice since it snowed. I actually can't wait for more, in part because otherwise it's an 8 or 10 mile ride to the nearest decent terrain. At 2:1, it's a little tedious. ;)
BRING ON WINTER!
Wow, bostontrevor, beautiful pictures! Nice bike, too.
I'm going to Connecticut for Christmas to see the inlaws but unfortunately I'm flying there so no riding while I'm there. :(
NOAA is predicting snow starting monday night through wed night! Finally!
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