Winter commuting, who does it?
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 62
Bikes: 1980 Univega Custom, Raleigh C30, Raleigh R600
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Winter commuting, who does it?
Over the past few months I have become a daily commuter. I have gotten rid of my '78 VW van and decided that anywhere it can take me I can pedal to. The Winter months are upon us and living in the north west where the winters get below the teens, I have had to invest in some good winter gear to sustain. While I was at my local bike shop I was wondering how many people commute on a daily basis during the dead of winter when the temperatures are well below freezing? Also, what are some of the things people do to cope with the cold?
#2
winter is comming
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lachine, Quebec, Canada
Posts: 531
Bikes: Mikado kensington 2003, "commuterized" 8yr old Mongoose hilltopper SX, Baycrest Hurricane 10 speed
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
There is a winter specifi forum on this board
https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cycling/
Check it out, there's allready a good wealth of info there.
https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cycling/
Check it out, there's allready a good wealth of info there.
#3
Friend of Jimmy K
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 1,458
Bikes: A lot: Raliegh road bike, 3 fixed gears, 2 single speeds, 3 Cannondales, a couple of Schwinns
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
I do, you can read about mine and other's exploits in the winter fray in the winter forum, just scroll down a bit, you'll find it.
#5
Long Live Long Rides
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: KCMO
Posts: 718
Bikes: 1988 Specialized Rockhopper Comp, converted for touring/commuting. 1984 Raleigh Team USA road bike.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Icebike is a cool site. Pun intended. I love winter snow riding.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,601
Bikes: Mercier Corvus (commuter), Fila Taos (MTB), Trek 660(Got frame for free and put my LeMans Centurian components on it)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I do. Of course winter here just means the temps drop from the 100's down into the 80's . Seriously though I used to commute to school in the winter in Flagstaff and it was a blast. Had to carry a lot of gear though.
__________________
Sunrise saturday,
I was biking the backroads,
lost in the moment.
Sunrise saturday,
I was biking the backroads,
lost in the moment.
#7
Regular ol' schmo
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 89
Bikes: Fuju TeamSL, ProFlex Mtn.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I commute daily here in Colorado, even during winter, 18 miles one way.
Although I tend to take the bus more when it snows or is really icy for safety reasons and when the sun goes down, also for safety reaons.. Last year I stuck strictly to my road bike without problems or falling (they use Magnesium Chloride on the roads out here instead of rocks and salt which is nice)
This year I'm going to invest in a good pair of windbreak tights like the PearlIzumi Amphib tights. I usually don't commute around 10-degrees or so cause it's always 10 degrees colder on the bike than the air temperature. Often times when I commute my water bottle will freeze up. not solid, but ice crystals will be throughout the water at the end of my 1-hr commute. Biggest problem is getting flat tires, cause it will cool you down when you stop.
Also, here's a tip. if you are caught offgard on really cold and windy days, you can use sandwich bags on your feet as windstops. works great... just put them over your socks and inside your shoe.. keeps the chill out.
Here's a list of my gear. I dress in layers and componentize my gear to switch up the combination of gear depending on how cold it gets so I may not use all together:
Skin-tight base layer shirt, like a sleeveless polyester. ( $10 @ Target )
Alpine Design Long sleeve shirt. ( $20 )
Fleece Neck Gator
Sunglasses
Ski gloves or Fleece liners combined with neoprese bike gloves
PolyPro or Silk long johns
Knee Warmers
Bib shorts
Performance Toesties (going to upgrade to some full shoe covers)
Pearl Izumi Vagabond jacket ( I love this jacket, use it all year around, has detachable sleeves )
PolyPro long socks.
Yeah, the gear is not pro-racer setup, i'm on a budget, so the gear pieced together and works good. I usually am sweating and warm during the ride.. and this year, i got bulletproof tires (Bontrager RaceLite hardcase ) so no stopping!
Although I tend to take the bus more when it snows or is really icy for safety reasons and when the sun goes down, also for safety reaons.. Last year I stuck strictly to my road bike without problems or falling (they use Magnesium Chloride on the roads out here instead of rocks and salt which is nice)
This year I'm going to invest in a good pair of windbreak tights like the PearlIzumi Amphib tights. I usually don't commute around 10-degrees or so cause it's always 10 degrees colder on the bike than the air temperature. Often times when I commute my water bottle will freeze up. not solid, but ice crystals will be throughout the water at the end of my 1-hr commute. Biggest problem is getting flat tires, cause it will cool you down when you stop.
Also, here's a tip. if you are caught offgard on really cold and windy days, you can use sandwich bags on your feet as windstops. works great... just put them over your socks and inside your shoe.. keeps the chill out.
Here's a list of my gear. I dress in layers and componentize my gear to switch up the combination of gear depending on how cold it gets so I may not use all together:
Skin-tight base layer shirt, like a sleeveless polyester. ( $10 @ Target )
Alpine Design Long sleeve shirt. ( $20 )
Fleece Neck Gator
Sunglasses
Ski gloves or Fleece liners combined with neoprese bike gloves
PolyPro or Silk long johns
Knee Warmers
Bib shorts
Performance Toesties (going to upgrade to some full shoe covers)
Pearl Izumi Vagabond jacket ( I love this jacket, use it all year around, has detachable sleeves )
PolyPro long socks.
Yeah, the gear is not pro-racer setup, i'm on a budget, so the gear pieced together and works good. I usually am sweating and warm during the ride.. and this year, i got bulletproof tires (Bontrager RaceLite hardcase ) so no stopping!
Originally Posted by AjAx
Over the past few months I have become a daily commuter. I have gotten rid of my '78 VW van and decided that anywhere it can take me I can pedal to. The Winter months are upon us and living in the north west where the winters get below the teens, I have had to invest in some good winter gear to sustain. While I was at my local bike shop I was wondering how many people commute on a daily basis during the dead of winter when the temperatures are well below freezing? Also, what are some of the things people do to cope with the cold?
#9
The Spider
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 417
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I have been winter commuting For over 20 year .I live in ohio . Where the winter can get realy bad . The good news is there is less people on the roads in the winter.
The bad news is the rodes get realy bad .
Have fun . thanks
The bad news is the rodes get realy bad .
Have fun . thanks
#10
Rebel Thousandaire
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 733
Bikes: Public D8, Yuba Mundo (cargo), Novara Buzz (1-speed, soon to be 2-speed w/ a kickback hub), Xootr 1-speed folder
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Ski goggles.
#11
Better than you since 83!
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Up a big F'ing Hill
Posts: 1,117
Bikes: Fixed Gear 79 Schwinn Sprint
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I know I do. Though its very similar to the sentiments of our friend from Arizona. Winter here is at the worst in the high 50's, with drizzling rain. Nothing a jacket and a scarf cant help with.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Rocklin, CA
Posts: 158
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by ericmorin
Also, here's a tip. if you are caught offgard on really cold and windy days, you can use sandwich bags on your feet as windstops. works great... just put them over your socks and inside your shoe.. keeps the chill out.
Here's a list of my gear. I dress in layers and componentize my gear to switch up the combination of gear depending on how cold it gets so I may not use all together:
Skin-tight base layer shirt, like a sleeveless polyester. ( $10 @ Target )
Alpine Design Long sleeve shirt. ( $20 )
Fleece Neck Gator
Sunglasses
Ski gloves or Fleece liners combined with neoprese bike gloves
PolyPro or Silk long johns
Knee Warmers
Bib shorts
Performance Toesties (going to upgrade to some full shoe covers)
Pearl Izumi Vagabond jacket ( I love this jacket, use it all year around, has detachable sleeves )
PolyPro long socks.
Yeah, the gear is not pro-racer setup, i'm on a budget, so the gear pieced together and works good. I usually am sweating and warm during the ride.. and this year, i got bulletproof tires (Bontrager RaceLite hardcase ) so no stopping!
Here's a list of my gear. I dress in layers and componentize my gear to switch up the combination of gear depending on how cold it gets so I may not use all together:
Skin-tight base layer shirt, like a sleeveless polyester. ( $10 @ Target )
Alpine Design Long sleeve shirt. ( $20 )
Fleece Neck Gator
Sunglasses
Ski gloves or Fleece liners combined with neoprese bike gloves
PolyPro or Silk long johns
Knee Warmers
Bib shorts
Performance Toesties (going to upgrade to some full shoe covers)
Pearl Izumi Vagabond jacket ( I love this jacket, use it all year around, has detachable sleeves )
PolyPro long socks.
Yeah, the gear is not pro-racer setup, i'm on a budget, so the gear pieced together and works good. I usually am sweating and warm during the ride.. and this year, i got bulletproof tires (Bontrager RaceLite hardcase ) so no stopping!
Pearl Izumi Balaclava
R.E.I. has a really nice turtleneck base layer shirt called MTS (moisture transport system). It's thin and is fabulous for layering.
I'm a big advocate of piecing togther the clothing from different sources. Keeps down the cost that way.
For the bike, if you don't already have them get fenders! It isn't the rain that gets you wet so much as the spray from the tires on wet roads.
I used to live in the Portland/Vancouver area and it's wet there as you well know. It also snowed occasionally and I rode in that too. Now I'm in the Sacramento area. Not as cold, nor as wet, but we've got a lot of fog in the wintertime. Use lots of reflectors, lights, and reflective tape. Better to be seen than to be part of the front end of a Buick.
#13
Go hula
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 212
Bikes: McMahon Ti hardtail, Breezer Storm commuter
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by ericmorin
Skin-tight base layer shirt, like a sleeveless polyester. ( $10 @ Target )
Alpine Design Long sleeve shirt. ( $20 )
Fleece Neck Gator
Sunglasses
Ski gloves or Fleece liners combined with neoprese bike gloves
PolyPro or Silk long johns
Knee Warmers
Bib shorts
Performance Toesties (going to upgrade to some full shoe covers)
Pearl Izumi Vagabond jacket ( I love this jacket, use it all year around, has detachable sleeves )
PolyPro long socks.
#14
Regular ol' schmo
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 89
Bikes: Fuju TeamSL, ProFlex Mtn.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Ya Tu Sabes
Ski goggles.
#15
Regular ol' schmo
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 89
Bikes: Fuju TeamSL, ProFlex Mtn.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by greenbreezer
I'm so glad I live in California I just bust out the tights, long-sleeved jersey and windbreaker (maybe a heavier windbreaker if it hits below 55 degrees). Right now we're experiencing Indian summer so it's been in the mid-high 80's all week so I'm still in my shorts, sleeveless jersey and Shimano sandals. Yes, I'm gloating!
Yeah, yeah.. must be nice no one has never really lived until you have to scrape the ice off the water bottle nipple to drink from it... My friend and I used to go jet skiing in the dead of winter out here.. we'd ride on a partially frozen lake, and jump onto the ice with the skis and break through. We wore dry suits of course.. and we had to take our life jackets off in the water, cause the buckles would freeze up out in the air. those were the days
#16
put our Heads Together
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: southeast pennsylvania
Posts: 3,155
Bikes: a mountain bike with a cargo box on the back and aero bars on the front. an old well-worn dahon folding bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
we'd ride on a partially frozen lake, and jump onto the ice with the skis and break through.
AjAx-- I used to ride 20 minutes to school in the dead of winter in Alaska. I was fine as long as I wore mittens. On a bike you've got a built-in heater... your own metabolism. Now I live in warm-land, and it rains here. I'll take snow over this crap any day; being wet sucks.
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Oztraylya
Posts: 2,677
Bikes: '03 Fuji Roubaix Pro; '03 KleinGi Attitude; '06 Soma Rush; '04 Surly Cross-Check; '06 Soma Rush; '07 Scott CR1 / Chorus
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I commute all year round in most weather here in Colorado. I manage to combine bike gear with some of my ski gear to be nice and toasty, though this year I also need to pick up a pair of windbreak tights and a better pair of shoe covers.
If you're dressed right, it's really no problem. FWIW, I use a Surly Cross-Check with 700x28 Armadillos in the summer and 700x32 knobby tires in the winter. Haven't had reason yet to need studded tires - snow melts pretty quickly down here, so not much ice.
If you're dressed right, it's really no problem. FWIW, I use a Surly Cross-Check with 700x28 Armadillos in the summer and 700x32 knobby tires in the winter. Haven't had reason yet to need studded tires - snow melts pretty quickly down here, so not much ice.
__________________
#18
kipuka explorer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Hilo Town, East Hawai'i
Posts: 3,297
Bikes: 1994 Trek 820, 2004 Fuji Absolute, 2005 Jamis Nova, 1977 Schwinn Scrambler 36/36
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by cerewa
Now I live in warm-land, and it rains here. I'll take snow over this crap any day; being wet sucks.
it's a few degrees warmer. Constant freeze-thaw turns everything to ice. A colder winter means that snow
stays snow, which is much easier to deal with than slush and ice.
I spent the last few years in Denver/Boulder. Denver does not have any winter to speak of.
__________________
--
-=- '05 Jamis Nova -=- '04 Fuji Absolute -=- '94 Trek 820 -=- '77 Schwinn Scrambler 36/36 -=-
Friends don't let friends use brifters.
--
-=- '05 Jamis Nova -=- '04 Fuji Absolute -=- '94 Trek 820 -=- '77 Schwinn Scrambler 36/36 -=-
Friends don't let friends use brifters.
#19
RAGBRAI. Need I say more?
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: West Branch, Iowa USA
Posts: 868
Bikes: 1998 Mongoose NX7.1, 2008 Kona Jake, GT singlespeed (year unknown).
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by bkrownd
Constant freeze-thaw turns everything to ice. A colder winter means that snow
stays snow, which is much easier to deal with than slush and ice.
stays snow, which is much easier to deal with than slush and ice.