undisputed83

I finally had to retire my regular commuter bike for the season today. I was hoping to be still riding it beyond new years day, but we finally got our first real snowfall today. So from now until late march I'll be on my Specialized Hardrock. That's kind of like switching from a cadallac to a dump truck...

mustang1

Not much of a road bike then?.. unless it has 700-100mm tires

I switched to my Tricross then just gave up altogether (except for yesterday when the trains were screwed).

EDIT: correction on the Caddy... I see you have a CX bike Yes they are indeed comfortable when compared to an rb with 23mm tires.

chadwebster

I live in socal so i can ride whatever whenever

xtrajack

I roll my Xtracycle year round.

GriddleCakes

Meh, I switched to winter tires back in mid-November. I did switch to a brand new frame, fork, and drivetrain a week ago, but that's kind of the opposite of switching to a beater.

Although, compared to a lot of bikes that I see posted on BF, I guess that my year-round commuter is a bit of a beater, even mostly new.

MichaelW

I switched to studded tyres but my everyday commuter bike is for all-year use.

Jim from Boston

My winter beater bike is my all-year beater bike, but it becomes a winter beater bike when I put the studded tires on (last week). Today was the first day I needed the studs.

I ride the road bike only when the roads are totally dry, including winter, and the forecast for the day is favorable.

AdamDZ

I commute on the same bike all year, I just have a set of spare wheels that I use with knobby, studded tires in Winter. It's not really a "beater", it's in a decent condition, I also run errands on it, weekend rides, etc. It's a cheap Nasbar MTB frame and a mix of used and XT level components, but I like it a lot and it's my primary method of transportation right now. I'm going to build a backup bike eventually, but this one has been totally reliable so far and I have lots of spare parts laying around to fix it quickly if needed.

ghettocruiser

No such bike.

GriddleCakes

Whoa! Y'all run studded tires in England!? I didn't think that it ever got below freezing south of Scotland. You Brits have just jumped up a notch in my view, and you were already fairly high after giving us Newtonian physics, Newcastle Brown Ale, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking, and James Bond.

Adam, I've seen your bike, and it's totally a "beater". That is, it's not a pretty vintage bike, a color co-ordinated fixie, or a fast and flashy road bike. People with "winter beaters" are people that have pretty or precious bicycles that can't bear to be exposed to the the terrible extremes of winter. Your bike is a fat kid with Sorels, mittens, hat, and scarf; it doesn't care what season it is, it's going out to play.

tarwheel 

I don't have a beater bike, but I ride my touring bike much more in winter because it can haul more gear. With all the extra clothes you need to wear in winter, the touring bike is great, particularly when the mornings are cold but temps warm up a lot during the day. It's slower than my other bikes, but I'm not so concerned about that when it's real cold.

hubcap

I start riding my mtn bike equipped with Nokian Mount and Grounds once the snow starts flying - which was a few weeks ago. The snow has not left the ground since it started flying. I'm unique in the sense that I have to ride two bikes on my commute. So I have Nokian studs on my single speed cyclocross bike as well

tjspiel

I do not have a winter "beater". I have a horseless snow chariot, - and I've been riding it for over a month now.

Winter came early this year and it keeps coming.

RichardGlover

I have no winter beater. My commuter may, however, become my winter beater next year after I buy a new bike for brevets.

heywood

Hoping to get my 'winter beater' within the next few weeks.. have been out until last week on my regular commuter but the darned road salt scares the crap out of me and my frame...

GriddleCakes

A snowmobile? Sweet!

If I didn't live in the municipality, there're days where I seriously consider driving a snowmobile to work.

mrosenlof

my winter beater is my summer beater.

plodderslusk

We have had some really cold weather lately and this is my preferred bike now. Not fast but very stable.

MileHighMark

I have one road machine. Summer, winter, you name it, I ride it. If there's ice on the road (especially in the bike lane), I'll drive (yes, I'm a wimp).

Arcanum

I don't have a winter beater. The disc brakes and dynamo lights on my main bike are just too useful.

MichaelW

We have had the coldest UK December for decades. The usual mild Westerlies have been blocked by a high pressure system and we are getting Siberian North Easterlies. It is very cold here with night-time temps about -8C, the coldest nights at -18C and daytime around -2C down to -10.
There is a really nice winter cycling pic in our local paper
My Alfine gears froze up (in 3rd gear) and there has been ice and snow on the ground on and off for 3 weeks.

I made some studded tyres have been able to cycle through the freeze.

Sigurdd50

I always find it humorous when riders who live in places where there is no winter, chime in on the 'have you started riding your winter beater bike yet?' threads. Like We here in Chicago or Wisconsin or the Twin Cities or Rochester or wherever need to be reminded. That's the great thing about the north: we get to EARN spring (ya hoo)

Fizzaly

Ive been going back and forth the last few weeks, we've been getting snow then it melts, rains for a week, then snows and melts which=Boise winter

fietsbob

Still thawed rain on NW coast, though my Folding bike gets less use,
as bottle dynamo slips on wet tire.
My WTR got a Schmidt Hub, so it gets the use..
Studded tire bike is slower, tire PSI is much lower, and tread is knobby,
both increase rolling resistance..

was a cold snap for a couple days, then in the 20s F
I switched to that one ..

RichardGlover

There are those of us who are smart enough to move to a climate that's more suitable for human habitation.