Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I'm going to take a very different track from everyone else who has commented. First look at the locations of everyone who has commented so far. They don't live in snowy Madison, WI so they have little experience dealing with snow. Slick tires are great for moderate climates...even here in Colorado I can ride a lot in the winter on slicks...but for Madison they make about as much sense as wearing a bikini. If anything, you should buy a set of studded tires and, perhaps, a set of wheels to mount them. That will make the bike a bit harder to ride but more on that a little later.
Yes, you could change over to a rigid fork but be careful what you wish for. Rigid forks are nice and light but they aren't the best choice for roads and paths that can have ruts. I spent many years riding rigid bikes off-road (had to since suspension forks hadn't been invented) and the biggest advantage that suspension forks offered wasn't comfort but control. A rigid fork tends to get trapped in ruts and dig into soft spots. A suspension fork will climb out of ruts and float on soft spots. The wheel isn't knocked off its line as easily and you are less likely to crash. Leave the fork and unlock it when the snow and ice get bad. That, as well as the studs, will make you almost invincible on ice and packed snow.
As for the tires making the ride harder and/or slower, so? If you are riding in snow and cold, you probably aren't going to be all that fast to begin with. Crashing because you have inadequate tires for handling snow and ice really puts a dent in your overall time, not to mention the bits of you that hit the ground. Another way to look at it is that riding mountain bike tires with their higher rolling resistance is strength training. Once you get back on the road bike, you'll be faster.
Additionally, look for places to use the knobbies. Diving off-road on some social trail can put a bit of fun back into an activity that can become boring.
For the front fender, ditch the conventional fender. For snow it's not that good anyway because the snow packs into it.
I actually have studded tires sitting in my room right now. I ran them while I was doing a co-op in northern WI last semester. Dec/Jan mountain biking is crazy when you can take shortcuts across a lake and create your own trail where a pond normally lies. I took them off as the first week here was so damn nice. mid 30's and no snow on the road. This week wasn't so nice, so I'm probably putting the studded tires back on this weekend. Also, there is an outdoor pump (I think that's what it's called??) track in town that I want to try out. I've never been to one so that should be a nice day of riding there, playing, and then riding home. There's no way I'm riding there without studs either.
Originally Posted by
oddjob2
In a Badger land, which is probably not dissimilar from a big ten university town known for welcoming a certain former NFL coach to its football facility, $500 is probably 2X the money to find and convert a MTB or hybrid into an effective commuter. Then you can keep your GF for it's intended use. I've got about $160-$175 invested in the Miyata below, which I frequently refer to as the poor man's Surly LHT. Since the photo, it has had a rear Blackburn installed.
Yeah, I understand my budget is a lot more than required for a good campus/around town commuter, but I cannot justify selling a nice bike to buy something cheaper. Nor do I have the space for 3 bikes. All my belongings currently fit into my room of my apt. Next year I'll be rocking an efficiency where I may be able to have a 3rd bike. At that point I'll look for an old school rigid mtb for school. This year its just not in the cards even though I'm a firm believer in the "n+1" methodology in regards to things with 2 wheels.