Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...my alternative to the beater is a 700x23 carbon fiber bike that is
never exposed to wet, much less salty roads. Thoughts of riding it are keeping my spirits bouyed (though I am admittedly in denial about the snowmelt).
Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Back in the day when I rode my singles, I rode my CF bike all winter. Perfect bike for that. Doesn't corrode, stronger, smoother. I used winter wheels with inexpensive rims and just re-rimmed them when they wore through. Every bike should have at least 2 wheelsets anyway. Now we ride the steel CoMo all winter with nice rims and just spend a tiny bit more replacing them. It's holding up fine, but we don't salt our roads here. The only thing different about winter riding really is that you need nice hubs with sealed bearings including in the freehub.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I have a variant question about riding my pristine carbon fiber bike in winter. Obviously if riding on wet roads with salt, it will be flung into the drive train. But what about on dry roads with caked salt? Would “salt dust” contaminate the drive train significantly? If I were to ride, I would avoid visible salt patches. I realize there may well not be a definitive answer, but "whaddya tink"?
This winter I have ridden my CF bike up to January 1, and it looks like it may be relatively mild (for precipitation), with increased dry road days.
For me, it's not so much the frame, much as keeping the drivetrain pristine; and I prefer to have studded tires unless the road is perfectly dry. I was hoping I'd be riding it more this winter when i rode on January 1, but then the "sh*tstorms" hit the fan.