My biggest concern about black ice, which is a few days a year phenomenon here, is what if i judge wrong and go out with only slightly knobby tires only to crash 10 minutes into my ride? That is probably the biggest single factor in my decision to get a dedicated bike for these rides which can also be used year round with normal tread tires. I understand some people have a "winter bike" and their dry ride bike is not used in rain or snow etc, but i cant justify sidelining my uptown (a really, really wonderful thing to ride and have) all winter. So enter my winter plan: second year round/winter storm bike, and some minor changes to the uptown to make it better in plain snow.

Anyone else buy a bike just to handle black icy days, or do what i'm planning to do?

- Andy