…In 2013 was the first winter with the CF bike, and over the past two winters, that bike essentially is not ridden from January through March, and I ride the heavy-duty beater bike with studded tires. Last year, I thought about a second lesser quality road bike to ride on dry, but salted roads. My wife nixed the idea of three bikes in the condo...
This weekend, I was in bike shop to get some minor work done and I started to look at second tier road bikes. My trusted mechanic suggested an aluminum BMC costing about $1500, with upgraded components and 25 C tires. That would then become a year-round beater/rain bike, and the mountain bike would become the most severe winter ride. I think if I promised to store the carbon fiber bike away during the winter, and mountain bike during the nice weather, my wife might allow that.
This morning though as I rode the CF at 39°F, I could be confident that the sheen on the road was wet, and not black ice. I was reminded about the post by [mention=55787] tsl[/mention] Rochester New York, which convinced me to get studded tires in the first place,
I dunno, maybe it's my age showing. Here in Rochester, at least along my commute, there's always ice that miraculously didn't get salted away.
I figure gunk washes off quickly and easily. Broken bones would keep me off the bike for weeks while they mend.
I’ll have to keep that in mind to ride a road bike with unstudded tires during the winter.
