Originally Posted by jeff-o
I have a bit more of an issue with bad weather because I ride a trike. A thick layer of snow and ice on a large recumbent-style seat would be hard to remove. Besides, I'd prefer if I could expose the components and chain to as little of the elements as possible. Not only that, but the bike racks outside are usually buried in several feet of snow in the winter. I think it would be easier to convince them to open the big shipping bay doors to let me park inside.
Also, you're right, the temps aren't always 20 below. Usually they over between -10 and -5. The snow banks will be tricky though, I can't even see over car hoods.....
You might want to consider a mountain bike for winter use, preferably with a set of studded tires. And is it really hard to clean the seat of a recumbent, compared with scraping ice and brushing snow off a car? How about digging a car out of snow banks left by the road plows? At least you can just pull your bike out of a snowbank, as long as you can find the handlebars!
Sorry, dude. After my good experiences of riding in the winter, I'm pretty convinced that bikes are the way to go. I might feel diferent if I had a 40 mile round trip every day. Or not.