Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
Here in Minnesota, among the people who bike commute to work all winter, the reason people build winter bikes is to save money. I've been told again and again by people who have tried it that after a single winter of bike commuting every day the entire drivetrain on their bike is shot - derailler, chain, chainrings, etc.
If you only have one bike, if it's decent at all, and if you're going to ride it all winter on the roads, I'm just saying using it for winter riding is not the "cheap" option.
I'm not seeing that.
I've been riding my $300 bike every day, all winter for 4 years now, and I did replace the derailler at 10,000, but that was due to worn sprockets. I replace my chain every 1800 miles or so, but that doesn't change between summer and winter, it wears fast in the summer because I am riding 8 miles a day on gravel roads and it is NEVER clean, even if I cleaned it last night, and in the winter due to salt and grit.
From talking with my friends in Minnesota, there's at least as much salt and crap on the roads around here as there is in Minnesota.
I replaced my freewheel twice, but that was because I forgot to check and change my chain in time and I wrecked it. I've been running my current sprocket for over a year now and no problems.
I have 19000 miles on my chainrings, and yeah, the middle one (really the only one I ever use) is getting pretty worn, but that doesn't bother me. I may flip it over soon and start wearing out the other side.
I have to date not even had to adjust my shifters - they shifted fine (assuming the derailler or cable wasn't full of crap) and accurately always. I only had to adjust them when I replaced the derailler at 10K, and the cables at 12K.
So yeah, I see a little more wear on my bike in the winter, but I'm not sure why building a different bike, and wrecking that one instead, would save me any money. It's not like my current bike is much different than what I'd build for the winter, except I'd probably go rear discs as well as the fronts I have now, and probably wider tires.
The only reason I think I might like an IGH is that sometimes my derailler gets clogged with ice and I have to stop and kick it a few times to get it into a gear I can live with for the whole trip. Once I get to work I put it inside and the ice melts out and it's fine.