I ride less frequently in bad weather, but I still ride.

Whaaaat? Bicycling in snow isn't challenging enough?

According to my Colorado born and raised and learned to drive in snow in Colorado...not just Denver where it seldom snows but in Durango where it snows a whole lot...people in Seattle know exactly nothing about driving in snow. She spent 2 years there and said that driving in snow wasn't the problem but dealing with all the people who had no idea of how to drive in snow was the problem. She got hit twice by people who couldn't stop and didn't know how to drive.

I agree but man do I hate studs! I have a bike equipped with them but I ride it only as a last resort. They work well in ice and snow but otherwise they are just boat anchors. Ick!

Even prestuds I've never had an end to the bicycle season...or even a bicycle season for that matter. I've ridden at least once per month since 1978. And that includes after rebreaking an ankle followed by surgery to remove the hardware from the previous break and getting hit by a car with 6 weeks off the bike following surgery to my knee. I even bought my new bike while on crutches. It's all about timing

I took the week off from commuting to work (still had a few miles to do around the city on errands) due to some home construction, heavy rain and just pure being tired/lazy. Will there be snow on the ground all the way until the next season? It's still early enough, won't it melt then you can get back on the saddle?

In DC we usually have our snowstorms in February or March, so I suppose that's when my season will end. We have ice on the roads and paths about 8 days a year - to me it's not worth investing in studded tires. I'd just ride the train or telecommute.

It'd be more worth it if I lived further up north, with more icy days a year.

I never really stop for a season, but I don't ride if it's under 20F or if it's raining when 40's or under. I'm not equipped for either of those conditions for the length of time my commute takes (as much as 80-90 minutes in adverse weather), and it doesn't happen often enough to justify spending the money to get equipped for those conditions.

We are getting the same snow tonite and tomorrow - my last ride will be this afternoon, before it starts.

We get ~60 days with rain a year, mostly in the cooler months. So there's a decent chance most of my biking days will not overlap with rainy days, and I'll only skip a few.

It's funny, though. When I was snowboarding all the weather seemed to happen on Monday or Tuesday, and I'd never get to see powder. Now that I've got a house to take care of and a kid to play with all weekend, it seems like all the rainy days are Saturday and Sunday.

oh yeah, studs are are not a lot of fun to ride on, but chicago seems to be at that perfect latitude where we get an absolute crapload of freeze thaw every winter. we'll have some snow pack on the ground. then during the day it might warm up into the mid-30s, creating a little snow melt that forms small puddles in the streets, then at night it will dip back down into the 20s and all those little puddles will freeze over just in time for my morning commute. then it will warm up up just a touch during the day to melt a little more snow, then refreeze over night, and again, and again, and again. it can go on for days at a time.

i didn't know about studded tires for my first winter of bike commuting and i took several spills on ice. none were terribly serious, but i wised up to the importance of studded tires after that first season.

luckily, i have a dedicated winter bike in my stable that lives with studs on year round, so i don't have to play the tire swapping game. on winter days when i have a high degree of confidence that the streets will be clear and dry and/or temps will be above freezing, i just ride my regular commuter because studs are, as your said, boat anchors.

One day many years ago at Purdue - late 90's - they shut down the campus for a day because it was forecast to be -40 with wind chill. But it was only overcast, the air and ground were clear. In the afternoon, for some reason the notion took me to bundle up and go out on my bike. I had two hard falls on black-iced concrete between my dorm and wherever I was going. I locked it up and walked back from there.

My "winter bike" doesn't have studs on it all year but I have put them on now. I have another bike for those days here in Denver when the ice and snow is just patchy and I can deal with it. Prepared for some envy?

My patchy snow bike



and my dedicated studded tire bike (in summer togs)



Salt won't hurt it

I'm a year round rider. The coldest I've ridden was -14f/-25c. Good gear keeps me warm and comfortable. I've ridden thru several blizzards and numerous ice storms. I'm good up to 10 inches of snow. After that I go to plan B, which is the quickest route to the main road that will hopefully be plowed. If not then I practice my riding skills by trying to ride down a tire track. In nine years of everyday commuting I've pretty much ridden in everything that Mother Nature throws my way. Winds over 50 mph will stop me in my tracks. And that's happened once.

Never have to worry about that living in Hawaii.

This and proper attitude is all that's necessary.

Not sure.. I fully plan on never stopping. But I've never rode in the snow so that might change with the first flurries. Not sure about the negative temps either. Those were quite brutal last winter. Have a pair of knobby's I might put on if the K908's don't hold up. The route I take is on the emergency snow route so should help. Hitting 2000 miles this year if I have to push or carry it though!

3-5 " of snow tonight in Chicgoland

4" of snow is nice to ride in. 8" is too much work to go very far. About 6" the pedals hit the snow.
Fat studded knobbies go over ice and through snow. Twice a week for me.

It doesn't, although I went easy and only rode 100 miles a week in January and February 2015.



I do pause for broken bones, soft tissue injuries, and surgery but am trying to cut back on that sort of thing.

-11 C or 12 F this morning with a skiff of snow. Yesterday, coming home from work, I fell over at a really icy intersection. Must remember to be careful with the front disk brake. Added a really thick wool sweater and a balaclava this morning to the protective gear I wear. Made for a very comfortable ride. Tomorrow, I will pick up some studded tires from the LBS. If I am going to ride all winter, might as well be as safe as possible. Looking at a pair of these.


[h=1]Schwalbe Winter 26 x 1.75 Wire Tire[/h]

“Gear and gumption” sums it up nicely.

I never truly "stop" for the winter, but I don't bike when there is actual winter precipitation accumulated on the roads. Last year, I think I only took off 7 days over the winter, 5 of which were in one week.

We just got our first snow today. End of the summer season, beginning of the winter season.

But snow melts and streets are cleared. Even if you refuse to ride in snow, (which is fine) there will be plenty of dry pavement days all winter long.

The end of the season for me is when they put me in my casket!

I don't like riding while the streets are slippery or salty. I rode into the new year last winter and the cold didn't bother me, but days like today make me glad I have the option to drive.

There’s a nice current discussion about the pros and cons of studded titers on this Commuter thread, ”Wrong bike this morning.”