willwebb

I would say it is fairly hilly. My regular commuter is a light touring bike with a road triple and I use the granny gear on every ride. I’m 51 and, unfortunately, have not figured out a reasonable way to stop aging.

2old

Wait a few (lots) of years; it gets easier --- NOT! This helps why you need a wide ratio.

RubeRad

Did nobody notice this 2nd link in the OP?

I'd say that's an incredible value, definitely worth stretching for if it's beyond your budget. Pinion gearboxes look amazing, I'm glad they're becoming more accessible. Plus generator hub and lights are a nice touch. I wonder how easy off/on those fenders are. In SoCal, I'd only want to wear them a few days/year.

CrankyOne

A standard Omafiets or Opafiets (https://www.workcycles.com) should do the trick. People throughout northern Europe ride these all winter with no problems. I'm in St Paul MN and ride throughout the winter on mine. We have extra bikes for guests so I stick studs on the front of one for days when I need studs and then I can ride mine w/o studs when bikeways are clear.

More info here: City Bikes | LocalMile

For braking I much prefer a backpedal (coaster) brake on the rear wheel and a roller brake on the front (or roller F&B). Much more reliable and less likely to get damaged or gunked up with stuff. I also prefer standard upright bars, especially for winter. Much more efficient (less wasted energy), more comfortable and safer.

hsuBM

If you have salty roads, the salt will gum up disc pads.

tried with two bikes, one in 2011, another in 2017. Both hydraulic. Tech just isn’t there for discs on bicycles to be used on salted snowy/slushy roads.

When it’s completely soggy wet, I find that I don’t have full stopping power till at least 1.5 wheel rotations regardless of whether I’m on discs or rim brakes. Thus, with both I have to feather them when approaching busy intersections to clean off the braking surface.

Kool-Stop salmon pads on alloy rims are the end of bicycle braking evolution as far as I’m concerned as they work as good as discs in December, and better than discs in February.

If looking for the best braking in garbage conditions, Paul Racers might be the ticket; my best experience was on a mid-80s Japanese tourer made for 27” rims whose canti brakes ^barely^ worked on 700c rims. I liked those better than the best discs on a sunny and 70 day.

Gresp15C

The closest practical thing would be an internal gear hub on the back and thru-axle on the front. We have four bikes with gear hubs in the family fleet. It actually makes sense to have a solid nutted axle in front, since you're going to be carrying a small wrench anyway.

I once rode a brand new bike through the winter, and regretted it. If you live in an area with heavy road salt, you can do everything by the book, and you'll still get rust plus some corrosion of aluminum parts. And, washing it daily in the cold and dark will get old after about a week. So I finally built up a dedicated winter bike that I only ride during salt season. It's got a 3 speed internal gear hub with coaster brake, and a front caliper brake. The front wheel doesn't tend to get as gross as the rear.

This bike started out as a single speed. Here in the Madison WI area, the city and county have their own schedules for clearing the streets, so the snow can get fairly deep before it gets plowed. With a single speed, I can actually get bogged down in deep, heavy, wet snow. So I switched to the 3-speed hub that was in my parts bin, an old Sturmey Archer S3C. It's geared fairly low. I'd say that the 3rd gear is an appropriate cruising gear on dry pavement, and the lowest gear lets me grind my way out of the muck. It worked great through one winter so far. During the rest of the year, I usually commute on a single speed bike.

A bike that can accommodate a chain guard is a nice thing, because it means you can use really thick heavy chain oil without getting it all over your pants.

Darth Lefty 

Did you know this Halloween is a blue moon? though that doesn't explain a zombie two weeks prior

hsuBM

gah! How did I miss that?!

I blame some other necromancer ninja-deleting their nefarious act!

cyccommute 

I would suggest you reconsider this one. Air/oil suspension works well in cold weather and there is benefit to having both front and rear suspension. A rigid fork will get trapped in a rut or packed snow like it will in a rut in dirt. To get out of the rut, you have to steer into the edge of the rut but you can’t because the wheel is trapped against the rut. While you might be able to get out, most often the result is a loss of momentum or the tire slides off the edge of the rut and you crash.

With a front shock, the fork gives and allows the tire to gain purchase on the edge of the rut and climb out of it, just like it does when off-road. You are less likely to crash and more likely to be able to continue forward momentum.

Rear suspension allows the bike to “squat” while pedaling which increases traction and grip. The bike moves forward better.

Finally, most anyone who has been riding bikes for very long will come to the realization that no bike is made to serve all your needs. Many of us have built bikes for our purpose rather then try to buy one. It’s not cheap but there are fewer compromises.