sure, space is always an issue. We all leave our bikes out year round, there is an overhang that protects them from the rain but the wind often blows snow and sometimes rain on them.

Solution for when the bikes are wet is ... dry the saddle, get on and ride.....

Just leave your bike in the safest place you can and be happy you can ride and do not have to drive or take public transportation.....

Ro

My winter bike is my summer bike with a light snapped on to the handlebars. Viva Las Vegas.

That's a bargain. Here in Toronto, a transit pass is 126/mo. And we have a s***** transit system that craps out every week.

In Frankfurt, my employer has so many people using public transport, that we get it for 21€/mo.

I'm probably the only guy on the forum actually losing money by not using the alternative to the bicycle every day.

I don't even think the 21€/mo would cover the kcal expended from riding ... LOL.

I could use public transport for free, but I prefer riding bicycle. If my job was physically exhausting, I'd opt for car/public transport, but since it is an office one, I prefer to ride: for fun, fitness, health, peace of mind for never being stuck in traffic. It's a no-brainer for me.

Is a backup bike for winter required? No. Plenty of people only have one bike.

Is it convenient to have if a person has the space/money/desire? Heck yeah.

But I'm not going to go so far and say that it's manditory that a dedicated commuter has more than one bike. That being said, I own five bikes.

I have a rain bike and 2 winter bikes with different studded tires. Whatever works for you. Sometimes I take one of the mountain bikes or one with more bags. Snow ,slush, salt, sand, not with the nice bikes.

I've been commuting year round for close to a decade. I have two bikes but only one is suitable for winter riding. So during the winter, which for us is 3 to 4 months, I have no backup. For me it is mostly about space, but part of it is time commitment, and part of it is money.

Studded tires are not cheap. Further. I'd rather not spend the time maintaining or pay somebody else to maintain a bike whose job it is to sit there just in case. I can ride public transportation for free, but if I did have to pay, it's about $4.00 a day. That's less than it would cost me to drive and park a car. Finally, like a lot of us, I usually do have a car available if all else fails. For that matter, I've even run the 6 miles to work before.

And like I said, a backup bike does no good if there's a mechanical issue on your way to work. It's more important in my mind to have a plan for that situation than to have a backup bike. Yes, if you crash and your bike is out of commission for awhile, a backup bike would be handy. But what if your ankle is broken in that same crash?

I'm really with TJ on this in that I don't really have a winter bike. It would be convenient and I'd like to but it's not really necessary. However, I do like to keep spare wheels ready to go and that's been useful a half-dozen times over the past four winters. Just a cheap, on-line ordered wheel with a decent foul-weather tire on it.

If you live in Georgia, you don't need a winter bike. I have 8 bikes that I ride regularly and what it really comes down to is equal time. If one bike get more attention, then the others get jealous and talk between them. The next thing you know, they will be throwing me over the bars and breaking stuff. I already have studded tires and they last a long time, I like to have choices for my commute based on temp, snow and ice conditions etc. YRMV

[QUOTE=tjspiel;14260979]

Wait a minute, TJ! Are you actually admitting that you have a spare bike here?....Perhaps, even a "Winter Bike"...

C'mon TJ! Are you really going to reach for the broken ankle now? ...A more likely scenario would be that your wheel or crank is cracked or broken and needs to be replaced. Most likely either you won't be injured at all, or you would have sustained very minor injuries.

Most of the people I know who are car free have a backup bike as should one bike be put out of commission, they won't be put out by having to use alternate transportation.

I could crash one bike a day for several weeks and still be okay to ride if I was not a broken and bloody mess.

Problem - solution. That's the way I look at it. From my perspective.

Riding bicycle to work: nice.
Public transport: suck.

I do what I can to go to work by bicycle, whenever possible. That's why I have a cheap backup bicycle. Just in case. It costs me about 10 euros per year extra. No big deal. And it does come in handy when I can't fix my main commuter quickly.

So, if commuting bike no1 gets ****ed up on the way to work, I call, say I'll be late (or someone picks me up if it's an emergency). That doesn't happen often. However, if it can't be fixed within that day, instead of using public transport, I ride backup bike.

One more point. When I was talking about bicycle commuting, I had in mind a person who is not crazy like myself and who doesn't use bicycle for enjoyment, but because there is no affordable alternative transport. In that case, there just has to be a backup bike (no bus/train lines near, or too few departures per day, no car, motorcycle etc...).

Your really need to define "need" It is extremely rare that something happens to a bike that keeps if from being ride-able if you have basic mechanical skills are pay enough attention to make sure you have a couple spare tubes around. Many people use just a car for transportation and do not have back up, hell if you think bikes are that fragile then many touring cyclist should bring a back up bike.

It can happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz7gLC89Hnk That month in fact our winter was more severe than yours was in Boston I think.

Perhaps... in the USA. Took me bloody 3 months to get a new, working STI lever. Just an extreme example, but you understand - sometimes you just get stuck and need to let it sit for a while, ride the other bike.

I don't have space or money issues, I just have never seen a need to have more than one bike. I only have one car too, and if that breaks I'm in a lot more trouble than if the car breaks. There's nothing on the bike that I can't fix myself in a max of 3 days (shipping for parts), and I can carry it home if it breaks.

To date my bike has been unrideable for 4 days out of 8 years.

Most of the car free people I know have multiple "spare" bikes just because they like bikes.

It's Just You

[QUOTE=SlimRider;14261113]Never denied that I had a winter bike, only saying that a backup bike isn't really necessary for most commuters. If you don't have a car, don't have access to public transportation, couldn't borrow a bike from somebody else or otherwise get your hands on one in a pinch, and have no other means of getting to work, then a backup bike would be a good idea.

[QUOTE=tjspiel;14261694]Well then TJ... That's all I'm trying to say here!

i think having a winter wheelset is a better value than a winter bike. for me at least my winter setup isn't much different from my rainy setup, which is the same as my sunny setup, which is the same as my farmer's market setup. the only difference is that i run studded tires when there's a chance for ice or snow. studded tires are miserable to ride if you know you don't need them, but it's annoying having to change them when you get a nice day in the early spring followed by a snow storm, then another nice day. [/firstwordproblems]

using the "winter bike" excuse to justify adding another bike to the stable is entirely acceptable however.

most things in life aren't "really necessary", but unless you're under severe space and/or budget constraints, having a 2nd bike that can serve as a back-up/foul-weather/winter bike for daily commuting can be a really, REALLY nice thing to have, especially for those of us who live in ice country where riding with studs becomes a pretty important consideration. sure, one can switch out wheel sets too, but having two bikes ready to go at a moments notice on any given morning allows one to more easily toggle between studs and no studs for that time of year when ice is very hit or miss.

like you say, it's not necessary, but a second bike is a luxury that i would strongly recommend to any daily commuter thinking about going 12 months in a 4 season climate.

I should probably clarify my position since it's been a long thread. I have no trouble with the idea of somebody getting a 2nd bike for winter especially since that's what in fact I have done myself.

I do question the idea that a dedicated bike commuter needs to keep a spare bike around "just in case". I think most of us could manage without a bike the one or two days each year that their bike might out of commission for whatever reason.

To take it a step further, I personally would prefer owning single a bike that was equally well suited for the things I use two bikes for now. I have a monthly "bike budget" and since I put a fair amount of miles on both bikes, I have two bikes worth of upkeep rather than one. I have two sets of fenders, I have two sets of lights, two sets of tools, two pumps, two sets of spare tubes, two patch kits, etc. If I only had one bike, I'd go through consumables for that bike quicker, but it would be much easier keeping spare parts and I'd have more money for the things I'd rather spend money on.

The two bikes I have are intended for very different purposes and I doubt there is a single bike that could do what both of these do equally as well.

So I have two bikes.

again, i agree with you that a 2nd back-up/foul-weather/winter bike isn't a necessity for a daily 4-season commuter, i just find it to be a marvelous luxury; a luxury that i would strongly recommend to another daily 4-season commuter if they have the space and budgetary allowances for such.