Foul weather bike
 

Just curious if some of you have a bike which you use for fair weather commutes and one for foul weather commutes?

My foul weather commuter is a older style hybrid. I have larger 32mm tires and fenders on it. Currently I'm just backpacking it, but am thinking of putting a rack/pannier. It's not the fastest nor the funnest, but it is pretty robust and I can ride it in the rain with confidence.

When it's dry I'll turn to my vintage racer or racy hybrid with 25mm slick tires. They are more fun and faster to ride.

I like having 2 commuters because I like having a back up. Both are set up for foul weather since they have fenders. I ride one of my road bikes from time to time when the weather is good.

My bad weather bikes are the same as my good weather bikes, the only thing I change is the tires.

I'm amazed at the conditions in which some of you commute. Impressed, big time, in fact. Methinks I'll just shut up about what I might call " foul weather ".

You guys ROCK!

I have a bike for summer and one for the rest of the year. Wet, rainy conditions are to be expected here for a good portion of the year. Winter bike is titanium frame, fenders, lights, disc brakes. Summer bike has skinnier tires and no fenders.

I like having fenders when it's wet out, so I have a bike with fenders. I also have some bikes without fenders.

I ride the same bike in all conditions. I do have 3 wheelsets which allows me to change shoes depending on the weather.

Both of my commuters are for all types of weather. They both have fenders and fat tires. One of them will have studded tires mounted soon to do snow/ice duty.

When I lived in the UK I commuted in rain, mud, snow and ice. I had a winter commute hybrid
I decided soon after buying it that I hated the piece of crap. I got myself a Giant MTB with 26 x 2.5 tyres and used this as my commuter, magic

Nope, thats why i got fenders... ;)

- Andy

Both my "commuters" are equipped for foul weather, but one for only moderately foul, the other for heavily foul.

My 2013 Ribble Winter/Audax has only rim brakes and won't fit studded snow tires
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
so it sees only moderately foul weather. I refer to it as my three-seasons, most-conditions commuter, although it sees winter duty on days when the roads are ice-free. I find switching bikes in winter is far easier than changing tires or swapping wheels as winter conditions change.


My 2006 Trek Portland is equipped with disc brakes and fits studded snow tires.
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
I refer to it as my four-seasons, all-conditions commuter. The three-seasons to winter changeover is pretty easy. I change tires, swap the 12-23 cassette for the winter 12-27, and switch from the 35mm fenders to the 45mm ones, then re-aim the headlight, since the one fork crown bolt goes through both the fender and headlight mounts.


It would be a mistake to assume I commute only on "commuter" bikes. When conditions permit, and my hauling needs require only a jersey or jacket pocket (mid-week days), my 1996 Litespeed Classic gets the nod.
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
Like tomorrow, for instance, except it's Veterans Day and we're closed. So maybe Wednesday. It also fits a beavertail-style quick-release rear fender, so conditions don't need to be perfect, only pretty good.

EDIT: There's something about the different camera angles that makes the bikes look like each is set up for a different rider position. I don't have a tripod and simply stood across the room. In fact, every one of the three contact points on all three bikes falls within a range of one millimeter. The bar rotations and saddle tilt angles are the same too. They all look like the Litespeed does.

I have roughly the same set-up. Most days are nice around here, so I don' t commute on the rain bike/backup bike/grocery bike much.

Neither bike is very expensive. The backup bike is a "barn find" $12 bike ... a never-ridden 1987 mid-level Schwinn from a thrift store. It was my daily driver for several years, though.

I am a big believer in a two-bike plan for commuters, but for many folks the biggest hassle will be storage of two bikes.

-Hub
t: HubSpanner

I have multiple bikes, but I suspect my fair weather bikes resemble foul weather bike for many posters. Virtually all my bikes have racks, most have lights (I plan to fix this) and almost all have fenders. I like the 3 speeds sports and roadsters, so normal tires are 1 3/8 to 1 1/2" (35-40mm); at Clydesdale weight carrying groceries, computers etc I've never dared try 25mm or smaller tires.

Braking on the 3 speeds is adequate in light/moderate rain, especially with drum brakes or coaster brakes, but not outstanding. For foul weather (heaver rain, snow, ice) I have a mid 90's rigid Bridgestone MTB. Braking is vastly improved with alloy rims, cantilever brakes and wider, studded tires.

Studded tire fitted old MTB is parked in the basement, right Now.

Drum Brakes are not going to fling you over the bars with abrupt disc brake stopping power .

I don't tend to want to do a 'Face Plant', even in the Snow.

My Safari is my all-weather bike,and the only one I'll ride in salt. I usually commuted on it in good weather,but sometimes it was nice to speed things up with one of my road bikes.

:rolleyes:

Then you should practice. I rode through Snowpocalypse and Snowmageddon with basically just a front disc because the rear caliper was messed up. I've also had to panic brake on steep downhills in the rain,and managed without issue. Never even been close to going over my bars when braking.

Steel SSCX bike, but with fenders.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18...ps909aa663.jpg

Love this one. :thumb:

Hard to tell from the pic, but looks like you've got Dura Ace groupset on it.

Good eye! Since I bought it as a frameset only, I could put anything I wanted to on it. I chose 7800-series Dura-Ace.

Like the frame, I picked up the components second-hand, except the crank which was NOS. I also own an R-600 compact for it (also NOS), but that's used only for certain hilly rides. The vast majority of the time it has the 7800 standard crank as shown.

I've got three bikes that are my main commuters:

Vintage road bike - fair weather riding. No fenders or racks. This is my preferred bike as it rides so nice.

Hybrid - foul weather bike. Set up with fenders and a rack. For days I expect rain or have to carry larger loads that I don't want to haul in a backpack.

Mountain bike - winter riding. Set up with fenders and a rack. I leave it set up with studded tires year-round and just don't ride it unless there's ice/snow on the ground. I know a lot of people just swap wheels/tires on their regular bike, but frankly I'm not that motivated. Our weather here is very unpredictable and a lot of times I won't decide which bike to ride that day until a few minutes before I leave the house.