Awesomeguy

what wind speeeds (mph please) do you decide it’s prolly not ideal to ride today?

what is the ideal wind speed such that biking is more enjoyable ?

GlennR

Anything in the mid teens is work, in the 20s I stay home.

SpeedRanger

I avoid riding in winds exceeding 25mph, no longer fun even with narrow rim depth.
Today we have winds approaching 65mph, at this speed I won't even drive the car.

frogman

I stay home with winds 20mph or more. No place for me and my skinny tired road bike.

Troul 

19.5 mph I'll ride indoors yelling at the clouds.

_ForceD_

If you have an aero frame and wheels, a cross-wind that may not affect a traditional frame will have much more impact on your ability to control the aero bike.

Dan

Awesomeguy

I have an fx3 , would and endurance bike cut through better if riding on the hoods ( NOT THE DROPs), I would typically ride one the hoods

??

jaxgtr

Live in Florida, wind is a daily occurrence and have to put up with it. We have no climbing outside of the bridges, so wind is our climbing. My general rule is less than 30 and as much as possible, keep the route with as few chances of a cross wind as possible.

canklecat

My main worry about heavy wind is debris blowing around. If I see overturned construction signs, or large objects wafting around like cows in the movie "Twister", I go home.

I'll ride in wind up to around 20-30 mph if it's mostly headwind and/or tailwind. Headwinds are just invisible hills. Tailwinds are turbo boost for Strava PRs.

Less if it's crosswinds. Depends on where I'm riding. I avoid routes with close-passing traffic if there's a risk of being blown sideways into traffic.

And on windy rides I wear the most aero kit I have to reduce the sailing effect of baggy clothing. I'll stick with my road bikes for the lower profile.

SalsaShark

Had sustained winds of about 25 mph today with gusts well beyond that. Went out for a 20 mile ride this afternoon - keeps it interesting. I have ridden in much worse, probably exceeding 50 mph gusts. The sustained crosswinds are always strange, when you have to lean the bike 20 degrees or so in order to keep a straight line. I had to put a hell of an effort in today into a headwind for a stretch just to keep 6 mph up a slight incline. Like i said....keeps it interesting!

Velo Mule

Decades ago, I was racing and going slower the harder harder that I trained. I had knee problems. It seemed that I was always fighting the winds. When I gave up on cycling, I took up sailing. At least the winds are working for me. Of course, in a small boat, winds over 30 or shifty winds from a new weather front moving in would keep on land, most of the time.

This doesn't answer your question. For me now, since it is recreational riding, I would cap it at around 20mph. I am a whimp now.

79pmooney

Basically my approach. As I get older crashes hurt more and have bigger consequences. (And I will re-injure old injuries. All my corners have been damaged.) In my 20s and early 30s. I did not own a car or live in a place well served for my needs by public transportation, I rode in all weather if I needed to be somewhere. Now I cancel rides with crosswinds when it's over 20-25 (but still do get caught in that range occasionally when the wind builds). Early on, I took my avatar bike for a ride in a storm and rode a (little traveled) road in a 40+ crosswind, using most of the lane to stay on the pavement. (I trusted myself to stop only where I could pull into a downwind driveway. Missed the first and had to ride another 1/2 mile! After that, I stopped as the wind built and waited for the gust to die down. Sailor here, I understand gust/lull cycles really well. That was classic storm winds.)

Ben

50PlusCycling

Winds do keep me inside. On windy days I choose a route which will take me into the wind on my way out, and let the wind push me back when I return. On rare occasions the wind has changed mid-ride, which sucks.

I was once in a race, and had broken away with a Venezuelan rider. The wind was god-awful, and we (mostly he) worked hard to push through it. We thought at a any moment we would be overtaken, and worked hard to keep in front. It was the most agonizing ride of my life. But the main group never caught up, we placed 1st and 2nd. The next morning I was so sore I couldn’t lift my leg over my bike. But it was my best finish that season, and worth the pain.

BobbyG

Since I mostly commute I look at the predicted wind direction. A heavy wind in my favor in the morning that is forecasted to swing around in my favor for the ride home is not a problem.

But if it will be against me both ways, I'd say 20mph is where I think twice.,

Reflector Guy

I seem to go out on days like that a lot. The wind magically switches direction right about the time I turn around to come home!

Koyote

A big tailwind is a great way to nab a KOM on a Strava segment.

blakcloud

I tend to look at wind gust speed only. Wind gusts would have to be around 31 mph or higher (50 km for the Canadians and the rest of the world) before I would hesitate to go. Today for instance is a no go. Funny only this year I started looking at wind speed. Maybe because I started riding in rural areas for hours at a time and this issue was becoming more important. In the city I don't care so much, though today I still wouldn't ride.

Phil_gretz

My ride yesterday was in fairly brisk winds from an approaching storm. I don't mind headwinds that much. But the memorable part is when riding downwind just at the speed that matches the airspeed. It's like floating in a hot air balloon. Nice.

Oh, and as for the original question...somewhere in the mid-to-high 20s, I wouldn't ride for fun. I would for commuting to work, though. Work is work, and fun is fun.

tntyz

Mid-teens with gusts will keep me from riding. Getting blown by a gust into overtaking traffic is too scary at my age!

hsuBM

30 and I pray for making it to my destination with as many bruises and impalements as I’m leaving with. 35 and I just stay put.

taco2ewsday

15-20 mph winds are about where I start to tap out and consider who I'll ride with or what pace I'm going to try to ride.

Flip Flop Rider

go when you can go. don't quantify

rydabent

Here in Nebr, anything over 40 mph. The ideal would be 0 mph but that is very very rate.

locolobo13 

No set speed. When I have to walk the bike. Or funnels start coming down out of the clouds. Believe it or not, I saw that here once. They never touched down but for a minute I was worried.

pdlamb

I start fussing around 15 mph (if it's a headwind), and cussin under my breath around 20. Over 35 I start worrying about tree limbs coming down on my head. That's a local thing, though, since trees that get that kind of wind every few weeks are pre-trimmed.