irclean

In light of the recent forecast I decided it was high time to winterize my bike.

Installed the Marathon Winters and my platform pedals and Presto... Bob's your uncle!

Sixty Fiver

Honestly... I rode well over 40 km in dirty slush and snow today and could not get my bike to look like it had seen any winter riding.

Something about a coat of wax and some full coverage fenders had something to do with this and that thermos was there all day and has nary a speck of grime on it.

Does anyone need to ask if fenders are a good idea ?

bijan

First long ride with studded tires (40km):

Fizzaly

Yay snow i guess it was boise's way of saying happy dec 1st

Sixty Fiver

It looks like we are supposed to get a few flurries here today... thinking we are probably on the edge of the storm system you are in.

Sixty Fiver

From today...

Fizzaly

That's so weird that we have more snow in boise than you do, i still need to make me a long bike

scoatw

Fizzaly, Do you have your DIY studs on those tires? If so, how'd they do.

Fizzaly

I have diy studded on the front, it didn't really help through the snow but when i gave up forging through the deep stuff and got on the packed road they helped quite a bit almost like a rudder. I wish they did something in the thick slush.

Sixty Fiver

It is certain that we are going to catch up on the snow front... got a little dusting today but that was about it.

With the extra bike you have to deal with a rear wheel that is unweighted so it is a little easier to spin out on ice during accelleration (unless you are rocking studs) although the bike itself it very very stable. On the plus side, it spins up pretty fast because the load is so well balanced.

Have discovered that if you do lose the rear wheel in a skid recovery can be almost impossible due to the fulcrum effect you get on a bike with a 64 inch wheelbase.

I doubled up the studs on my extra bike's rear wheel and the Kendas I am using cut through slush and brown sugar really well and are also very good at shedding snow and slush.

128 studs in the rear and 64 up front... ice has not been a problem.

Fizzaly

I can guarantee you guys will catch up and fast, all of ours is melting, snows still in the forecast but doubtful. I actually think im gonna build up a long bike this winter, i have just about all i need except i need to get the rear end from a F/S which my co-op says they'll sell me by its self. I really never thought about the long wheel base and recovering i wont be dealing with that this winter. Another idea i had was building a long trike, not as long as say your bike but longer wheel base than a normal one. My immediate fix is my feet none stop wet and cold, i ordered some silk liner socks to go under some neoprene socks i figure that way it doesn't matter the shoes im wearing my feet should stay warm and dry.

katcorot

Haven't done whole lot to my mountain bike to winterize it yet. We had bit of snow couple weeks ago and went out for a spin in it. Traction wasn't too bad, had to adjust to being more easy on the acceleration. Only problem was after I left the LBS (ordered some Nokian studded tires front/rear). The hill is quite steep in this area, 2-3 steeper than boat ramps easily. Well it was evening and the slush had started to freeze and had heck of a time climbing the hill. I had skirted to a side road for less traffic and hoping the old cobble would help let my tires grab. Wasn't helping much. Slip-grabbed whole way up. about 3 blocks till hill flattened out some.

scoatw

Wow! That thing looks like it could ride thru anything. That tire looks different from your others. It looks as if you mounted hex screws into the knob.

Sixty Fiver

It has 8 by 1/2 screws on the outside and 6 by 1/2 screws on the inner row which have a lower profile and just graze the road when the tyres are at 65psi and the bike has no load... I took a grinder to all the points to remove the flesh shredding points.

The hookup is pretty amazing now and I can ride across hard pack and ice like it is not even there at pretty decent speeds.

rusty wheels

Here's a couple shots of what I will be rocking this winter. I'm guessing a late 70's AMF with a Shimano 333 three speed out back and an Sturmey Archer X-FDD up front. First ride in the snow earlier this week and I was lovin' it! The "mud" flap is a temporary fix, as I did not realize how much crap actually gets thrown up when you are truckin' through the snow/slush.



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newbeat

noahhussin

My brother and I started a cross-country bike trip in November. The Blue Ridge parkway was closed for the section we were on, so we had the whole thing to ourselves... It was absolutely stunning.

Check out these pics and short video about it: https://www.americarecycled.org/?p=618

irclean

Love it! And that is one big, honkin' headlight!

LarDasse74

Great lookin' bikes, everybody! Very innovative and well thought out!

Here are a few pics of mine after a little ride around town this afternoon.



Bike setup: Eclipse aluminum hybrid frame with steel forks, Alfine 8 speed hub w/alfine chain tensioner and shifter, 1989 Exage 500 brakes, front hub, and cranks, Tektro brake levers, Alex Rims, Maxxis CX rear tire, Innova 700 X 40 studded front tire, sealed bearing Wellgo flat pedals, ritchey headset, swept-back riser bar and 'ergo' grips taken off old supercycle, no-name Taiwanese rear rack and fenders, specialized saddle

Lights: BLT 15 watt with sealed LA battery, light mount made out of an old lock bracket, bottle cage 'custom fabricated' on my lunch hour at work. Read Vistalight 5-LED light (usually set to 'steady' mode) and Knog Frog light (usually set to 'flashing' mode). Ghost shaped reflective stickers bought at dollar store.

Next steps: Possibly an external eccentric BB to get rid of the damn chain tensioner, and a mud flap on the front fender.

My ride: 14km each way, half paved, half gravel road with no vehicular traffic in eastern ontario where daytime temperatures in Winter rarely get above -5 deg C.

AEO

Not a lot of small wheeled bikes on here.
I'll switch out the crankset for something cheaper, a 105, when it arrives.

Fizzaly

^^Nice!!!! ultegra on a folder

mustachiod

crappy pic, but my hand was cold and i wanted to get back on ASAP

scoatw

OK, I have to ask. What sort of frame bag do you have there.

mustachiod

found it in my basement, it was leftover from a trade show, one of those give-away bags that never get used in everyday life. I cut off a corner and re-sewed it to fit my frame. added four straps to tie it to the top tube and one for the seat tube. you can see some safety pins where i havent finished sewing yet.

irclean

Got some extreme weather this week - more than 100 cm (40 inches) of snow over a 3-day period. The accumulation was so much that I was unable to ride. Nothing short of a Pugsley would have done for the conditions we experienced, and even that would have been a stretch. I was able to commute to work today; the main arteries were mostly clear, but side roads made for some hairy riding. Here are some pics illustrating the dumping we got:

My house


My 3-car driveway (thank God for my snowblower; it's in the garage along with about 7 bikes, which is why the car has to stay outside)


My backyard (there is a deck under there somewhere)


Looking North along my street


And South


My belt drive/IGH bike made short work of the snow today


Norco knows how to make bikes for Canadian winters