tjspiel

I've only seen the show a couple of times and I never thought that I looked much like him but you're not the only one whose noted a resemblance.

pityr

This was taken last Jan or Feb (I don't recall). It was around 28 degrees.

Picture coutesy of k'tesh

I've since added a neoprene cover for my coffee cup.

This is the ride for the 3 or 4 days that we get snow.


Im not geared up to ride my bike in the snow so I just drive myself to a transit station where I catch the train. That is if I don't just work from home.

Sixty Fiver

From last winter... hoping the winter tires won't have to go on the Trek for a while yet.

al-wagner

Just asking. Why the foam on the top bar?

cyccommute 

My dark and cold bike



My dark, cold and snow on the ground bike




I rode the Stumpjumper through the very nasty blizzards of 2006 without studded tires. I never use studs. It's seldom worth it here in Denver.

This is what my roads looked like for about 6 weeks around Christmas of 2006



Eventually 6 blizzards got smashed into a river of ice...and I still didn't use studs

Sixty Fiver

Top tube pad...

Worked as a messenger and this kept the top tube from getting banged up and is also there to protect me from the top tube as steel gets really cold in the winter and if I was to go down it would also provide some protection.

I ruptured the bursa in my knee once from slamming it into an unprotected top tube and was off the bike for 6 weeks.

It's nice to come to stop and be able to straddle the top tube and not end up being frozen to it...

Luddite

How much do non studded winter tires run? If our winter this year is anything like last year, I'll need some kinda winter tires to keep riding...

illwafer

we really need to go all out here in san diego. i even debated putting on fenders.

eltejano

Wow, after seeing pics with those studded tires and snow pics I realize I should think twice before ever complaining about the light rainy "winter" here... you guys are an inspiration.

exile

I don't know if studded tires would be to useful for my location. I do know my LBS got some for a guy but they clear the roads pretty well around here. How do you guys know if you need them? Is there like a length of time that snow is on the roads? I can understand some of you guys in Chicago, Minnesota, Canada, Rochester, but what about other spots like Boston or upstate NY?

M_S

It hasn't gotten above 36 for four days. record low temperatures. I wasn't expecting weather this cold this early, but I've just been riding the cyclocross bike instead of the singlespeed road bike. Thinking about moving the singlespeed parts over to a bike that can fit 35s. Have my eye on that cheap ss motobecane cross bike.

tjspiel

Studded tires only help on icy surfaces. If you live in an area where you frequently have ice on the streets whether it be from freezing rain, compacted snow, or thaws and refreezes, studded tires may be quite beneficial.

If it's mainly just wet snow you deal with, they probably aren't worth it. There are plenty of people around here who don't use them. I wouldn't ride in the winter without them because the snow and ice tends to build up on the roads near my house. Busier streets don't have as much ice on them.

Sixty Fiver

The Continental Town and Country gets excellent reviews from icebike.com as an excellent non studded tyre for winter... MEC carries them and they sell for $38.00 in a 26 by 1.9 size.

This is also a good tire for year round use but if you are only dealing with rain and no snow a slick tyre will work just fine.

For a 700 tyre I really like my Schwalbe CX Compe tyres for my Trek... they ran me $32.00 each and I have studded the front one as we do have to deal with ice.

Studding your own tyres is also rather easy to do and is very effective when you are dealing with ice.

benda18

my winter setup

JPprivate

I'm always amazed on how quickly the streets are clean even after the worst snow storm. Now this only applies within the city limits and only for non-residential streets.

Artkansas 

I checked. The average monthly rainfall in L.A. in February (the wettest month) is less than we got last Friday morning.

tsl

I'm pleased to see so many drop bar winter bikes. Now I don't feel like so much of a oddball.



Taken in March 2008. My '06 Trek Portland rockin' Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 studs and DiNotte lights.

Last winter it got wider fenders, and this year it gets a dynamo hub and Schmidt Edeluxe light.

LesterOfPuppets

As of last year, I just have one old tire I studded myself which is mounted to an old wheel that I throw on the front of one of my MTBs should the need arise.

Last winter was the first one since I've lived here that studs seemed warranted in the Portland metro area. Our snow and ice events typically only last a day, but not last winter.

FredOak

Totally agree with IJM on the Marathon's, but I put them on this week-end on the one bike as it's suppose to be a mix of snow and rain later this week, which usually means ice. The Marathons are awesome on ice and saved me a few times encountering black ice.

But I noticed the back end sliding out too when I would get in that loose thick snow. But given the city's poor plowing it is pretty much impossible to ride if we get over 6 inches anyway so I probably wouldn't attempt it on a regular basis even with a better tire.

But for 75% of the winter the Marathon's did fine and that's what they make trainers for on the other 25%

Sixty Fiver

I have always ran a single front studded tyre and not had any issues... rear wheel slippage can be kept to a minimum if you are careful (and riding a fixed gear really helps) and rear wheel skids are recoverable whereas front wheel skids are not.

As to using drop bars in the winter... being able to get more aero is always a good thing and I find drop bars to be as comfortable as bars get.

This was 2008 and the temps were a balmy -20C.

LesterOfPuppets

Oh, I forgot about the pictures bit. Don't have any from this winter yet, but here's one of me about to head home last winter:

tjspiel

Last year was the first winter season I attempted to use a drop bar bike. The bike's limited tire clearance barely accommodated a Marathon Winter on the front. A Nokian W106 (which I like better) wouldn't fit. In the end I wasn't happy with it but I did enjoy having a drop bar.

So for this year I've got an old 700c mountain bike that I plan to put Salsa Bell Laps on. They're drop bars designed for cyclocross. They flare out a bit in the drops and I plan on getting a size thats wider across the tops than the bar that I had on last year's winter bike.

wheel

Well Minnesota sees snow. I visited once and needed a ride. The road was drying out.

stevemtbr

This year I'm going to ditch the flat bar/bar ends and through on a riser bar. Other than that it will be the same set up as last winter. Bring on the snow!!!

coldfeet

Consider yourself lucky, we have had a span of 50C in the last 3 weeks.
A swing of 78F. It's really screwed me up, didn't get a chance to acclimate.