This thread is a friggin Wussy Convention.

I'll let T.J. expand on this or call BS, but it's my guess that in Montreal, it may just get too cold and have enough snow cover for much ice to form on streets. I had relatives that we used to visit in January each year and man it gets cold...but it stays really cold, with that crunchy snow, so there is not as much chances for the cycle of melt-freeze-melt-freeze that we have here in Chicago, where black ice (and brown slush) are a real problem.

PS: haven't been up there lately. I do miss the wood-fired bagels and the middle eastern pastry, tho.

While all of the frigid riders are checking the thread, I'll ask a question here instead of making a new one.

How well do masks/balaclavas work, and what is a good brand? As I said earlier, my only problem with the cold is my lungs; if I can warm up the air enough to prevent an asthma attack, I will ride all year.

Do you idiots need a warm hug yet?

I use a basic Bellweather balaclavas. It is now 3 years old and works just fine. If you breath through the material it will eventually get wet and really annoying. I typically keep mine just below my lips unless it is in the teens then I will slide it up over my mouth.

-40C/F is the coldest I've ridden ... I could probably go colder, I just haven't tried it yet.


The thing is ... when it gets that cold, the bicycle starts freezing up a bit. And I'm sure most of you have seen this story, but here it is again:
https://www.machka.net/brevet/Coldest_Century.htm

it was 22*F and pitchblack out with fresh snow last night. Made for a great ride.

As long as the roads are dry, Ohio can't get cold enough to keep me off of them. However, if there is wetness/salt, it's on the *shudder* rollers.

I've done 15 f, at night and in the snow - that wasn't so bad. The worst is when it's 33 against the wind in strong freezing rain. A couple of weekss ago I was begging Mother Nature for snow. It did - right after I locked my bike.

I don't particularly like riding on ice, but I feel more comfortable than when I drive on it. Strangely enough, I get much colder taking mass transit (waiting and walking). Unfortunately, I can't just stay home all winter. So my bike gets me where I need to go.

You guys are all impressively rugged, said the guy from San Diego.

Colder than it gets in SoCal. I've been out when it's <35, no problem.

Slow acclimatization. Went out today 40F-45F with knee warmers and no gloves for a while, it hurts, but hey, HTFU. Coldest? About 25F, it was fun. Nothing is as bad as 32-35 with freezing rain. Snow and below 30F is a godsend compared to 32-35 with freezing rain.

Today was 25 degrees with a slight wind and I was comfortable on my 14 mile commute. My headgear was a thin, nylon type balaclava pulled down over my neck and face as described above, and an overlying woolen skull cap. I need eyeglasses and I have fashioned a special cheap, homemade goggle system that shields against the wind, prevents fogging, holds a rearview mirror and rests comfortably on my face without being pressed down by the layers under my helmet. FYI, see:

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/450447-winter-commuting.html post #47

On a recent thread, Machka had a good suggestion to have a winter helmet that is larger than your summer helmet, to accomodate the extra layers. I should have at least tried on my current helmet withall the layers before I bought it, though I think it is the largest size available.

I ride at zero degrees celsius with only normal arm and leg warmers. It doesn't get any colder where I live.

Here is the pic Jim is guiding you to.

While I live in Toronto now, I did messenger year round in Montreal for years. Typically we used to get snow almost everyday, that's how I learned to ride in wheel ruts, surf snow on a bike and climb over snow banks. In Jan-feb it starts to get -20C and colder with a few weeks in there being constantly below -20. On those frigid days if the sun is out already formed ice will evaporate sloooowly. Not a melt-freeze cycle, and road salt is everywhere....tasty I'll tell ya, fun in the eye too. Black ice from spinning car tires can be on the road for the entire winter if it gets thick enough and not plowed up properly. After a while you'd learn where it was. The cold crunchy days ... were some of the best. Snow on the road would actually provide something for the knobbies to grab onto. Montreal gets a pretty good amount of snow, the killer is being an island is the humidity.... bone chilling, go-through-all-your-gear humidity. When the snow sounds like styrofoam when you walk on it you know it's damned cold. The higher the pitch the colder it is. mmmm fresh wood oven bagels make it all ok.

Now when I was an Air Force brat in northern Alberta where it was consistently -30C to -45C the snow flakes were so small due to the air being so dry as to yield very little snow. The complete opposite to Montreal.

I'd still love to attempt an Idita Bike ? event in the Arctic with those double wide rims spec'd bikes. (pugsley style)

Yesterday when I left the house it was 26F with a wind chill that made it feel like 16F but it didn't bother me, however this morning was 30F and when I got back from my short 25 mile ride my feet were frozen as was the top half of my water bottle.

It was 48 degrees this morning in Scottsdale! Brrrrrrrrr! Where are my socks.

When I was a distance runner in the Midwest, I'm regularly run down to about 10 below and return with ice cicles in my beard.

Then I became enlightened and realized that I was not religiously or morally required to suffer through winter.

Actually, I don't mind winter weather, as long as it ends on January 6th.

I ride back and forth to work every day, but that doesn't really count. I stop riding my road bikes when there is snow on the ground. That's when I start running.

Cold? It's not so much the actual temp as the other conditions. If it's 16 degrees, but sunny and no wind, no problem.

I think it depends on where you live. My body's tolerance for cold is relative to the "normal" temperatures where I live. When I lived in MA, I could deal with 20 degree temperatures on a ride. Now I live in FL and I draw the line at 40 degrees. To me, 40 degrees in FL feels as cold as 20 degrees in MA if that makes any sense.

here in so cali the cutoff is about 64 degrees.

Coldest I have ridden was 18 degrees F. I was layered in wool & comfortable but halfway to work I fell & bent a crank arm on my Centurion Pro Tour. After that, I usually drove whenever it got down near freezing just because I don't like falling on ice. Don

Ski googles...yes, looks odd, but, it works!!

wuss