So I'll be in eastern washington for school. Winter will be a big change from 90 degrees to deep snow and ice from november to march. So I'm thinking fenders, cross or studded tires and anything else needed that I have forgotten. Recommendations? Thoughts? websites? experiences?
Thanks

Drop the gearing a bit? Get some damn big gloves and other good clothes (synthetics and wool are good). Look after your feet as well with some good boots and thick socks. I think there's a webiste called icebike or something that specialises in this stuff.

how big a tire will your bike fit with fenders? got fender mounts?

i highly recommend fitting nice full fenders with as much coverage as possible and pretty much do everything else you can while still accomadating those... cold rain and slush SUCK when they are spraying you and your bike.

a small thing: wrap the cup sections of the headset with these or you can use a piece of old inner tube instead

seconded- just cut two 1" sections of inner tube (mtb tubes work best), pull the fork and stem, and stretch the tube over the top and bottom cups of the headset. This is esp. important if you don't run a front fender, as the bottom of your headset gets drenched with salty/sandy water. Give everything that needs grease attention before the winter, and intermittently add a bit of lube to pivot points on brakes and suchlike.

Fenders are great. If you can squeeze a studded cross tire in the front, that helps out a lot on the icy bits. In serious snow, flat pedals allow you to tripod around corners better than clipless. (and make it easier to escape the bike in a crash).

Good, bright lights help out a lot in the winter. Remember, the cars can't manuver or stop as well, so it behooves you to give them as much warning as possible.

Really though, most bikes can be ridden through the majority of winter weather without any problems, if you’re in a place where they do some street plowing.
Preparing the rider is actually much more important.

Proper gear- thick wool socks in loose-fitting shoes (tight shoes=cold feet).
A couple of good pairs of tights- the perl izumi amfib tights under a pair of shants are good down to 0f.
A thin skullcap under a BMX helmet keeps the ol head warm.
A face mask helps out a lot- i have one that warms incoming air, which is really nice.
Sunglasses/goggles to cover up the rest of your face.
Good gloves- lobster style gloves will keep your fingers warmer.
Waterproof shell with a couple of layering options on your upper half, so you can adjust your clothing according to morning/evening temp differences.

Where are you going to be in eastern wa? i grew up in pullman.

Wool mittens under leather mittens work very well on a fix, where you don't have to deal with shift levers. The wool layer keeps the heat in and the leather keeps the wind out.

If you can get some easily removable fenders, those might be the way to go. In my experience, you only really want either fat tires or fenders. And since clearance might be an issue, you might be able to only have one at a time. I rode all winter on skinnies and fenders, since they plow the suburbs like it's going out of style.

Nokian Hakkapelitta studded tires if you can fit them. Full fenders w/ mudflaps if they'll fit. Take turns slow.

Ditch the mark V for a cheap old mtb and work with that. You can probably get enough for the Mark V to build a perfect winter bike then just up the gearing on it and put on some slicks for the summer. Then you won't have to worry about clearence and kludged fender mounts plus the position will be better. It won't be sexy but if your living off practically nothing it's best to have something less likely to be stolen anyway.

Ditch it soon though you won't get as much for it in a month or two.

Or don't ditch it and :gasp: have TWO BIIKES?!!!!

oh my god, thats more than one bike.

huh??? why not both?

but if you only have room for one or the other, FENDERS. and not that clip on garbage either...

I think he posted a while ago about how he is trying to live off $1500 or something for the entire year. even $250 for a kickass winter comuter would substantially eat into that.

i have 32c ritchey speedmax tires on my geared cyclocross bike. they have bigger knobs on the outsides, but smaller tread down the center. they're great on pavement and dirt, but i wasn't sure how'd they fare in the winter.... well, last winter i rode through lots of snow (loose and hardpack) and ice as well, and these tires stuck waay better than i thought they would. the tread design kept them from getting snowpacked. i'm sure studded tires would be better, but these are also great on pavement, gravel, mud, children, cats, and grandmas. thank heaven. i have a few other 'cross tires laying around, but these are the only ones i've personally ridden in the winter.

also, i have some pearl izumi inferno lobster claw gloves that are AMAZINGLY warm. Shoe covers are a must. I wear an assos air blocker jacket (their second warmest) and a outdoor research ice climbing soft shell jacket for the ultimate light weight, tight, and warm jacket "system". batteries not included.

i LOVE riding when it's terrible out!! of course, that's when i want to. riding when you have to can suck. i commuted an entire winter two winters ago, and it sort of got old in the dark, at 6 am with snow, ice, and below freezing temperatures.

yeah screw that. I decided student loans are my new best friend

then get an old MTB in addition.

Since winter is my favorite season for riding, I've discovered a couple of things.

1. 700c seems to works better for around-town riding than 26". The skinnier tires seem to "cut" through the slop, rather than following ruts, etc. I rode a 26" SS last winter and was constantly wishing I had my 700c SS from the year before. Of course, for trail riding you want the biggest, fattest tires possible, that's why I've picked up a 3" Nokian Gazzoloddi for the front on my MTB as this will provide necessary "float" when I drop the pressure down to 10-15psi.

2. You really don't need that many layers as long as your outer layer is windproof. On a typical day, the most I would wear would be a wicking base-layer, a wool top, (think old merino sweater) and a Perl Izumi Instinct jacket. On the bottom, some wicking tights, regular winter tights, and thin wool socks along with a pair of Lake MXZ-301's. For gloves, I'm using the Pearl Izumi Inferno mits. When it got "bragging-cold" I'd throw on another wool sweater and a balaklava under my helmet.

3. If you're warm coming out of the house, you've too much on and you're going to overheat as soon as you start riding.

4. Lights, lights, lights.

I ride ritchey speedmax 30s all winter long. (Green Bay WI) with fenders.
They cut through the snow well and are good on ice. Dont put studed tires on unless you are riding on lots of ice, they are veary slippery on dry concrete. Another thing I have done is install as wide a handlebar as possible, This makes breathing in -0 weather much easier and gives you better controll in deep snow.

Both would be best for convenience's sake, you're right, but I only NEED one at a time. When it's freezing, there's not a lot of slop to be tossed up, but there's ice and snow all over the road. When it's thawing, there's plenty of traction, but tons of slop being tossed.

doublepost

Yup- best is to have a snow bike (studded knobblies) and a rain/slop/dry cold bike with slicks and fenders.

I like a SS mtb with a low gear & discs for the snow bike (otherwise plowing through 3" of snow gets tiring real fast), with the comuter nokians, which roll well, but have big, inverted tread for traction in snow & studs for ice.

Other bike is a standard fixie with a relatively low gear (cold air+bulky clothes=slow) and fenders.


Things I love riding in the winter:
Rolling down the road, steaming like a locomotive.
Talking my helmet off, only to find my head covered in little horns of snow where the vents were.
The part in the middle of a long ride where your metabolism relaly kicks in, and i start shedding layers and unzipping vents.
Riding in a blizzard with lightning lighting up the falling snow.
Sprinting away from a light while all the cars spin their tires.
Powersliding around corners & blowing through steep drifts of snow.
Being warm while riding to work, rather than freezing while waiting for the bus.

I'm converting a cheap old mtb, steel fenders, On One Double Fixed hub, Nokian Extreme 294 studded 2,1" tires. Should do the job. Semi-horizontal dropouts about 1½" long was what made me pick it up. I'd never take a nice bike out in -20 degrees celsius and 2' of snow.

i ride all winter brakeless on 23's, never really had too much of a problem. just take things slow, give yourself extra time to get places, etc.

not sure if it was stated above, but fixed gear is such an advantage for riding in snow/slush, the direct drive helps to "cut" through all the crap rather than pushing through it if you were coasting. it's sort of hard to explain but it makes sense if you have tried both.

I'd drop the gearing and switch out clipped/clipless pedals for bmx-style flats. This'll allow for much heavier/warmer shoes. You can easily skid and stop by putting one foot under the leading pedal and pulling up, much like you would with clips.

+1 on the fenders and don't forget to add a mudflap in front and one rear, if you want to be nice to people behind you. Easily made out of rubber stair tred material from hardware store. Looks are not the best but it makes a huge difference in keeping your feet dry and you bike clean.

Check this out for "how too" https://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes/fendermudflap.html

https://www.icebike.com/

That is the site that got me outfitted for my first winter of commuting. It's not the end all be all, but it has some good information, community, and links.

-Jake