mascher

I'm trying to figure out what to do for the winter this year. Last year I rode my fixed road bike when it was dry, and my mountain bike beast with knobbies on the snowy roads.

I had magic gear on the knobby tank geared at 44x18 (semi vertical drops, and I'm not going eno), which was imagined for the downhill ride to work but easy enough for the uphill back, but it was a little too steep to be any fun coming home, only mashing, and barely making it up real hills like Beaver Hall.

Another magic gear that will work is 36x18, which means not getting another cog and an easy cheap chainring from mec. But I'm imagining spinning like crazy at low speeds on ice with a fixed bike and thinking it sounds not so hot. I know the SS mtn bikers love the 2:1 or smaller, but I'm imagining either going way too slow all the way down to downtown or spinning too much to the point of bouncing and feeling like I'm not in complete control of the beast.

This is probably mostly for Canada, Boston and the Midwest, and anywhere else you regularly have unplowed snow with ice underneath, or just a crust of packed snow - Philly, don't pretend you need a winter bike. I consider Montreal to be flat contrary to popular belief, but you can feel that it's uphill from downtown to little Italy when you have to ride it every day in the snow. mcatano and bostontrevor, I know you ride in the snow, whaddya you say?

I ride 49x18 and 42x15 in the dry on a road bike by the way.

Grimlock

If conditions are bad enough that you're taking your crappy bike, I don't see the problem with 36x18 and taking it a little slower. And it's not eight teeth off the back, they're coming off the front so it's not so bad. It will keep you warm too.
Wait, is the tank fixed or SS?

mascher

It's fixed. Montreal I think gets less snow than Ottawa too, so that drop from 67 to like 52 inches is a big jump, especially since even in a place that gets lots of snow, the roads are often partly or mostly clear. It's just that when they're not, they're really not, as I'm sure you well know. Going slower isn't really an option - I'm no speed demon anyway, so adding another 10 minutes to a commute that's already 50 percent longer in the winter is not particularly attractive.

Grimlock

And you're sure there are no magic gears in between?

sers

i wouldn't drop much below below 65 for winter use. speaking from personal experience, chugging along around 70 g.i. keeps you breathing slower than spinning at 60 g.i. when it's really cold, your throat and lungs start to burn. also, if you get caught out in something like sleet or freezing rain, or your pants get soaked it becomes a lot harder to keep your legs moving, let alone moving fast.

mascher

Well, it's partly cheapskate - I have a 16 tooth cog lying around, an 18 already on the wheel, and a 15 tooth on another bike. I'm pretty much going by what chainrings mec sells for 17 bucks for my 110 bcd crank (32, 34, 36) with what can give me a workable gear with the cogs I already have, and sticking with 3/32 for cheaper and more readily available chains around here. I'm working off the gear calculator at https://www.peak.org/~fixin/personal/fmu/php/fixmeup.php

And sers, I don't usually wear pants in the winter, got tights and shoe covers, and fenders, so I'm not worried about that kind of stuff. Getting dirty and splashing around in the winter is part of the fun, no?

Maybe I'll just try being stronger this winter I was pretty lazy last winter, only got on the trainer like 3 times.

ApolloCVermouth

I know what you mean. I hate that you can't find a new 42 tooth ring for 110bcd in Canada. I find myself in Halifax trying to gear down my bike with no options but to drop from 44 to 39.

loaf

Go for a lower gear and get into climbing snowbanks!

seely

For winter I drop from a 42x16 to a 38x16 with a 18t freewheel on the other side just in case. Say what you want, but if its really slick and ****ty, I definately prefer brakes + freewheel.

slopvehicle

I ran 32x15 for a couple winters in Wisconsin-- there were times when it rocked (6" of fresh snow) and times when it royally sucked (clear roads, biking home three miles from work at 4am, the coldest point of the night).

I'd suggest something a bit higher than that-- I'd spin out sooner than I'd require more torque.

mascher

I've always got a brake, and it will be hard for me to sympathetic if I see one of our recent fixed imports round here wipe out with no brakes turning or stopping on ice. One of the first winter fixed riders I ever saw around here decided to learn how to ride brakeless in winter in front of me on a downhill, and it was not pretty.

The handful of times I ended up riding in totally ridiculous conditions (several times: freezing rain that stops as wind starts and temp drop to cover everything in wet ice) I decided that everyone who had every said that a fixed gear bike for the winter is better "because of the control" is dreaming. I rode fixed all winter after years of geared bikes and I'm certainly convinced it's not better in winter conditions, and am fairly certain it's much worse in some (ice) and make other options more dangerous (clipless pedals when riding in the icy). If it's really really icy and I know it is, I've learned to simply not ride my bike, as hard as that is. If the sidewalks are dangerous to walk on, then... etc.

But riding fixed in the snow is hilarious and lots of fun. Methinks a 18 tooth freewheel is in order.

rm -rf

2:1 is only 21kph at 80 rpm, 26kph at 100 rpm.
( 13mph at 80 rpm, 16mph at 100 rpm. )
Go to Sheldon's calculator and put in all your different chainrings, and all your cogs as a custom cassette, then pick your rpm from the gear units list. You get a chart of all the combinations.

I Like Peeing

i don't pretend. however, if there's a layer of ice everywhere, and unplowed streets i need to go on, I'm not riding my same old 46x15, simple as that. it's not necessarily how much there is that would determine your bike needs (although canada obviously gets a ****-ton of snow in comparison), but merely if the conditions exist or not.

mascher

Heh, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I think I'm actually taking a dig at the people I know in Philly - I've ridden there when I was there for weeks at a time in Dec, Jan and Feb and only once did I ever see snow or ice - otherwise 60 degrees seemed to be the norm, for the 7 years running I've been spending time there in the winter. But when an inch of snow is coming, the papers and new freak out and everyone stays home the next day whether it actually snows or not. Which come to think of it is a pretty good way to deal with it

of course, if conditions exist, you have to deal with them, and of course, riding a bike in Philly is tons of fun, so I'm sure I would let nothing stop me.

I Like Peeing

right on, man. everyone flips **** over an inch of snow...go get the milk and bread. i'm confused though-60 degrees in the winter? are you sure you're in philly? i wish it was 60 in the winter!

mascher

Last two New Years it was over 60 at the mummers easy - I was out in shirtsleeves. Wait, last year it was only in the 50s maybe, but the year before it could have been 70. I've certainly never worn a winter jacket in Philly in the winter, but it's possible I've always been there during a warm spell.

invicta

I live in Fredericton NB, rode all winter on umplowed roads. 32 x 16 is fine, alittle slow when its dry but in the messy stuff its fine.

bostontrevor

2:1 fixed is the biz. Get knobbies, let out some air, and wait for the heavy snow. Then go tear it up downtown.