Fixed Gear On Snow
 

Is a Fixed Gear bicycle better or the same as a geared bicycle on Snow?

Yes. It is better or the same.

Or worse.

I prefer fixed 99% of the time. The only time I wish I had gears is when I am plowing through long or steep stretches of powder, chunder, frozen babyfood, etc. I really want to drop down a few gear inches but no dice. Thing is, in that situation who knows if shifting is even gonna work what with things getting frozen and packed with snow. My bike lives outside during the day, in the garage at night, and basically stays frozen all winter so I choose fixed.

And stopping. I run a front disc and there are times when I grab it and it is frozen. I much prefer to slow down with my legs.

I can imagine many situations where gears would be needed and even necessary. Like riding around on some rolling groomers on a fat bike, or climbing steep long hills in a blizzard.

For me and my needs it is way better.

The only minus I give fixed gear riding in the snow is that I don't like being clipped in or strapped in. A lot of the time when i'm cornering in the snow I have to pull my feet out or un clip because I feel like i'm gonna bust my ass.

I don't get snow here so ...
however,
you can get multi-directional release cleats for SPD pedals - with these things, you can just wrench your feet out of the clips at any times, particularly if you're careful about setting the clip tensions.

With toe clips, as long as you aren't strapped in tight, it's not hard to pull your foot out in an emergency.

Although I don't ride in the snow, my experience in other odd situations suggests you shouldn't have a problem provided you allow for it. But hey, it's not me getting a wet bum in that white, cold stuff.

We don't get much snow here, so when we get some I like to go out and ride in it a bit. Something about a fixed gear lets me "feel" the traction better. Mind you I am out playing in it and not commuting like you brave souls.

I use campus pedals (the ones that have a platform on one side and an SPD clip on the other). I unclip and switch to the platform side whenever a section looks particularly sketchy.

I liked fixed in the winter cause the brakes freeze up. But there are good points in regard to working through the powder, which is a mother ****er.

You just need the right FG-
For ice - 800+ studs:
https://amssca.dm2303.livefilestore....048.jpg?psid=1

For snow - Bud&Lou will get you through:
https://amssca.dm2302.livefilestore....674.jpg?psid=1

I get both ice & snow. I have a Nokian something studded in the front, and a continental something else in the back, also studded.

I use spiked Monkey most of the time in the city - schwalbe ice spikers pro. They roll nice on pavement and deal most excellent with ice. Moonie is used more on trails, loose snow.

I prefer fixed on the snow for the control you get with direct drive, but a standard track bike build isn't going to get you through much, a fixed-cx or fixed-mtb is the way to go.

I would like to +1 everything Bat56 this morning. I was just thinking this morning how much I don't miss getting the crud, like I road in today, out of my rear deraileur.

It's not a proper analogy, but I equate fixed gear riding in the snow to driving a manual transmission in a snow storm.

That's why I ditched my foot retention for the winter.

It was hairy riding here this morning. 11 inches of snow overnight, and still snowing about 1/2" an hour when I left my house, then they salted and sanded, which melted some snow, which refroze pretty quickly as black ice , because it's freezing here, -1 with the wind chill, and that black ice got covered with more snow. I have a hill near my house that is fairly steep, this morning I skidded down half of it, no chance of stopping, being able to put my feet down without the foot retention was a life saver. Lack of cars on my route made it easier.

My bike is a mess from this morning, needs to be de-iced, or sculpted with a chisel and chain saw.

I completely gave up on clipless long time ago. Platforms with good grip for winter (wellgo mg-1 is my favorite) and add straps of your choice for summer (i like ynot).
I have several other fixed (well, most of my bikes r fixed) and I absolutely love FG in winter, SS feels weird as I have to resort to brakes and I feel less connected to bike and road

I want to ammend my comments about when gears would be nice. This applies to freewheel generally: dealing obstacles taller than the bottom bracket.

It it is nice to approach obstacles with the cranks where you need them, or use the freewheel to ratchet over stuff. Fixed gear makes one a more adept rider in this regard, but I've wanted a freewheel here and there.

and I ride clipless all the time. It has saved my ass many times when smashing through things that would otherwise knock my feet right off the pedals. I've also taken some crazy bumps that rocked me so bad that my feet were the only thing attached to the bike.