How Cold is Too Cold? Lowest Temperature Cutoff
 

What is your lowest cutoff for cycling?

When is it too cold for you to take a train, or bus, or walk, instead of cycling?

/windchill.

Since mine's recreational (vs. a commute, or other "have-to-get-there,") temp won't stop me from going out. Neither will pure wind chill.

Either will send me home quickly, though ;)

Pure wind, OTOH, will sideline me. It's gusting >40mph, today. I'm in front of the fireplace, under a blanket, and not missing a thing :)

When I commuted to work by bicycle regularly back in Winnipeg, the coldest temp I rode in was -40C/F. I'm not sure what the windchill factor was. My commute was only 13.4 km round trip (so about 30 minutes each way in the winter) and as long as the roads were in decent shape, I rode.

I've walked in even colder temps.

I though for sure I would stop cycling for fun under about 30 degrees, but I enjoy it to much, I have gone out in 10 degrees for 25 miles and been ok, (dress pretty good), at this point in MD, no cut off due to temps, however heavy winds and rain make it no fun, so I just stay in then.

I finally copped out last week. -30F without the windchill. It's 8.5 miles each way. I'm not sure I would have been able to turn the cranks due to the grease freezing solid.

I do notice that the colder it gets, the slower i get. I'm sure rubber hardening, and grease gelling are part of the cause, not to mention extra layers, and denser air. In the summer it's a 25-30 minute ride. Nowadays it's closer to an hour.

But dang, it was just too cold. My prius's battery died, our 95 Galant was a champ though. But it had to warm up for 5 minutes before i could let the clutch out; so that the ccccold oil wouldn't bog down the engine and make it stall.

This week though, i'm back on...after I get over this cold i caught from my kids.

When the high temp for the day is below 0F. I carpool with my wife.

Haven't found one in New England. It really is all about the right clothing and equipment.

I haven't found a temperature that is too cold for commuting, because they (stupidly) close the schools when it gets too cold. I'd have ridden Friday, when it was -22F, but they canceled school for the 2nd day in a row.

So far I've ridden 3 times when it was around -10F, with no problems.

They cancelled school at -22F?? They don't cancel school here until it reaches -40C/F. At -22F, kids just don't go outside for recess.

For a leisure ride, I would probably put the cutoff at 30 degrees, as I don't like bundling up lots- it restricts my movement, but I have yet to find a temperature too cold to commute in.

Why are they cancelling school at -22F? What is that, about -30C?
That is pretty stupid. We get weeks of temps much colder than that.
The school bus does not run if it gets colder than -44F but the school remains open regardless.

I've ridden in colder temperatures that I would dream of taking public transportation on, and given that I've mostly not owned a car, and now have a car which won't start, it's either bike or not go at all. Although, with the current winters this side of the pond, it's not much of an issue. We haven't had temperatures where this would come up in, err, three years? maybe four years now. We finally got snow today! The previous snow was in November! For three days!

Last week at -25F with 10-20 mph winds I drove. My commute is 5 miles each way and but this was a little too cold. On Tuesday my freewheel quit engaging half way home after sitting at work sub zero all day, and I didn't want to take a chance. I can handle riding in the cold but the 1.5 mile walk home on tuesday made me a little more cautious of a bike problem in sub -20f weather.

Machka and ricohman--I agree it seems stupid to cancel school when it is -22f. But our school board has a policy of canceling school when there is a "wind chill warning", which happens when there is a wind chill of -35F or below.

The National Weather Service did have a wind chill warning in effect for the general area, but in reality, there was virtually no wind at all on Friday morning. Teachers were just astounded that they canceled school for this reason. The common response was "what do they do in Canada, or in Fairbanks Alaska? They GO TO SCHOOL!"

Yes they do.
My boys walked when the wind chill was -53 last week.
And the school was open. The school does not close, but they have recess indoors as mentioned above.

Our temps are moderated by Lake Ontario and, to a lesser extent Lake Erie--at least until it freezes over.

Thus far, the coldest it's gotten in the city was 0F last week, and I rode in it just fine. Even did some extra miles just to be sure I really was still warm. Added arm warmers and kneewarmers under my usual winter tights and two upper layers with windbreaker. And a balaclava over my winter cycling skullcap.

Today at 20-23F, in my usual gear, I felt way too warm.

We had a couple of days here that were about -20F before windchill. My footwear and gloves are not up to snuff for that. The coldest I've ridden in has been -2F with -20F windchill.

When you live in a place where it only gets that cold once in awhile you run the risk of kids getting frostbit while they wait for a bus or walk.

My son is much like me. He's not bothered as much by cold weather as a lot of people are and he's come to think he's impervious to it. I caught him more than once with his winter jacket stuffed into his backpack while waiting for his bus.

But also like me, he is susceptible to problems with ears, nose, and cheeks when it's especially cold. I'd like to think he keep them covered but you never know. If we lived in a climate where it was frequently that cold, he'd definitely know better.

Only last week a guy here got frostbitten fingers because he decided gloves were optional in 17 below zero weather.

+1
Who was it that said "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices." ?

I haven't found a specific temperature cutoff below which I won't ride, but there are certain metrics that I use to inform my Will I Ride? decision & temperature certainly is one of them. If I'm commuting I'll rarely ride below 20°F, because the commute isn't long enough for me to warm up in time (and if I just work harder then I'm all sweaty when I arrive at work, which I can't bring myself to do to my coworkers). But if it's a recreational ride I'll happily go out in temps below 20°F -- in fact, I've discovered that I have enough winter cycling kit to easily ride below 0°F -- but I do most of my weekend riding with my wife, who is far less enamored of the cold & quite gifted in her ability to convince me to forego a ride to just stay in bed.

So in actuallity I rarely ever ride below 20°F. But that's not my Lowest Temperature Cutoff, it just happens to work out that way!

Still haven't had a day too cold to ride (-20F so far this winter). CC skied to the bar one night instead of riding due to excessive snow tho.

I discovered the other week that -15 degF is my cut off. At this temperature the grease in my bike froze up. The brake cables and levers stopped moving and there was an overall feeling that the bike was deteriorating. I had to get off and walk, but this turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.

This happened at -15F?? It had to be quite a bit colder for my bicycle to freeze up like that. You might want to try a different lubricant.

too cold?
never....
i too bike in winnipeg daily/year round...

biked into a -48c windchill this year..... my coldest to date.... i wear balaclava, goggles,etc.... no exposed skin!!

once you get pedalling temp isn't really a factor.... it's more of mental hurdle...

jB

I have done-30F not wind chill but in old age -10F if about my limit. I stay hot but my hands hurt even in double good mittens. Plastic bags between sox and boots keeps feet warm.

-30f was as far as i have gone. it was -40 a while back and i was prepared to make the journey, however i still live with my parents, and they thought i was going to die and insisted on driving me to work.