rumrunn6

sadly no, I don't even bike commute anymore. the winter of 2009-10 was my last winter and stopped altogether end of September 2010

I now work 22 miles away from home in an armpit of a city and while I have ridden here on weekends, I just can't justify the new logistics. I can do it but I was spoiled by the last place, a perfect 13 miles from home. I came close to trying the ride in here this summer but I got lazy at night and didn't want to bring the bike, leave the car and bike home the night before, or do it with Wifey on a Sunday night and have her drive me home, so I could ride in early Monday morning. I need the car at work to drive to my gym 1 mile down the road to shower & change, etc. like I said I was spoiled before

Hypno Toad

LOL! I was hoping to avoid the idea I wiped-out. Not to say that I don't wipe out:




The lesson here, don't ride summer tires on ice and snow. This is a lesson I seem to need to relearn every year. @noglider, you'll want to mount the studded tires "too early" and avoid learning my lesson. Bonus, you'll enjoy the sizzling bacon sound longer.

rumrunn6

still remember the first time I encountered black ice on my bike w regular tires. terrifying. I was able to go back home and drive that day. I almost fell back home dismounting but luckily did not.

Jim from Boston

My most memorable encounter with black ice was about 2 miles into my 14 mile commute, in the dark, at about 6:00 AM. For about the next hour I rode verrry slowwwly until after about 7:00AM when the sun rose high enough to melt the thin layer of black ice.

For the past several years, the studded tires go on my winter beater bike by around mid-December, until April.

fietsbob

I was really bundled up warm so Nothing on my body was damaged when I fell on black ice ,

now I have a studded tire equipped bike I bring Out.

Hypno Toad

I was about 4 miles into the 9-mile commute, so I kept riding. And as you can see, the sun was out melting the ice too, just those damned shady spots. It wasn't too bad on me or the bike and thankfully an empty road. This year, the studs will be on winter bike long before the snow and ice start, I mean it this time. (lol)

rumrunn6

courtesy of the movie A Christmas Story

noglider 

I ordered some Schwalbe studded tires. Thanks, folks.

Jim from Boston

Excellent choice.

(I made this post shorter than usual because I had a lot of time to make it shorter.)

MichaelW

I replace my fat slicks with DIY studs in a very cheap MTB tyre. Snow and ice only last a week or 2 and we often get that will it/won't it freeze.
I have commuted on 28 Marathons, but probably don't have the nerve now.
If you have an MTB triple, you can have the gearing too low, which just spins your wheel.

noglider 

noglider 

Here is the bike I'm building and planning on riding in bad weather. It has 35mm Schwalbe studded tires. Unfortunately, they're too big to allow fenders on this bike.

Through all of my "straightening up" I've done, I've mislaid the derailleurs, so I have to find them. I have the brake levers, grips, shifters, and chain ready, so I'm nearly done.

rumrunn6

better giddy up, February is right around the corner :-)

V73

I had the same problem last year, so I got a plastic mountain bike style seatpost attached rear fender. Not going to keep the slush off the bike, but it'll keep it off your backside, and you can get them very cheap online.

Great looking bike so far though, you should post it in the Winter Beaters thread when you're done!

noglider 

@V73, so those fenders -- which look ineffective to me -- actually do something useful? Good to know. I'm not sure I can bring myself to get one, though.

Leebo

I'm a fan of plastic house siding for crafting fenders. Try a 2" wide strip on the bottom of the downtube. Also some will fit on the back of the seat tube. Just cut as needed.

noglider 

Thanks for that tip, @Leebo.

I moved the rear wheel all the way back, and now it looks possible that regular fenders might fit. I have to deflate the tire to get the wheel in or out, which is annoying, but I can deal with that. It means that if I do put fenders on, I will not be able to get the rear one to be close to parallel to the tire.

NYMXer

Tom, those mtb mini fender things save your back side from getting wet from tire spray. While you will still get some splatter up the back of your shirt, 90% of it will be deflected and you will stay drier, longer. Same for the front tire, keeps splatter from hitting you in the face from the tire.
On the Mohonk gravel trails, I would think the mini fenders wouldn't be as resourceful as riding on pavement in the city.

noglider 

Yesterday morning, I took the ice tires off and replaced them with regular tires. I rode the 14 miles to work. The route is not hilly with some small exceptions. There are some small hills near the end, but there are two short and steep slopes at Mile 8. On the first, there was ICE! I smirked because it would have been fun to ride over it with studded tires, but it also would have been dumb to use the tires just for that glorious moment. I got off and walked over the ice. It was a short moment but it was also very tricky.

scoatw

You could do something like this on a smaller scale. You wouldn't have to make the middle strip as wide as the one in the picture made for a fatbike.



Here is the link for anyone wanting to try a cool DIY project.

https://nccyclery.wordpress.com/2010...rs-done-right/