Winter/ summer bikes - what?

hopeful
hopeful Posts: 76
edited June 2007 in Road beginners
I'm exposing my ignorance again, but what do people mean when they refer to their 'winter' and 'summer' bikes?

Comments

  • peejay78
    peejay78 Posts: 3,378
    historically, it referred to the practice of a having a bike to train on through 'winter', sometimes it was fixed, but generally, a heavier, mudguarded thing more suited to the winter weather. it also refers to a bike that you don't mind getting destroyed by muck, grit, salt, ice, etc.

    i tend to ride my summer bike all year round for longer rides, but only if it isn't raining, and i use my 'winter' bike to commute on (again, all year round). this saves the expensive bike from the worst of the weather, saves me a fortune in repairs, and keeps me fitter because i'm riding fixed through those long, dark winter months, and the only thing that tends to go is the bottom bracket, rather than the whole groupset.

    it's worth bearing in mind that when saved for years and finallly bought my summer bike from condor, the man there said "i love this bike, it's my perfect winter bike".
    winter: http://tinyurl.com/2xkbbs
    summer: http://tinyurl.com/2hsagv
    http://traumradfahren.wordpress.com/
  • penugent
    penugent Posts: 913
    Many use a cheaper bike in the winter because, they believe, the salt and grime on the roads can corrode bike parts when wet.

    Pete
    (Not reckless, just fast)
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    I soon hope to have, apart from a summer and a winter bike, an autumn bike as well. No really. Just for when it starts to get wet and ****ty on the road. The winter hack I use for Dec/Jan with the snow/crap and the summer one of course for only dry weather.

    SIZE IS EVERYTHING! or at least that's what my LBS tells me.
  • Down the Road
    Down the Road Posts: 949
    Don't see the point. If your doing longer rides in winter wouldn't you like to be on your favourite bike.

    Why not spend 10 minutes cleaning it.
    Racing is life - everything else is just waiting
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Because the 4 hours riding through all the salt and grit on the roads will already have done the damage, you can also fit biger tyres and proper mudguards.

    My bikes - http://flickr.com/photos/82587774@N00/
  • Down the Road
    Down the Road Posts: 949
    Been using a chorus Madone for 2 winters No damage from anything Oh and I do the miles.

    Again why bother with a poorer bike that you don't like riding. A pair of training wheels by all means but why change just because it's winter
    Racing is life - everything else is just waiting
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Who says your winter bike has to be something you don't like riding ? My Kinesis is great. I wouldn't however, like riding my De Rosa without full guards (race blades wreck the frame and don't keep you as dry), and just thought of all the crap working its way into places it shouldn't be really would disturb me.

    My bikes - http://flickr.com/photos/82587774@N00/
  • vernonlevy
    vernonlevy Posts: 969
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by hopeful</i>

    I'm exposing my ignorance again, but what do people mean when they refer to their 'winter' and 'summer' bikes?
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
    Some folk go as far as riding with a lower specced group set and wheels.

    I ride both of my road bikes all year ride though my choice of bike is determined by the lumpiness of the Audax and the dryness of the weather forecast.
  • hopeful
    hopeful Posts: 76
    Ah, it's all starting to make sense, now...
    Thanks.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    My winter bike is a heavy steel fixy with full guards on. I love riding it and it gets more use than my carbon Dura Ace bike !
  • The Bosscp
    The Bosscp Posts: 647
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ColinT</i>

    <b>Who says your winter bike has to be something you don't like riding ?</b> My Kinesis is great. I wouldn't however, like riding my De Rosa without full guards (race blades wreck the frame and don't keep you as dry), and just thought of all the crap working its way into places it shouldn't be really would disturb me.
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
    Nothing - it's just the winter bike's usually cheaper.
    Lightness is not proportional to cost, you can double the price and it'll still be perhaps 90% of the weight of a cheaper bike. This little bit of weight saving is important if you race, but there's no point spending shed loads of cash having <i>two</i> bikes that are that light, because you're not going to be able to ride them both in a race at once!....

    ***frowns at seemingly developing notion that winter bike should be a fixie****

    If anything I would say my MTB's my 'summer' bike and my roadie is my 'winter' bike, but I ride the roadie in summer and probably will be riding the MTB in winter. My roadie's less precious cos it's only worth œ400 compared to the œ1200 of the MTB, and while I like it almost as much I'd never leave the MTB locked up anywhere 'cos it looks flashy and took a month to arrive but the roadie doesn't look that flash and could be replaced easier so I'm fairly happy leaving it D-locked outside places as long as it's not for too long, consequently the roadie tends to be the bike for commuting, shopping, going to the gym/squash and general errands.


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  • The Bosscp
    The Bosscp Posts: 647
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ColinT</i>

    <b>Who says your winter bike has to be something you don't like riding ? My Kinesis is great.</b> I wouldn't however, like riding my De Rosa without full guards (race blades wreck the frame and don't keep you as dry), and just thought of all the crap working its way into places it shouldn't be really would disturb me.

    My bikes - http://flickr.com/photos/82587774@N00/
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
    yeah well your 'winter' bike's class - it's only 'winter' in the sense of having mudguards - it's not exactly 'winter' in the sense of being cheap and crap, a lot of people would be happy with that as their 'summer' bike...

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