Suitable measures to ride the weather!

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Comments

  • coldeverything
    coldeverything Posts: 16
    I have a couple of tips that help me.

    Slow down a little.

    Be aware of what's around you and do not attempt a risky corner with a car next to you.
    Slow down and take it on your own so you can choose the best line. If you are unsure stop and get off.

    Let's face it, if you fall off because of ice how quickly can a car stop that's behind you?

    Falling off really knocks your confidence. I had one off last week (on my Scott Hybrid) and a near miss on my old mountain bike. My mountain bike has better traction from a bigger contact patch so I have decided to get a cross bike (Ridley Crossbow) and sell both the mountain bike and Scott Hypbrid. I figure it will serve as a better commuting machine in the long run due to the extra clearance for wider section tyres. I would be interested to know how other people cope?
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    Last week, a friend of mine stuck sandpaper onto the bottom of his shoes and the grip he got on icy pavements was incredible! Perhaps there's some way of doing this with tyres... :idea:
  • Feltup
    Feltup Posts: 1,340
    How about a washing up bottle full of salt suspsended upside down just in front of your front wheel? Salt the road as you go!
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
  • robbarker
    robbarker Posts: 1,367
    The one thing I don't do in cold weather is lower my tyre pressures. It makes punctures more likely IME and the one thing I really hate doing in the cold is fixing punctures, in the dark, at the roadside.

    If anyone makes 700x25c fast touring tyres with retractable spikes by the way, please let me know. The ice hasn't thawed in our valley all day and I wimped on a ride and went for a run through the woods instead.
  • JGS
    JGS Posts: 180
    gtvlusso wrote:
    I am still on a race bike with 23's at 120psi - Armadillo's. Finding them fine to be honest, I have had some tricky moments, but above all else slowing down, when unsure of grip, has been my main safety catch - don't mean to be patronising!

    Riding a bit more road proud (more in the centre) than in the gutter and avoiding the usual painted lines, grids and so on too in these icy conditions.
    I do exactly the same and I am running Conti GP4000S 23c's at 125psi and managing a good 16.5mph average on the way to work which includes some icy patches and frosty cyclepaths with dodgy surfaces. I'm not a light person either, I'm 14.25 stone with backpack which will make sliding out a bit more sudden. The most important thing to do is avoid all white lines and metal grates / covers, give yourself plenty of space to slow down and don't try to mash the pedals ultra hard, work your way up to it.

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