How to commute safely in the snow?

Stuey01

DDD,

Why not use the train or tube? It is only ever going to be a day or two and is it really worth the risk of some numpty losing control of their car/van/lorry on the ice and splatting you?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Stuey01 wrote:

Why not use the train or tube? It is only ever going to be a day or two and is it really worth the risk of some numpty losing control of their car/van/lorry on the ice and splatting you?

This is a genuine concern. I saw a lot of drivers last year shimmying around a bit. I wouldn't want a tap - even if inadvertant - from one of them.

Still, ride it, get bragging rights, and then spend Xmas in plaster! Swings and roundabouts, I'd say...

Belv

DonDaddyD wrote:

Alternatively get a hybrid/mountain bike but still do the above.

Yep - mountain bike, knobbly tyres run at low pressure, allow twice as long as normal. The first mornings ride is the easiest, after a days melting then a night's re-freezing it gets a lot tougher.

EDIT: but 95% of my commute can be done on back roads and cycle paths. Not sure i'd mix it with the usual rush hour traffic.

Christophe3967

You should get on to Ed Milliband in Copenhagen. He will send you a supply of GHG ( Green House Guff) with which you create your own bubble of hot air by attaching one end of a special device, invented by scientists at Norwich Polytechnic, using your front QR lever. Simply breathing into a tube on the device allows you to create additional supplies of GHG should you need to. This stuff is capable of melting polar ice caps, so a bit of black ice on the embankment should be no problem.

NGale

One of the funniest things I have ever seen was a cyclist on a mountian bike in Toronto trying to cycle through a snow storm.

I say trying because because his legs were going like the clappers and the wheels hardly moving.

However chapeau to him for at least trying under the circumstances.

It turned out that was the worst snow storm in Toronto's history since records begun and myself and my ex were stood in Dundas Square with a load of German and Japanese tourists having a snowball fight. Needless to say the allies won

The Canadians thought we were nuts.

Gussio

The snow when it first falls isn't too bad, if you take it easy, keep the bike as upright as possible and stay off the front brake. In my experience it is the following morning that can get you, when the slush has refrozen. Deeply unpleasant on anything other than the best-gritted roads.

February in London was fun - there were very few cars on the road after the main snowfall, let alone bikes. Pretty much had the office to myself as well, which was like working from home in productivity terms but without the nagging

iain_j

NitrousOxide wrote:

One of those contraptions that have the rear wheel replaced by "caterpilllar tracks" used by vehicles such as tanks?

One of these you mean?



Riding in snow is awesome. The deeper the better. Riding on snow which has been compacted down into ice by the traffic, however, is not. Neither are the drivers who think that their car will not be affected by the ice at all and continue to drive like pricks :evil:

Even the ones who drive slowly and carefully get caught out. On the worst of the snowy days last winter I was making my way down the slightest of shallow hills, so were all the cars, nice and slow, one of them barely touched the brakes and went pirouetting across the road, away from me luckily.

Paulie W

I used to live in West Wales and one night after working late I set off on my commute just as it started to snow. Within a few minutes it had blanketed the roads but i had no choice but to keep going as there was literally no other way of getting home (it was a one taxi town and it was guaranteed that Rob wouldnt be going out in that weather!). I knew it was a bad storm when as the snow got heavier the thunder and lightning started - I didnt know that snow and lightning were even technically possible together! It took me twice as long as normal because I was so careful but actually as long as you keep it in a straight line riding through snow is more or less fine. The next morning when the snow had frozen was a whole different ball game!

tailwindhome

NGale wrote:

It turned out that was the worst snow storm in Toronto's history since records begun and myself and my ex were stood in Dundas Square with a load of German and Japanese tourists having a snowball fight. Needless to say the allies won

The Canadians thought we were nuts.

Did the Yanks turn up just as it was coming to a end and pretend it had only just started?

Any nylons for the ladies?

NGale

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

NGale wrote:

It turned out that was the worst snow storm in Toronto's history since records begun and myself and my ex were stood in Dundas Square with a load of German and Japanese tourists having a snowball fight. Needless to say the allies won

The Canadians thought we were nuts.

Did the Yanks turn up just as it was coming to a end and pretend it had only just started?

Any nylons for the ladies?

No, but as usual the Americans took credit for the victory

morxy

You can get knobbly tyres with protruding studs or spikes that grip ice and snow, like Continental Spike Claw or Schwalbe Snow Stud. Obviously you need an MTB or hybrid that accepts 26" wheels.

fenboy369

My Spesh MTB has got tubeless 2.4 Conti Rubber Queens on at the moment, that would be ace in the snow!
I did ride my Kona in snow for the last few years. Just keep to the virgin snow,if you can , ride slowly and dont use the front brake. Drop the seat a couple of inches and run flat pedals not clipless. Lower tyre pressures help no end too, youre trying to get there, not get there quickly so it doesnt matter.
Gonna really miss it if snows this year. But an off at the moment would be v.bad. due to last weeks knock off and cracked rib :evil: :x :evil: :x :evil: :x

the_hundredth_idiot

Definitely remove clipless pedals and substitute flats. When the slide comes (and it will), you want feet down ASAP.

Other than that, I coped quite happily in February by digging out the MTB rather than the roadie. Taking it easy (almost an hour rather than 30 mins). Not being afraid to get off and walk on some of the worst bits. And trying not to get too upset at the gangs of kids marauding south London who had never seen snow before so got a little over excited with their snowballs.

I actually quite enjoyed it all. Lovely and peaceful.

Public transport wasn't an option on the basis it wasn't running for a few days.

WAH wasn't an option as the laptop was in the office (naughty me) and I didn't want to have anything on my back in case I hit the ground back first.

roger_merriman

DonDaddyD wrote:

Snow.

I ride a road bike. What provisions do I have to take/make on my roadbike to ensure it is safe to be used when snowing in London*? Serious question.

on a road bike if you loose traction on any compacted snow/ice you'll hit the deck unless your lucky.

I'd take tube/train/bus or car judging how useless folks where last snow I'd be wary as others have said, takes time to learn how to drive on snow/ice.

but quite frankly it's very unlikely to settle. it's really not worth worrying about.

kurako

I had my mountain bike the day of the big snow fall last year. It was hairy even on that.

Can you believe I saw a bloke try to turn in fresh powder with one hand on the bars while talking on the phone? Actually, if I told you it was in Clapham you probably would!!

I don't really take my road bike out in heavy rain never mind snow but if you get caught out take it easy and stick to the tracks made by the cars. Or better still walk!

jedster

not an original reply but

"get the bus" occurs to me.

I won't choose to ride in the snow (has happened when it has started snowing on the way home) because if I really hate being off the bike for a few weeks after a crash and this would be even worse if I knew it was my own stupid fault for riding in really slippery conditions.

Of course you can take it easy etc but ultimately there is a much greater chance of locking up the front wheel in the snow. And my experience of these sorts of crashes is that they are best avoided.

gtvlusso

MTB - full on mtb tyres and pedal until it gets sketchy!

dilemna

iain_j wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

One of those contraptions that have the rear wheel replaced by "caterpilllar tracks" used by vehicles such as tanks?

One of these you mean?



Riding in snow is awesome. The deeper the better. Riding on snow which has been compacted down into ice by the traffic, however, is not. Neither are the drivers who think that their car will not be affected by the ice at all and continue to drive like pricks :evil:

Even the ones who drive slowly and carefully get caught out. On the worst of the snowy days last winter I was making my way down the slightest of shallow hills, so were all the cars, nice and slow, one of them barely touched the brakes and went pirouetting across the road, away from me luckily.

Far out bike ............ awesome. Did you ever see Jalabert's down hill bike which he rode to break the bike land speed record down Mont Blanc? At least I think it was Jalabert and the speed was 172mph although can't find any link to it so cannot be sure. Memory is a little fuzzy. IIRC the wheels/tyres had 3" spikes coming out of them. The bike was in the Cite des Sciences in Paris a few years back. It was an awesome machine. But now can only find this link to world's fastest mountain bike 137mph by a guy called Markus Stoecki from Austria set in Sept 2007.

http://www.atmagazine.co.uk/content/view/103/95/

Cycling on snow is easy ............

il_principe

I don't cycle in the snow. It can be ok where the roads are gritted but I tried it once a few years ago and came off several times. It took for ever and really didn't feel very safe at all, not worth damaging my bike/me for. Given that snow is so rare then it's really not something you're going to have to worry about that often. I just get on PT, can't be arsed with changing tires etc. Also the nasty salty sludge you get as the stuff melts is going to fcuk with your drivetrain in a big way.

MonkeyMonster

Given the weather is now listed as being snowy in central london on friday - could be entertaining... Plus tomorrow as well!

Bassjunkieuk

Il Principe wrote:

I don't cycle in the snow. It can be ok where the roads are gritted but I tried it once a few years ago and came off several times. It took for ever and really didn't feel very safe at all, not worth damaging my bike/me for. Given that snow is so rare then it's really not something you're going to have to worry about that often. I just get on PT, can't be arsed with changing tires etc. Also the nasty salty sludge you get as the stuff melts is going to fcuk with your drivetrain in a big way.

+1 The POS Hellfords MTB that got used for my short commute in February has a chain that I suspect is rusted solid now :oops: Luckily I had the advantage of being able to choose from a few locations to work at so no surprise really that I got to work only 2 miles from the house! On the first day tho I did "WFH" on the basis that most of the offices I'd need to work at would also be deserted ;-)
Have to say once I was out it was good fun, the main roads in town where relatively snow free, just a horrid wet slush but the side roads in the centre of town had more snow on so made for great skid pans :-D

I did tackle black ice once on my road bike and that was on the way DOWN Denmark Hill, a great big patch in the bus lane. Stayed upright but that's about as much as I'd like to experience on the roadie tbh

Bassjunkieuk

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Given the weather is now listed as being snowy in central london on friday - could be entertaining... Plus tomorrow as well!

Hmm, snowball fights at the Morpeth :-D

iPete

Who wants to lead with this?

Bassjunkieuk

@iPete, now only if it was made from carbon fibre.......;-)

MrChuck

As I get older I'm less inclined to try and ride whatever the conditions, mostly because as others have said people still drive like tw@ts. It's only ever going to be a few days so it just doesn't seem worth damaging myself and/or my bike essentially for the sake of bragging rights.

That said I usually only have a few miles to go so just walking isn't a big deal for me. And it's very rare that the main roads are unrideable anyway, even if it means a bit of a walk to get to/from them.

dav1

Personally I will leave the road bike at home and take the MTB in...




Via a detour through the woods

aberdeen_lune

I bought a cheap mountain bike and put on some Shwalbe Ice Spiker tyres on it to tackle the snow this winter. Its all set up ready to go in the spare room. O hope the forecasts are correct cause it may get its first ride on Thursday or Friday. I agree on the inexperienced motorists bit so will be mostly using cycle trails. 340 spikes on each tyre should maintain the grip. Heres hoping the £500 investment is worth it. Bring on the snow.

itboffin

I just struggled into the office (possible man-flu on the way) only to check the weather at home for this evening.....

Sleet & snow FARK!

simon_e

I switched to the MTB+slicks a few weeks ago. Just as well, it's covered in cr@p now. The 10 year-old Kona is perfect for the mucky lanes around here.

A couple of winters ago I rode home through Shrewsbury in falling snow that was already about 4" thick. It took 45 minutes (normally 25mins) and I gleefully overtook hundreds of stationary cars, while a colleague who lives nearer work didn't get home for 2 hours in his 4x4. Riding in the wheeltracks was safer with the City Jets than the fresh snow in between.

itboffin wrote:

Sleet & snow FARK!

HTFU yer big blouse.

jedster

Heres hoping the £500 investment is worth it

How many times do you reckon you'll use it?