How to commute safely in the snow?

andy83

i had someone shout at me to get off the road, bib about 10 times at me and throw a mcdonalds cup at me lovely people

roger_merriman

Northwind wrote:

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

The problem with snow isn't you, your bike or your riding it's what every other half- wit is doing.

This. Quote from a woman at my work which I love:
"The wheels all started sliding, and no matter how hard I pushed the pedal it wouldn't stop sliding".
It's not just that people are idiots, though lots are, some people just have no clue at all what to do in the snow, it's a skillset they've never learned. It's not like we get that much snow so drivers can go years without ever having to drive in it. So, no wonder there are so many rolling disasters out there. Doesn't matter how safe you ride really.

I've been commuting on my mountain bike, it's a bit like commuting in a tractor but I know I'll get there and I know I'll get home again, largely by not sharing any slidy looking road with any slidy looking cars.

to be fair even in areas that get snow (see the above photos) get a lot of the press the pedal till i move twits.

I got used to driving in snow due to job postie and my folks living in a area that doesn't get gritted.

which my wife loved last year as she got in nice and warm and safe last years little bit of snow in london past all the impassable roads...

itboffin

I didn't even make it out of the village this morning, in the car as well.

Got to the first very tiny hill and the car just slid backwards, so clearly that route was a no go, back to the only other road, which is sort of a main road, black ice as far as you can see, the ABS warning light making it very clear the car was unhappy.

I guess i'm working from home today

fnegroni

itboffin wrote:

I didn't even make it out of the village this morning, in the car as well.

My car struggles to get up my steep drive (i.e: I need to build some momentum before plummeting on it and then brake just before hitting the garage door.)

Bike on the other hand, piece of cake.

Even on sheet ice I had more traction from my knobblies than on foot with MTB shoes.

Having said that, some roads may require studded tyres to be safely rode.

Northwind

roger merriman wrote:

to be fair even in areas that get snow (see the above photos) get a lot of the press the pedal till i move twits.

She lives outside of Edinburgh so she does get a fair bit of snow (for this country at least) and not much grit. But she just usually avoids snow entirely.

roger_merriman

Northwind wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

to be fair even in areas that get snow (see the above photos) get a lot of the press the pedal till i move twits.

She lives outside of Edinburgh so she does get a fair bit of snow (for this country at least) and not much grit. But she just usually avoids snow entirely.

lot do just avoid it, I used to pick up other posties coming into work on snowy days as they'd not drive while I would.

oliverb

I went out for a test ride on Sunday to test out my studded tyres in the snow and ice. I tried them out on a track road leading to the woods on my road. The road is very steep about 15% and was just ice where cars had been climbing or attempting to climb it over the last few days.

The tyres climbed very well and let me overtake a 4x4 that was sliding all over the road in a failed attempt to get up the hill.
In deep snow further up the trail the studs made no difference and it was just like riding normal knobbly tyres in snow- very hard going. Going back down the hill on the ice I unclipped from the pedals and tried jamming on the brakes at slow speed and found the tyres managed to keep grip.

On my commute home today again on my studded tyre equiped bike I encountered very heavy snowfall just as rush hour started and even the main A23 was covered in snow in no time at all. Cars were managing to keep going OK until they reached the side roads. The snow was very wet and had fallen over a layer of deep ice. This proved too much on even the smallest slopes and the cars and vans just turned round and made their way back to the main road. Only the 4x4s kept going. The best seemed to be the 4x4 pickups as I presume they had better tyres. To get home I have to climb over the North downs at Purley and I chose a 13% ungritted hill that climbs strait up. The hill was littered with stranded cars broadside on as they lost control going down. I was able to make my way around them with ease.

In summary I love these tyres and would recommend them to anyone. You will only use them a few times a year (down South) so put them on a spare set of wheels and put them on at the first sign of snow or black ice.
They make riding in snow and ice fun and give you confidence that you will make it home safe.

itboffin

oliverb wrote:

I went out for a test ride on Sunday to test out my studded tyres in the snow and ice. I tried them out on a track road leading to the woods on my road. The road is very steep about 15% and was just ice where cars had been climbing or attempting to climb it over the last few days.

The tyres climbed very well and let me overtake a 4x4 that was sliding all over the road in a failed attempt to get up the hill.
In deep snow further up the trail the studs made no difference and it was just like riding normal knobbly tyres in snow- very hard going. Going back down the hill on the ice I unclipped from the pedals and tried jamming on the brakes at slow speed and found the tyres managed to keep grip.

On my commute home today again on my studded tyre equiped bike I encountered very heavy snowfall just as rush hour started and even the main A23 was covered in snow in no time at all. Cars were managing to keep going OK until they reached the side roads. The snow was very wet and had fallen over a layer of deep ice. This proved too much on even the smallest slopes and the cars and vans just turned round and made their way back to the main road. Only the 4x4s kept going. The best seemed to be the 4x4 pickups as I presume they had better tyres. To get home I have to climb over the North downs at Purley and I chose a 13% ungritted hill that climbs strait up. The hill was littered with stranded cars broadside on as they lost control going down. I was able to make my way around them with ease.

In summary I love these tyres and would recommend them to anyone. You will only use them a few times a year (down South) so put them on a spare set of wheels and put them on at the first sign of snow or black ice.
They make riding in snow and ice fun and give you confidence that you will make it home safe.

Cool what make of stud tyres do you have?

oliverb

I use Continental Spike claw 240 tyres.

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/16728/Continental_Spike_Claw_Tyre_240_Spikes

They are heavy at 900g but you only go slow on snow anyway.

I had been after spiked tyres since August and found it very hard to find a shop that had them in stock or was getting them in stock for the winter.

greg66_tri_v2.0

vorsprung wrote:

Normal snow that is fresh, not too deep and hasn't been compacted by cars into sheets of ice is no problem for 28mm Marathon plusses. They don't have much tred but there is some

OTOH, tonight's compressed wet slush was plenty problematic for 23mm Mich Pro2 Races. :shock:

lost_in_thought

Round here it seems it's too much for size 8 brooks addiction trainers... and for pirelli 18" tyres... :shock:

However, it was raining earlier, and is currently 1 degree, so I'm hoping it will have melted a bit by tomorow.

the_hundredth_idiot

Jebus Cripes - who else made it home on a bike tonight? I've never seen chaos on the roads like it. Luckily I'd left my MTB at work so I used that and made it home safe and sound. It was hard going but doable - the problem was the cars. Terrifying - gridlocked almost all the way home, anything with rear wheel drive was sliding all over the place. Even the South Circular didn't seem to have been gritted so cars were having a tough old time. I dread to think what it will be like in the morning once the soggy stuff has frozen overnight - I've got my laptop and will work from home.
Good luck if you're using your bike tomorrow.

oliverb

See my previous post I made it home through the mayhem tonight. My biggest fear was being hit from behind by an out of control car.

I did feel sorry for the many crying kids walking home with their mums as the buses seemed to have stopped running or they had to abandon their cars.

All the hills seemed to be full of cars parked at weired angles or ques of cars waiting to attempt the ascent .

I was glad to have my bike as many of these poor motorist have a very long cold walk home.

sturmey

I rode into work and back home today on my old Halfords hybrid with Schwalbe Silento tyres deflated to about 50psi. and lowered the saddle.I had to ride on the 'high' side as the nearside of the road had a lot of compacted slush,some of it frozen despite this being on main roads that had been gritted. There were some botty clenching moments but nice and slow was the solution and no angles of lean at all on corners.I think the mtb would have felt safer but I wanted a fast icy commute. Fingers were frozen they were actually in a lot of pain-worst part of the whole thing.

fnegroni

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

Jebus Cripes - who else made it home on a bike tonight?

I found cycling home was way safer than driving a car or walking. And much quicker too.

I had my knbbly tyres on, slightly narrower (1.8") at the back for better traction, 2.1" at the front for control.

Most cars I had to overtake were stuck.

UKScooby

I love this snow.

I'm not at all getting cold - fleece and waterproofs.

The best bit - at night anyway - is that cars are actually passing carefully and giving plenty of room.

Hurray - there is a bonus from all this snow.

Sailorchick

Cycled home last night. Discovered that I'm not wearing enough kit to keep me warm. When its this slippy I'm riding slowly so not working hard enough to keep warm so was freezing when I got home.

roger_merriman

well could be worse snow + heavy traffic in cars is horrible http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8425718.stm

once the jam starts....

suzyb

This morning it was foggy here as well as having snow and ice covering the ground. So, so glad I work from home and don't have to go out today.

aberdeen_lune

Great fun on the commute in Aberdeen. Tons of snow to ride through. Cars were struggling. The best stuff to ride through is the virgin powder stuff. The compacted by cars stuff is really slippy. No wonder the Eskimos have so many words for different types of snow. The snow is still coming down so it should be great fun cycling home later.