Best bike for the snow?

ForumNewbie

As I look out at the snow today I was wondering what bike would be best for this sort of weather. A lot of guys have winter bikes which seem to be mostly normal drop-handlebar bikes with mudguards and maybe 25mm tyres (or an audax/ light tourer bike like mine).

I would have thought anyone mad enough to go out on a bike when the snow/ice was lying on the road would be best with either a hardtail mountain bike or a hybrid with tyres with good tread and disc brakes. What do others think?

singlespeedexplosif

I can't see what difference disc brakes would make...if you can't get the traction no brake is going to help you

Prefer using my road bike..narrow tyres to cut through the snow.

TornadoTom

Trike

hopper1

An indoor bike!

bice

I commuted in the slush at the end of last January's snow on my daughter's cheapie Raleigh MTB. Then forgot to wash it off. The salt corrosion was pretty bad.

lfcquin

I haven't seen much snow yet, but with the weekend forecast for the North West I am planning on utilising my cyclocross bike while I am riding on my own.

If I am out with the club then my winter bike with 25c tyres on will get the nod.

Nothing like a good ride in the snow. Bring it on is what I say!

geoff_ss

TornadoTom wrote:

Trike

How true. My Higgins TWD used to be excellent in snow. I really should get it back on the road.

Geoff

John C.

hub gears are good, it wouldn't be the first time my cassette has totally iced up. luckily I'm male and found an easy way to defrost it all (glad it was a winter hack).

balthazar

Lots of good stuff here:

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/9.10.html

Extract:

"There are several ways of stopping. The first one is to use
the brakes. This does not always work. Breaks can ice up,
a bit of water gets between the cable and its sheathing when
the warm afternoon sun shines on the bike. It freezes solid
after. Or the salt causes brake cables to break, etc. I
have had brakes work on one corner, but stop working by the
time I get to the next. I have several other means of
stopping."

:shock:

nolf

TBH, a mountain bike. When it gets that snowy, theres very little difference between on and off road riding, and would rather have an off road bike and go on some local trails. Also when the slush and crap gets in everything, its a mountain bike so a bit tougher.

Monty Dog

Surly Pugsly with 4" wide tyres - but sadly can't find one in the garage, so...

tomorrow I will be mainly riding my titanium singlespeed - designed for 700c wheels but fitted with MTB wheels so slightly lower clearance for plenty of foot-down sliding action. Will defo stay offroad - roads are slick with slush and ice - without studded tyres it would be foolhardy. Generally it's soft sand around here, so in fact the frost and snow can make many unrideable trails unrideable - will probably head offroad to the cafe at Hindhead and back

thediceman85

im curently using my mountain bike with slicks on for commuting, had a few ar$s twitcher moments this morning through the slush, would i be better off with some proper knobbly tyres?

lae

^ probably, yeah, unless it's solid ice in which case you're gonna need studded tyres!

Last winter I made an ice bike from an old (very old actually, it was my dads!) Raleigh 'anteater' (or was it aardvark?) MTB with no suspension, converted it to fixed gear, 'new' (secondhand) cheap disc braked wheel on the front. Then I made my own studded tyres from some secondhand 2.2 Halo Twinrails (in a very disgusting purple to match the frame), made a load of holes in them with a bradawl, then a couple of little washers either side of the hole and popped a small rivet into each one. Then I wrapped the inside of the tyre with about a million layers of electrical tape to stop the rivets from popping the tube.

Worked surprisingly well and I definitely had a lot more traction in slush and ice and frozen earth than with normal MTB tyres. Although I lost a couple of rivets they were easy to replace. I donated the bike to my friend who stayed in York to do a masters degree, although it has slicks on it for most of the year.

Monty Dog

Went out today = 50km in 4 hours plus a cafe stop. My ride buddy had studded tyres - they quite impressive on untreated roads - many have a 1cm glaze of ice as the local council has now decided we no longer need grit bins in winter. Came off a couple of times - nothing serious, but the offroad sections were great - most of the muddy, churned up trails were lumpy frozen hardpack.

freebs

Please be careful riding on the road in current weather conditions. Nothing will stop you if you hit a good patch of ice and it is entirely possible you will slide under a car which also can't stop.

Try offroad.

kfinlay

I don't cycle when theres snow/ice simply because I couldn't afford to replace ripped clothing or damaged parts! Have to make do on my cross trainer to give my legs some exercise but god is that boring so make up my own routines so I have something to concentrate on!

thediceman85

think it will be the bus for me on monday, the snow has frozen solid on the roads where the gritters havent been. i will take at least a few days of warmer weather to clear.
I love riding to work but it just isn't worth the risk this time of year.

idreamoftailwinds

Aghhhhhhhh this weather is driving me mad; it's not much to ask, I think I have worn the dog out; took her for a 4 hours walk today she and I are not speaking, I am off at mack 10, she wants to sniff everything ends up running the 20 miles lol, fingers crossed the weather will hold and the dry yet cold roads will be safe to ride.

Thanks for reading I feel much better..

JohnnyAllez

Mine`s the best bike for the snow, it`s the type that stays in the shed when there`s snow on the gound If you`ve hit the deck, in an instant, after slipping and being unable to unclip your pedals, you`ll know it hurts :shock: badly :?

lastwords

I have had a road bike since around june time and love riding it but i definatly wont be riding it in this icy / snow the mountain bike is definatly the way to go, you certainly learn how to handle a bike this time of year

Pross

Just back from a few days in the arctic circle where the locals were just riding around on untreated roads on the sort of traditional bike you see in Holland / Denmark. They have no problems at all. Mind you, they can also drive their cars in the snow unlike us!

Monty Dog

Pross wrote:

Just back from a few days in the arctic circle where the locals were just riding around on untreated roads on the sort of traditional bike you see in Holland / Denmark. They have no problems at all. Mind you, they can also drive their cars in the snow unlike us!

Cos they put metal-studded tyres on their cars and bikes in winter!

idreamoftailwinds

Like these Schwalbe Tyres

rake

the snow is more grippy without the sheet ice underneath.

Pross

Monty Dog wrote:

Pross wrote:

Just back from a few days in the arctic circle where the locals were just riding around on untreated roads on the sort of traditional bike you see in Holland / Denmark. They have no problems at all. Mind you, they can also drive their cars in the snow unlike us!

Cos they put metal-studded tyres on their cars and bikes in winter!

Nope, I looked at the car tyres and there were no metal spikes and didn't see any snow chains either. A few had a snow tread pattern. The bikes were just bog standard tyres. I think it comes down to the type of snow they have, the grit they use which gives grip but doesn't melt the snow and the fact that they grow up learning how to deal with the conditions (motorists do everything slowly - gentle acceleration, gentle braking turning slowly - and leave plenty of space so no sudden changes are needed).

blorg

Mountain bike is definitely best. I have a few cross bikes as well but the MTB is better. The wider you can get your tyres and the lower the pressure the better. Went out with a friend last year with me on the MTB and him on a cross bike with studded tyres, we reckoned the MTB had more traction. I would not go out on my road bike in the snow/ice, it is just not worth it. Bones were broken in a group spin last year, I escaped with ripped tights and very bad bruising. You CAN still come off but your chances are much better on the MTB.

Flasheart

I came off on the way to work this morning. Thankfully I was on my hybrid and not my road bike. Amazing how far you can slide across a road covered in ice. It had to be 20 feet if it was an inch. Right in front of a car too. Thankfully the lady driving was being rather cautious and driving slowly or I would have been squished (yes she did stop to ask if I was okay)

NO WAY am I getting my road bike out while the roads are like this. it wasn't snowy , it was that nasty black ice.
I went out and did 30 miles on Saturday and the sight of the ice in the gutters and the side of the road was making me wary. After lasts Winter's "off " at 20mph ish' on the ice, I treat riding in these conditions with trepidation.
Us old guys don't heal that fast

On the way home I think I broke a new slow commute record. My lights were picking up the glint of ice crystals on the road.
I really miss Brisbane sometimes