Snow / Ice Bike Prep

Mike400

Ok apologies if this has been covered before but looking some advice on prepping my bike for the lovely weather we are experiencing.

Im currently running SPDs but have no spare (non SPD) pedals to swap over to otherwise I would

Im running scwalbe CityJets on 26" wheels. Should I drop the pressure in them a bit to get a greater contact patch?

Any other tips?

Wallace1492

Lower wheelbase, fit ski's, carry grit bins, have fun!!

bumpitybump

Hi Mike400,

My tip would be to try and keep the freewheel as dry as possible when you clean the bike.

I used a hose to clean my bike on Sunday night and although I squirted GT85 liberally around the rear hub when I'd finished I still had problems on Monday morning. The temperature was -5 cycling into work and after about a mile the freewheel starting slipping as ice inside the freewheel was stopping the prongs engaging when I was pedaling. I found I could sometimes make progress and eventually got into work a bit later then normal.

Monday evening for the trip home the temperature was higher and everything was ok. As a precaution I left the bike in the kitchen next to the radiator overnight to dry out. All seemed fine for the first 5 miles this morning then my rear wheel suddenly almost locked solid without any warning. I managed to get going again by slackening off the axle and found if I pedaled in a really low gear I could force the wheel round so I slowly cycled into the office.

A trip to the LBS revealed the rear freewheel / hub assembly had started to come apart. They serviced the rear freewheel / hub and put as much grease around the outside of it as they could to try and seal it but explained it wasn't possible to guarantee this type of problem wouldn't occur again in these conditions.

So my tips would be...

be careful washing the bike down and if you get any problems with the freewheel / hub try and get it fixed properly and not just assume since you can ride the bike the problem has gone away

Jay dubbleU

Problem with getting water inside your freewheel is that ice expands as it freezes and will bend or split anything in the way - look at frozen pipes - keep your bike warm and dry it off properly before riding

Clever Pun

Wallace1492 wrote:

Lower wheelbase, fit ski's, carry grit bins, have fun!!

is that you?

itboffin

So what you do, is put away your road/cx/fgss bikes get out the mtb swap your normal good wheels and tyres for heavy duty wheels and studded tyres, simples!

Oh you might want to clean then grease everything, good n proper.

Then ride around very smug

roger_merriman

itboffin wrote:

So what you do, is put away your road/cx/fgss bikes get out the mtb swap your normal good wheels and tyres for heavy duty wheels and studded tyres, simples!

Oh you might want to clean then grease everything, good n proper.

Then ride around very smug

or just ride the hack.

yes it's heavy and slow and frankly in danger from fast runners. but it's tough as the come, and a good stable base with a fenix light so I can see the ice. its fine even over really quite bad sheet ice.

might get some studded tires for next year though.

Wallace1492

Clever Pun wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Lower wheelbase, fit ski's, carry grit bins, have fun!!

is that you?

No!! I would never be seen dead in a Gilet!!