Is anyone else looking forward to the cold snap?

fnegroni

Rolf F wrote:

If you want ice tyres for commuting, you are much better off with the Marathon Winters. Ice Spikers are proper off road ice tyres.

Sure, I appreciate that, please see my blog post for more details.

What I disagree here though is calling the Marathon Winter a "commuting" tyre.

Depends on your commute surely, and the condition of the roads and traffic.

If my regular commuting roads were plowed and gritted, and I had planned to use my bike only on those, or if I had the money to buy multiple sets of tyres, I would probably have gone for the Marathon Winters.

But, depending on the conditions when it has snowed, I might opt for the NCN 4 which involves ungritted and offroad paths.

As such, my 'commuting' tyre is the Ice Spiker.

My post was to reassure anyone who might think the tyre could be overkill, that it is not really an issue.

rolf_f

fnegroni wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

If you want ice tyres for commuting, you are much better off with the Marathon Winters. Ice Spikers are proper off road ice tyres.

Sure, I appreciate that, please see my blog post for more details.

What I disagree here though is calling the Marathon Winter a "commuting" tyre.

Depends on your commute surely, and the condition of the roads and traffic.

If my regular commuting roads were plowed and gritted, and I had planned to use my bike only on those, or if I had the money to buy multiple sets of tyres, I would probably have gone for the Marathon Winters.

But, depending on the conditions when it has snowed, I might opt for the NCN 4 which involves ungritted and offroad paths.

As such, my 'commuting' tyre is the Ice Spiker.

My post was to reassure anyone who might think the tyre could be overkill, that it is not really an issue.

Seems fair enough to me. I'd have thought there was a fair bit of overlap - the ice spikers would be better off road but OK on tarmac, the Winters better on tarmac but OK off road. Depends on the balance you want.

gbsahne001

have now gaffa taped bubble wrap around my shoes; nice and toasty on the way home but I'm thinking there must be a better solution

itboffin

gbsahne wrote:

have now gaffa taped bubble wrap around my shoes; nice and toasty on the way home but I'm thinking there must be a better solution

Oh i need a pic of that

Initialised

gbsahne wrote:

have now gaffa taped bubble wrap around my shoes; nice and toasty on the way home but I'm thinking there must be a better solution

I use these:



inside these:



inside these:



and my feet stay warm and comfortable.

On tyres my Continental Double Fighter II's are holding up fine in the snow @40 PSI. I had ordered Snow Studs but have cancelled as they are unnecessary. Even on ungritted and off-road sections.

Kieran_Burns

Bitterly cold again on the way home tonight. The country sections were particuarly bad in some stretches, but everything apart from my face was fine.

I'm going to have to sort out something to keep my face warm while still allowing me to breathe, some of those stretches were painful

Ultimately very satisfying though, and I was sweating way more than I would've expected, clearly some balancing needs doing.

jamesco

Fireblade96 wrote:

Bloody emigrants !! I was in Melbourne in May, it was nice in the daytime but freeeeezing at night. Have you noticed yet that they don't really do central heating ?

You say that like it's a bad thing! It's brilliant - hot & sunny during the day, cold enough at night to snuggle up under the blankets with your loved one. And the trees are green all year round... <homesick sigh>

gbsahne001

itboffin wrote:

gbsahne wrote:

have now gaffa taped bubble wrap around my shoes; nice and toasty on the way home but I'm thinking there must be a better solution

Oh i need a pic of that

wonder if I can patent it?

itboffin

Brill

nut-case

Kieran_Burns

Got the tyres, also got some merino wool socks and have the buff sorted out for my face.

Bring it on!

andy83

itboffin wrote:

Brill

nut-case

I might do that on mine just for the hell of it, people think im mad cycling anyway

nich

For some reason I've been dreaming about using the MTB with slicks to commute on.

There's no snow down south yet, so nothing to stop me using the the road bike...maybe it's a winter thing?

nicklouse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vKngYjiYkQ

snow.

Buckled_Rims

nicklouse wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vKngYjiYkQ

snow.

You must have spiked or snow tyre on there, nicklouse.

EKE_38BPM

I just saw a patch of ice and I wanted to try to ride on it.

I fell over.

It was fun!

etapechamp

i went out this morning it was -6 did about 30 miles and it got warmer, then it snowed, like a blizzard for 10 miles arrived back home like the abomnible snowman . its been snowing all day since, we now have 8-9 inches . built a great snowman this afternoon.

Marcus_C

I've put the bianchi to bed until the salt vanishes, added another layer to the pile, replaced the water bottle with a thermos and put fresh tyres on the hybrid. Next week should be fun...

wyadvd

ive got these on my hybrid for the cold days. yes and like you keiran, I LOVE the cold. the challenge is seeing how little you can get away with wearing at -5celsius.

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;n ... oduct=7245

MarkW100

AR4 is now out of it until Spring. Took the Cannon out in the woods yesterday in the snow......brilliant fun, Next few months the commute gets tougher on the MTB but WTF it'll be fun and at 52 i've been there and done it all before.

Chris McG

cold

ice

nicklouse

cyclopsbiker wrote:

camerone wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

-4 when i went out earlier

thats a sackfull of snow since your last photo yesterday. are you commuting by bike in that!!??

I wanna be there....building a snowman/woman/person. not stuck inside an office in London.

and today



we had Sun as well

EKE_38BPM

Why are car drivers so much colder when they get into the office than cyclists?