so who's commuting in the snow?

Fireblade96

New MTB stem just arrived from Merlin, fitted it and I'm ready for the snow !
(or I will be once I get feeling back in my fingers, it's *cold* in the shed)

woodford2barbican

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ski goggles sound like a good idea...

i get an 'ice cream headache' when it is really cold and wondered about using these....

Fireblade96

skullcap + wooly hat + Wiggle specs (with funky pale blue lens) is working so far for me.

Of course it isn't actually snowing here. I suppose I should go do some panic shopping in case it does.

MonkeyMonster

Have to say round me [union st] the lack of people is astounding... So many trains fecked has meant so few people getting in or already trying to get home.

soundninjauk

For those of you whose snow tyres haven't appeared yet, or don't show any signs of doing so...

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_blog/Dutch_Bike_Co_Weblog/post/Seattle_Snowpocalypse/

hatbeard

soundninjauk wrote:

For those of you whose snow tyres haven't appeared yet, or don't show any signs of doing so...

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_blog/Dutch_Bike_Co_Weblog/post/Seattle_Snowpocalypse/

so it's a toss up between grip on the ice or being able to brake?

soundninjauk

hatbeard wrote:

soundninjauk wrote:

For those of you whose snow tyres haven't appeared yet, or don't show any signs of doing so...

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_blog/Dutch_Bike_Co_Weblog/post/Seattle_Snowpocalypse/

so it's a toss up between grip on the ice or being able to brake?

You know, that never even occurred to me (I've got disks on both the bikes). I guess you could go half and half? Or convert to FG?

nich

soundninjauk wrote:

hatbeard wrote:

soundninjauk wrote:

For those of you whose snow tyres haven't appeared yet, or don't show any signs of doing so...

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_blog/Dutch_Bike_Co_Weblog/post/Seattle_Snowpocalypse/

so it's a toss up between grip on the ice or being able to brake?

You know, that never even occurred to me (I've got disks on both the bikes). I guess you could go half and half? Or convert to FG?

This looks great, and cheap!

Trouble is, I've only got a couple of zip ties right now, will one on each wheel do :twisted:

Norky

I'm riding. First day that I've been on the bike in over a week. I'm amused by the coincidence. My amusement might fade ever so slightly when I go back home this evening.

Chris McG

london this afternoon: average of 6 mph
15 cm of snow.

blacknosugar

Recommendations for London tomorrow?
Fixie with v-brakes and cheap all-weather tires that came with the bike or MTB with knobblies?

Yesterday was my first time in week, quite enjoyed it, but was a bit slippy down the quiet streets in the morning.

MonkeyMonster

blacknosugar wrote:

Recommendations for London tomorrow?
Fixie with v-brakes and cheap all-weather tires that came with the bike or MTB with knobblies?

Yesterday was my first time in week, quite enjoyed it, but was a bit slippy down the quiet streets in the morning.

its likely to be wet rather than slushy tbh. Go with whatever has better mudguards... Not a time to be getting wetter than you need to.

soundninjauk

I had the MTB with knobblies out this morning to go from Turnham Green way to Soho, and tbh it was overkill. It was wet more than anything else. Quite nice not having to worry about the potholes/state of the roads though.

blacknosugar

I didn't even think of that! Hmm... must get mudguards for the fixie.
MTB it is then I suppose. I still have a pair of Specialized All-Condition Pro's on it from before I bought the fixie. Knobblies probably a better bet, right?

Kieran_Burns

Flipping 'eck that was hard work tonight.

Some of the country lanes were completely covered and the snow coming down so fast I was the one making fresh tracks! :shock:

Everyone was amazingly patient though, I never once got the impression I was holding anyone up and did get quite a few double takes when they saw Frosty the snowman cycling past.

I wasn't Frosty at the start but by the time I got home I was completly white at the front. I even (and God knows how) had a little pile of snow on the top of the left-hand crank arm!!!

emotionless_softcore

After tonight's ride home, I'm definitely considering digging out a CX knobbly tyre for the rear...

24mm Halo Twin Rail tyre+icy untreated steep hills+clipped in=sketchy as f*ck...

Still, riding fixed, with a marathon winter on the front, the bike's just about controllable. Dropped a gear yesterday, to facilitate climbing while seated. Doesn't seem to have helped as much as I'd hoped - perhaps due to the increased rolling resistance & larger diameter of the Marathon Winter...

..cheers to whoever mentioned StarBike last week - I ordered a Marathon Winter Tuesday afternoon, tyre was with me by Friday.
Only got one though as I had one on order from Wiggle

The problem with the cheap Specialized CX tyres I have is that they're so puncture prone. Tempted to put a Marathon Plus (28mm) on instead for peace of mind, but, for 4mm width over what I'm riding now, it hardly seems worth the effort of installation.
Hmm, decisions...

I went to have a look at those battery heated gloves in Maplin at the weekend. Decided the gloves were a bit overkill. Their battery heated insoles caught my eye though. They aren't waterproof, don't appear to be particularly well made and seem like they might break quite quickly. Also a bit of a faff strapping batteries to legs.

Still - they seem to work. Last week I was wearing 3 pairs of socks for the 10 mile commute home and feet were quite numb by the end.
This week: insoles, 1 pair of socks, no numb feet - hooray.

nich

Hmm not sure whether to commute in tomorrow or work from home. The trains are buggered so I'll skip that option.

Went out for a run tonight with some ice grips attached to my shoes, and the roads looked a right mess! Full of snow 'n sludge.

:*ponders*

Pufftmw

Heading home now after karate but I bought some overshoes as I'm fed up of water inside my waterproof shoes!

Still snowing a bit here but nothing special so I could get on the Ghost, though I like the idea of mudguards tonight

shouldbeinbed

Not tomorrow, my pair of treacherous Piers Morgans of bikes have both thrown in the towel today.

My Alfine hub is slipping 3rd & 4th gears for no obvious reason and I've just had a spoke snap in my crosser

Really not impressed, it was a hoot playing on my country tracks with my studdy tyres on.

rolf_f

I'm away for one day and a 6 page thread appears from nowhere. I thought it must have been a resurrection from January.

So.......

Can I have a quick summary please. Can't be arsed to read it all but I presume the synopsis is:

Of course we are all commuting in the snow (assuming our county is hard enough to have had some) - who do you think we are; a bunch of girlie jessies?

jeepie1999

Hmmmm, what a day. It started with a bit of gaffer tape needed to repair the rear mudguard, then there was a puncture to repair on the front. Oh yes, then my cycllng glasses got covered in snow so I put them in a pocket exposing my eyes to stinging stuff. The journey home was worse, should have cycled 10 miles, but walked the last half after finding that black ice and 27 x 1 1/4 wheels doesn't work.

Tomorrow? I'm working from home! MTFU is being left for another day.

Full credit to mtb riders able to ride the ice rink home

KnightOfTheLongTights

no probs in London at all, even with summer slicks on - just sleet in the eyes

Butterd2

Good ride home tonight, the £2.50 spent on antifog spray at the opticians was possibly the best £2.50 I have ever spent, I could see where I was going and everything!
The road up Greenwich park was closed but I popped through the ped gate and rode up the hill fine but snow on the top was too deep to take cycle path to side gate so had to exit at the Blackheath gates.

Splashed out tonight on a pair of Vittoria Randonneur Cross tyres (700C x 28mm) as it turns out that I don't have as much clearance under the fork brace as I had thought so 28mm seems to be my max, still got to be better than 23mm slicks, plus they were only £11.50 each from Wiggle. Trouble is whilst there I added a pair of dhb Pace Roubaix tights for another £46 :oops:

Initialised

Could have done with studs in the ice rink I came off on, no damage, I fell well, landed on my voluminous buttock muscles and kept going. Going to have to start avoiding that stretch.

Initialised

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

no probs in London at all, even with summer slicks on - just sleet in the eyes

That's how it starts, a week later they'll be treacherous sheets of ice over your favourite potholes.

Yogiboys

Another two days of hard slog. 10 inches of snow yesterday made it hard going, very slick tonight with traffic down to one lane so I went in the outside lane! 15 mph on compact snow whilst traffic went at walking pace. What a blast!

KnightOfTheLongTights

Initialised wrote:

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

no probs in London at all, even with summer slicks on - just sleet in the eyes

That's how it starts, a week later they'll be treacherous sheets of ice over your favourite potholes.

well if there looks ice in the morning, I probably won't ride - there was absolutely no sign of ice at all today

EKE_38BPM

The sillily (just made up a new word there) spinny gear on the Decathlon was made for this weather. I could keep the cranks turning nice and slow to avoid wheelspin but still move. I also had the brainwave of using my overshoes with a pair of trainers rather than the SPD-SLs I usually (well, used to) use. The trainers are my prefered snow shoes when on foot as they are warm and good snow grip. Add the overshoes and my feet were toasty.

Fingerless gloves under winter gloves kept the feeling in my fingers. 3/4 tights under a pair of lined tracksuit bottoms kept me warm below the waist and a compression base layer, l/s full zip jersey and windproof soft shell kept me warm/hot above the waist. Used a buff for the first time too.

Slightly chilly when I left work, slightly too warm (but not having used the option to unzip) when I got home.
That sounds like I got it just right.

Yeah Rolf, thats about the gist of it.

hatbeard

The snow was too much on the way home, my new specs can't come soon enough...

would it be safe to ride wearing those real3D glasses you get at the cinema (during daylight not nighttime) I have a couple pairs of those lying around.

hstiles

I've had knobbly tyres on my cross bike for a couple of months now, so no changeover required. The first part of my journey wasn't much fun as the snow was right in my face. As soon as I got into Richmond Park at Kingston gate I took a right and went up over the gravel path = more shelter from the snow and really enjoyable scenery. There's nothing like the sound of crunching through snow. Harder than usual though as the rear wheel slipped in the snow a lot.

Journey home much easier.