A Winter Bike - What's that all about?
markdavidhill
Posts: 279
So you spend thousands on your 'best' bike. It is honed, tuned and fitted beautifully. It is amazing to ride and it comes back into the centrally heated house at the end of a good 100km.
So why not use it all year?
Mine is the Lynskey Sportive and the 'other' is a Secteur. The Secteur is superb value for the discounted £520 I paid for it as my starter road bike, but it pales into insignificance by comparison to the Lynskey and I DON'T WANT TO RIDE IT. But should I keep it as a 'winter bike'. Whatever that means.
Is it not better to ride your best all the time a reap year round benefits from your investment. If bits wear out, replace them.
Is that not a good idea?
Your educated and experienced thoughts please.
So why not use it all year?
Mine is the Lynskey Sportive and the 'other' is a Secteur. The Secteur is superb value for the discounted £520 I paid for it as my starter road bike, but it pales into insignificance by comparison to the Lynskey and I DON'T WANT TO RIDE IT. But should I keep it as a 'winter bike'. Whatever that means.
Is it not better to ride your best all the time a reap year round benefits from your investment. If bits wear out, replace them.
Is that not a good idea?
Your educated and experienced thoughts please.
Team Madison Genesis Volare & Condor Super Acciaio
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I'd love a £3k bike, and could afford to buy one, but I wont because 1) i'd be too scared to use it 2) i'd break it.
Obviously, if I was racing, then i'd invest...
Do you always have the time & energy to wash the salt & muck off it as soon as you get home?
You're more likely to hit the deck during winter too, so the chances of damaging your bike are higher. Mind you, if you've got 3 grand to spend on a bike, you're probably not bothered about that!
Exactly, if you can afford to have a bike with top grade componentry eaten to death by salt,grime and winter road censored .....................................no need for a "winter" bike.
I have a "winter" bike as it makes perfect sense to me.
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
WHS^^^
I am lucky enough to have a £5k summer bike but would be devastated should anything happen to it and as my financial circumstances have changed, would find it impossible to afford another one of that quality.
Hosing down would be sufficient if it was as simple as that but molasses or similar is added to the salt to make it stick to the road. This also keeps it sticking to your bike so a hose down will not be enough. If it is cold, wet and miserable after a 50+ mile cycle are you going to strip down and clean a bike?
That's how it was explained to me and I decided to preserve my "good" bike.
but i know quite a few people who would have winter wheels and a winter rear mech , and save the nice wheels and mech from road grit abrasion . cheers
On the other hand, n+1 applies and I can see the benefit of having a more relaxed road bike if your "summer" bike is full on racer. Or alternatively get a different sort of bike like a CX bike or MTB and try something different. MTBers dont have Summer/Winter bikes and we don't enjoy ourselves unless we re covered in mud!
- @ddraver
Can you explain where/how the industry 'market' winter bikes?
The idea of winter bikes has been around for years, borne out of wisdom by older members in cycling clubs, not by the manufacturers.
Living in Yorkshire, having a winter bikes with mudguards makes sense.
a) Your censored and feet don't get as wet, meaning you feel more comfortable and able to ride harder/longer
b) If you CBA cleaning the salt and grime off after your ride in -1 conditions then it doesn't matter
c) Your winter bike will weigh more - so you get extra training benefits during the winter
d) you look forward to riding your best bike in the spring – and it will feel amazing when you do
The original idea for a winter bike was to buy a cheap 2nd hand frame that had mudguard clearance and cascade down parts from your best bike as and when they wore out or you wanted to upgrade.
http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
Before someone mentions raceblades I'd rather not spend 6 months of the year having them rattling about and have to buy a new set of brake calipers every year because they've been sprayed with censored off the road all Winter.
As for getting a CX bike or a MTB instead - great if you want to race cross or try MTBing - if you want to get some miles in on the road not so great.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
A CX bike is a good choice for Winter IMHO. I alternate between CX and road tyres, depending on conditions and was able to make it into work on the bike during the snowy conditions last year.
My CX bike and road bike are both Shimano 105 based, which has the extra benefit of enabling me to borrow parts from either bike in the event of unexpected technical problems.
Testify!
Thomas - your brakes will not wear out after 6 months of rain, nor will any other part of your bike. There may be some sense in having an alternative to one's stretched out, DuraAce equipped super bike for racing but people seem to think they need a second "winter" aluminium 105 sportive bike for when the other "summer" aluminium 105 sportive bike is in hibernation..Really?
- @ddraver
That's another good example of having a winter/2nd bike. Just so long as you run the same drivetrain, then you'll always have a spare wheel, etc to hand just in case something unexpectedly knackers on your best bike
http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
So you get fitter for the summer.
All the guys who go quick in the summer will have laid the foundations in the winter
http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
You southern softies dont know what real winter cycling is - hardly a drop of snow or ice. Would like to see you out training on the roads say around the Highlands in -15 temps or the dales or peak district with Snow,Ice,Salt
I don't see the point in flash winter bikes and the stuff the magazines peddle as suitable for training or wintering on is laughable. They clearly hope to lure gullible MAMILs in.
When its wet or gritted or risk of ice - my hack is a much better idea to ride.
That's not winter. A lack of snow and ice means it is summer. Surely?
That's how it feels up here this year anyway. Winter, a bit of spring in April and straight into the longest autumn in history
Chain: £30
Jockey Wheels: £35
Chainrings: £150+
Not cheap to replace after winter training miles
With all the salt, grit, water etc these components simply end up destroyed. It's easier to have a winter bike with cheaper components so when/if they need replacing it's much cheaper.... and when it comes to summer your 3k+ bike runs smoothly and quick....
I ride the road bike whenever possible & the MTB when the weather is really bad.
I have to say though, the roadie is only £800ish worth. If I'd spent £thousands on it then perhaps I wouldn't ride it in the rain either.
If you don't feel you need one then don't get one. Simples.
There is the small matter of most cycling clubs (if you wish to ride with a club) expecting full mudguards on your bike in the winter, so your fellow clubman doesn't get caked in mud but I won't open the bag of worms on that one.
I'm in the camp of not wanting to ruin my summer bike by riding it in the salt and grime, fitting mudguards and wider tyres to stay dry and hopefully upright etc. I
f I could afford a £3k+ winter bike and not care about replacement costs then maybe I would ride one. Personally though, whilst my summer bike is £3k+ I simply cant afford to be risking trashing it unduly. I'll be commuting on my winter bike, and so not wanting to clean it daily - so if the chain and cassette wear out due to all the censored on the roads after a few months then i'd rather have a £40 - £50 bill than a £150 one. Summer bike will then feel more "special" when it comes out for a ride come spring / odd sunny winter day.
So this is enough reason to have a 'winter' bike. Not just confined to winter, if the weather is censored at any times of the year out it will come.
The exception to this is if the 'new' winter bike is an 'old' summer bike which has been demoted. These are immune from the dissolving problem.
Not true I know plenty of people with winter mtbs. A hardtail with Deore level kit for when it's grotty and a pukka full sus for dry conditions.
Don't most people just end up with a winter bike by default, in that they buy a new bike and keep the old one for winter?
The Kinesis racelight Tk fitted the bill perfectly, and 3 years later still does. Whip off the guards in the summer, and pop them back on come the autumn. 105 groupset still functioning flawlessly despite the censored winters we've been having of late (I do lots of cleaning and lubing)
If I was choosing now I'd have another Tk, or possibly the Alu Synapse which 3 years ago didn't have the mudguard clearance it does now.
Regarding the highlighted bit. Thta's not true really is it? If you are riding at lets say an arbitary 250W. If you are doing it at say 20mph on a stripped down race bike or at 13mph on a 23lb winter hack - pray tell me where you get the additional training benefit from 250W at 20 mph or 250W at 13mph?
With regards to winter bikes, although I dont own a lightweight top specced steed, I have just ordered myself a 2011 Giant Defy 2 in the sales. The intention is that I will be able to get out in some half decent weather for next month and a bit, and for any ok days during the winter. The bike will be washed after each wet ride and a close eye kept on chain, tyres etc. The bike will prob be getting a 105 upgrade for the summer anyway.
However, on the particularly crappy weather days which will be unavoidable, my hotch potch slick tyred mtb will be pulled into service: