Winter Riding - To Risk or Not?

iGlaswegian

Just wanted to get some thoughts of the regulars on here... do you continue to ride on icy/snowy roads. If so, what precautions do you take? I wear the obvious gear - helmet, triple-glazed gloves, jacket etc. But in terms of actual tyres and maintenance - what do you peeps recommend doing?

Also, do you find that you cut down during winter in terms of no of rides and/or take shortcuts (lol)

boggybrn

I have ridden on icy roads - and have fallen off due to black ice. Luckily on that occasion no real harm was done, but I have come to the conclusion that it isn't worth the risk.

Last year I bought a turbo trainer for use on such occasions. This worked out OK but really isn't much fun.

I now have a cyclocross bike and so may venture off-road in such conditions.

Omar Little

If it is dry and freezing then i'll go out on the road bike and just be careful. The last two winters were pretty good in terms of road riding - there was snow but it basically snowed then sat there for weeks without much rain or further snowfalls so the roads were cleared and pretty dry. This winter so far has been different though the temperatures have been slightly warmer but been a bit wetter too.

If its wet and around about freezing or if there is snow then i got out with the mountain bike

btw if you are in the Glasgow area then there are certain routes that are less likely to have ice and snow even when everywhere else is frozen - eg the coast road down to Largs is usually pretty clear. You'll see alot of clubs heading over that way when the conditions are bad elsewere

gwillis

A word of warning, last year I beat myself up over the winter riding when ever I could even when the roads were a bit icey....... cutting it short I came off on a back road herniated a disc and couldnt ride for ages . It didnt take that long to get my fitness back but I still have nerve damage to my leg. If its icey take it easy or do a turbo session. This year ill be out in the cold but once it gets to risky ill be using my cx bike on fire roads and the local park.

iGlaswegian

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. Guess its not worth the risk.

Thinking of investing in an exercise bike, I primarily cycle for fitness/workout (sure the enjoyment buzz on the road is good too). What I don't want is sitting around for a few weeks (or months where I am) till the decent weather arrives and im back at square one (in terms of fitness).

cougie

Icy roads are too dicey on a bike. If you hit ice you will come off. That said, round here it's not often the roads ice up.
Cold isn't a problem. Just wrap up and ride fast.
Off roading on snow is a laugh too. Use a mtb for best traction.

sloppyschleckonds

Never in ice, and the risk in snow is that it is covering ice that you cannot see. Anything else goes though.

rolf_f

No probs with ice - just use studded tyres.

scapaslow

After a fall on the ice turning a corner at slow speed on a supposedly gritted road I now never ride in such conditions.
I just get on the turbo instead. I do find that i ride less over Dec/Jan/Feb but that's not such a big problem. The turbo sessions tend to be shorter but more intense. After the fall i found psycologically i was spending too much time worrying about whether i was going to fall again that the training aspect of these rides was poor.

You can get winter tyres for some wheels like MTB but not sure about 700C wheels. I know some folk that use them on their commuter bikes and rate them highly.

Monty Dog

Get yourself a CX or MTB and head off-road when it's icy/snowy - just been out for 5 hours on my singlespeed CX in bright, crisp conditions - spending an hour indoors on a turbo is purgatory by comparison.

Mad Roadie

Monty D- sounds good, but I would need a dark-side buddy to do this, so it is the purgatory turbo for me!!

rob21

Thinking of investing in an exercise bike, I primarily cycle for fitness/workout (sure the enjoyment buzz on the road is good too). What I don't want is sitting around for a few weeks (or months where I am) till the decent weather arrives and im back at square one (in terms of fitness).

that was exact thoughts,so luckily the missus has bought me a second hand exersize bike for xmas.not ideal, but i need to keep my level off fitness.....

neeb

I simply just don't ride on roads with skinny tyres unless it's above zero and there's no snow/slush, OR if it's below zero it's completely dry. That said, I went through a phase of commuting in Helsinki with Nokian studded tyres, and they're amazing - you could quite literally cycle across an ice rink with them perfectly safely as long as you didn't do any extreme cornering. The only conditions they're not so good for are deepish, slushy snow just above freezing, but nothing can cope with that. Probably not practical in the UK though unless you live somewhere you regularly get extended cold periods, they're not great for riding on normal tarmac.

iGlaswegian

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Looks like its the same opinion all round - not worth the risk.

I guess my question now is - how good (in terms of fitness) are exercise bikes vs actual road bikes. Would I be getting roughly the same amount of fitness levels on an exercise bike or no?

neeb

iGlaswegian wrote:

I guess my question now is - how good (in terms of fitness) are exercise bikes vs actual road bikes. Would I be getting roughly the same amount of fitness levels on an exercise bike or no?

If you cycle at the same intensity (and with the same variations in intensity) and for the same amount of time on an indoor trainer you will get the same benefits - but it's pretty difficult to do that! Trainers (or the right ones) tend to be good for shorter duration, more intense workouts, which are great for developing certain types of fitness but not others. It's actually easier to do intense interval sessions indoors than on a real bike, but it's very hard to motivate yourself to ride steadily for three hours on one... So, in general, good for power development and cardiovascular fitness but not for endurance.

So, it depends on what sort of fitness you are looking to develop or maintain.

There are lots of different types of "exercise bikes" and trainers. Most keen cyclists use some sort of device that you attach a real bike to, either a trainer (of which there are lots of different varieties) or rollers.

wishitwasallflat

My advise is don't get an ex bike get a Turbo Trainer - I got a Kettler ex bike (PASO 360) last year as I don't go out in ice or snow (cold or rain no problem, but I draw the line at ice or snow!). I did use it and it does work for fitness but this year I sold it on ebay (£120 loss!) and bought a cheap turbo (Tacx Speedmatic £100) - the Tacx is so so much better! The feel is much more real bike like and no issues with position or set up. I find it's pretty ok to do an hour and a half and as long as I keep it hard work I don't get bored - but - it's intense rather than endurance. I'm not too bothered about that though as I reckon as long as I am only using it when the roads are slippy it's a good mix to my exercise programme (when I go on road I ride more slow and steady as burning fat is my priority!).

In an nutshell get a turbo not and ex bike!

Teece

Road bike until it's icey. Mountain bike when the winter really hits.
Riding all year round does wonders for your fitness and toughness. I can say this because I've just completed my first 13 months of riding to work!

deswahriff

..like most of the respondents, not when its ice, snow or fog....and, yes, exercise bikes are generally rubbish, my preference is rollers...
We did have a quite magical ride on Saturday morning, though - we had probably the first really heavy overnight frost here in Kent, but the roads were all perfectly clear as it had been dry the last few days. So we set off at 7.30 (sunrise about 8.00am) minus 5 C, still gloomy and very very cold, ....as the sun started to come up, the landscape was stunning, with the low sun casting long shadows over the frosted fields,..."bleedin' Narnia!" someone shouted...!
However, after 20 miles, still chilled to the core, and with too many "ice cream" headaches on the down hills, we gave up and headed home - took me most of the day to get warm again!

bobgfish

Depends where you live. I don't ride for 2-3 days after snow. By the 3rd days the gritters and ploughs have all been through and cleaned it up enough to be safe. Definitely take it easier until I've done the route a few times and no where and dodgy patches remain. Might take the MTB for the first venture out as well after snow. Does help to live in a country with more bikes then people !!! Means they clean the cycle paths better than the roads !!!

fossyant

I used to take the day off commuting by bike if there was ice. That changed in Jan 10 when I got studded Schwalbe Snow Studs for the MTB - use that now in adverse conditions - great fun, if slow on the road (compared to 23mm road tyres).

Don't touch the road bike in ice/snow. Also take the opportunity to commute off road when the weather is too cold for the road bike - nothing like a change.

Unless you've got studded tyres, don't bother. Had some nasty off's in the distant past with black ice.