Winter Bike

Dog Breath

People here take about 'their Winter bike'. At the moment, I sadly only have the one machine (in my signature) which I ride year round.

What specifically should I look for as a 'Winter' bike that my current does not already do?

Cheers

DB

rubertoe

One that wont melt in the rain.

asprilla

Full mudguards, clearance for fatter tyres and cheaper drivetrain parts as they wear out quicker in the winter.

Also, generally not carbon and less likely to care if you scratch it.

CarlosDSanchez

Any bike that you don't mind getting a bit wrecked by the bad weather can be considered a winter bike. Mine is Dolan Preffiso, it has mudguard eyes and can take full length guards, the wheels are hand me downs from my nice bike and the rest of the components were obtained from ebay or the bargain bin.

If you expect a lot of snow and ice, you might want to consider something that would take studded tyres, most CX bikes, mountain bikes and hybrids will probably have clearance for that. Disc brakes can come in pretty handy as well.

dhope

Only have one road bike, but I'm increasingly thinking of it as a winter bike when I go out with people that have nicer 'summer bikes'.
This is how N+1 starts

meanredspider

For me the winter bike is pretty simple - it's one with ice tyres on it. As per my other thread, it then becomes a little more defined as to how efficiently it does that job especially because ice is often just in the morning and it's miserable grinding home uphill on a slow heavy bike in the dark when you're already tired.

Agree with much of the above regarding guards etc Disc brakes are much better in the winter for a long list of reasons

1. Work better in the wet
2. Don't machine your rims
3. Hydraulics don't freeze
4. Don't accumulate snow
etc

unixnerd

My winter bike is my Edinburgh Country tourer with 105 groupset (donated by my Cannondale when I upgraded it). Done about 10k miles on this over the years as it used to be my only bike! It has 28mm Schwalbe Marathons (heavy but indestructible), wide mudguards, good sturdy pannier rack and a comfy steel frame. It's a bike I really enjoy riding despite the fact it must weigh going on for double what my Roubaix comes in at.

Mean Red : which ice tyres are you running? 700c choice must be a bit limited?

asprilla

Smallest ice tyres for 700c are 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Winters.

Edit: I think Nokian do a 32mm one but I've not seen them in the UK.

meanredspider

unixnerd wrote:

Mean Red : which ice tyres are you running? 700c choice must be a bit limited?

I use my MTB so 26" Ice Spiker Pros. They're the only ice tyres I trust at the moment after my "off" on ice on my Boardman CX fitted with Marathon Winters. The concept of the Winters is great but with the rate at which they lose studs and weighing nearly 1Kg each, the reality doesn't live up to the promise...

SimonAH

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Continental-Nor ... tAodNEMAnA

These look good - in 28s too.

meanredspider

SimonAH wrote:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Continental-Nordic-Spikes-Tyre_35562.htm?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=AdwordsProductAds&utm_campaign=Adwords&gclid=CO_o1bXlybMCFePHtAodNEMAnA

These look good - in 28s too.

Yup - but another 900+g tyre. Ice Spiker Pro is <700g with 361 studs

meanredspider

This would make a great winter bike - will probably be in the queue for a frame at least when they're released in January

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/874 ... -adventure

Takes tyres at least up to 700 x 42 and they're hoping to reach 700 x 45

UndercoverElephant

meanredspider wrote:

This would make a great winter bike - will probably be in the queue for a frame at least when they're released in January

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/874 ... -adventure

Takes tyres at least up to 700 x 42 and they're hoping to reach 700 x 45

Interesting, but this one looks broken!

meanredspider

Yup - it's very sensitive to colours in particular (but you can play a game of "spot the difference" between the two)

unixnerd

If only Volagi had some UK dealers, truly lovely bikes.

roger_merriman

is my SS/roadie fairly cheap drive chain, normally just the chain when it gives out.

Though for true winter wonderland stuff It's the MTB which has soft (both pressure and compond) mud spike tyres, which manages to stick to ice and spike though snow.