Advice to keep up the good work.

jonnyashworth

I am a long time mountain biker and have recently purchased both my wife and myself a pair of pretty nice road bikes with a view to using them to commute into work in order to improve our fittness. Her commute is 4 miles and mine is 7. We have both been enjoying the time on our bikes immensly and can feel the difference it is making to our fittness levels already after just a few weeks.
Trouble is we have decided to make this positive lifestyle change with winter just around the corner and in order to continue making our daily commute on our bikes we will at some point have to cycle in some pretty terrible conditions. I would greatly appreciate any advice and tips from those with experience on how to make commuting on those vile wet cold winter days more comfortable for us.
So far i have invested in a set of clip on mudguards for our bikes and some lights. My wife has been to aldi and bought some merino bits but thats it.

dork_knight

Hopefully you'll have good coverage from your mudguards, it's horrible settings off and immediately having your back soaked by road spray.

For the commute the Aldi Winter clothing should be great so stock up on what you can.

For the winter I actually run three to four lights on the front and two on the back, these include backup lights for later in the year when they are running for the full commute (approx. 32 mile round trip) as it's not great for you or other drivers when the battery drains on your only light. It's also worth noting that you may want to look at lights with a good beam pattern if you have sections of dim/unlit roads on the commute.

A helmet light with a simple on off button is good, I find locking up the house and other things easy with the helmet light as it's so dark where I am, it'll also prove useful if you have to stop at the side of the road to repair a puncture in the dark.

I have one of these in the office and it's great for pretty much everything, gloves, socks, shoes, drying the pad in the bib tights etc;
http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Shoe-Dryer/18-4300

A storage bottle is also kept on the bike, it's pretty much got everything you need in there (2x tubes, multi tool, c02, patch kit, tyre levers etc) which is taped up with electrical tape to keep the elements out;
http://www.jejamescycles.com/pro-storag ... GwodxsQA6A

Ortlieb saddle bag, completely waterproof so the mobile phone, wallet, keys etc are thrown in there and it's not cluttered with anything else so you're not faffing around in the cold/wet. I find I just want to get to the things I need the most (Keys/Phone) to get in and out of the house/office ASAP.

I have trouble with my eyes if not wearing glasses, so orange or clear glasses are great for the winter as it'll be so dark (just DHB cheapies from Wiggle or Bolle from Screwfix or whatnot will do the job).

I also find a thin/standard buff pretty good, if it's really cold I'll start off with it over the front of the face/ears and as the commute progresses you can just pull it down (anything too thick and it becomes uncomfortable for me).

Good glove system, liner, main glove and a lobster shell should cover you (all at Aldi at the moment).

Merino Socks and Overshoes to keep the feet warm as commuting can be pretty horrific at times in the depth of the winter, just stick with it as those days tend to be in the minority but there can be sudden changes in the weather which can be off putting.

jonnyashworth

All good solid advice so far. What about tyres? Both our bikes have giant own brand tyres on currently mine are giant flat guard700x23c pr3 whatever all that means.

OnTheRopes

jonnyashworth wrote:

All good solid advice so far. What about tyres? Both our bikes have giant own brand tyres on currently mine are giant flat guard700x23c pr3 whatever all that means.

Tyres - I would stick with what you have for now unless you start getting lots of punctures. Tyre choice tends to be personal and you will get lots of differing opinion. Personally I use Continental GP4000s tyres all year round.

Mudguards, do yourself a favour and get full mudguards.

Punctures - I don't want to patronise but make sure you can fix them efficiently, practice it by changing innertubes. You will need to be good at this when it happens on a cold dark night. Carry spare innertube (preferably 2) and a backup puncture repair kit and levers and a few simple tools. Carry a pump and worth having a CO2 cartridge for speed.

Good lights, I like to use reflective ankle straps, the movement and reflection in car headlights is very noticeable.

Good clothing, quality is worth paying for in my opinion, in really cold wather the lobster gloves that keep 2 fingers together are great for warmth. Glasses, clear for night use and I use a peaked cycling cap under the helmet for warmth and if it is raining the peak can be pulled down to shelter the eyes or keep water off the glasses. In cold weather you may want a warm skull cap.

ajwcyclist

Do you have facilities at work to get changed

jonnyashworth

I do to an extent. I assume my wife does as she is a hospital doctor.

pilot_pete

Regarding tyres, I personally have a dedicated winter bike (which is a cyclocross bike due to much more clearance for full guards) and have 28mm Continental 4 Seasons tyres fitted. The extra volume and lower inflation pressure is a real bonus, especially on bad roads and/ or in the pitch black where you tend to hit a few more potholes. I have worn out one set and replaced them. That's 4 winters and I've not had one puncture with these...says it all in my mind.

Full guards are a godsend and I always make mudflap extensions for both front and rear. The rear benefits anyone riding behind and the front really helps in reducing road spray over your feet. I have no idea why the mudguard manufacturers don't actually make a dedicated, flexible mudflap for adding to their guards. The only ones that have them still seem to make them too short to be effective.

To coin a phrase from my days in the Infantry, "there's no such thing as bad weather, simply bad kit choices" which I still believe has an element of truth to it although it is plainly factually incorrect. Wearing the right kit choices in the prevailing conditions will significantly enhance (or should I say reduce the degradation in) your experience.

A dedicated winter cycling shoe/ boot is one such item and/ or neoprene (wet suit material) over shoes which can keep your feet warm even if they are wet is a real plus. Your commute is only short so this may be overkill but worth mentioning anyway.

I also have a tightly folded up space blanket (you know the tinfoil type things you see being handed out at the end of marathons?) which I keep in my saddle bag during winter months. This could be useful for yourself if things really turn bad, but I carry it more for use on someone else after a club mate crashed, fractured two vertebrae and his pelvis and was immobilised on the cold ground for some 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived. He was borderline hypothermic even with several cycling winter jerseys strewn over him. The foil blanket wrapped around him first before all the jerseys may have helped and they weigh nothing.

All the best

PP

surrey_commuter

Don't force yourselves to cycle when you don't want to. This will keep your enthusiasm and mileage higher than if you try and MTFU

jgsi

Whatever the weather, an hour on the bike to work is sublime when compared to: waiting for, paying for, sat next to the loonie public transport.

dj58

OnTheRopes wrote:

jonnyashworth wrote:

All good solid advice so far. What about tyres? Both our bikes have giant own brand tyres on currently mine are giant flat guard700x23c pr3 whatever all that means.

Tyres - I would stick with what you have for now unless you start getting lots of punctures. Tyre choice tends to be personal and you will get lots of differing opinion. Personally I use Continental GP4000s tyres all year round.

Mudguards, do yourself a favour and get full mudguards.

The OP's Bikes are either Giant TCR's or Propel's / LIV equivalents, which do not have fittings for full mudguards. OP if your bikes have the clearance, I would consider fitting some 25c tyres.

jonnyashworth

My wifes bike is a liv advanced 3 and mine is a giant defy composite 0. Regarding mudguards i have ordered a set of sks raceblades for each bike. I forget exactly what the lights i bought were (just used br buying guide reviews and cr discount) v happy with them. So far my so good with aldi merino long sleeve base layers, merino haed bands and softshells. I am planning on ordering some sealskinz halo overshoes up for us both next. I have an old montane hi vis cycling jacket that we are currently sharing that i plan on rewaterproofing but am unsure what to do regarding keeping our legs comfy? Obviously on crisp cold days its just a case of layering up / thicker tights but what about wet weather??

pblakeney

jonnyashworth wrote:

....but what about wet weather??

Do NOT look for waterproof clothing. You will just end up soaked with sweat. Unless you can go slow, I can't. :oops: Look for breathable rain resistant and accept that you will get wet.

pilot_pete

PBlakeney wrote:

jonnyashworth wrote:

....but what about wet weather??

Do NOT look for waterproof clothing. You will just end up soaked with sweat. Unless you can go slow, I can't. :oops: Look for breathable rain resistant and accept that you will get wet.

I agree, but would add the word windproof to your statement, as you will be wet and the wind (or your movement through the air) will chill you quickly when the temperature is really low.

PP

pblakeney

Pilot Pete wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

jonnyashworth wrote:

....but what about wet weather??

Do NOT look for waterproof clothing. You will just end up soaked with sweat. Unless you can go slow, I can't. :oops: Look for breathable rain resistant and accept that you will get wet.

I agree, but would add the word windproof to your statement, as you will be wet and the wind (or your movement through the air) will chill you quickly when the temperature is really low.

PP

Ah! True. The most important factor is to stay warm.

cougie

A 4 mile journey is only going to be 15 or 20 minutes. If you have to kit up massively you end up with that taking longer than the journey.

Get a couple of aldi cycling jackets. Lots of reflectives and their winter ones are warm. You could wear that over a base and be good to go.

They also do good gloves.

PX do some good overshoes for buttons and some deep winter tights.