How to know when its to icy to commute ?

kingrollo

Personally if my car is frosted over I take that to mean its to risky - Im just wondering if thats over cautious ? - at what point to other cycling commuters say 'not today'

bompington

Never

fat daddy

cars ice over a lot quicker than the road does

frost is actually rather grippy, so frost on the road is still ok ...... its the wet nights that have frozen over in the morning and caused black ice that its time to stay away from your commuter ...... and hop on the MTB with the spiked tires. !

essex-commuter

I must admit I use cars as an indicator.

graeme_s-2

Depends on your route - I can change mine and ride almost door-to-door on only roads that are gritted (bus routes). This morning I altered the first bit to do that and then risked it on a cycle path that can be icy nearer work, which may have been a bit fool-hardy, but was ok today.

I also have spiky tyres that I stick on my hybrid and use when there's snow and proper ice about.

gbsahne001

Time to start swapping tyres certainly but stop riding....how strange

fenix

Cars do ice quicker than roads. If you didnt cycle whenever a car windscreen was icy you'd miss out on a lot of decent rides.

It can be incredibly localised though - I know I've come off on black ice after going past fishing ponds that had no frost at all.

I've also had a great ride that came to an abrupt halt when we got round a corner and found the rest of the lane completely covered in ice. Not a sign of it before but then all over the place.

So you really have to know your area and know if its been gritted too.

snowster

When you fall off and break your collarbone then you know it's time to stop!

awavey

I must admit I use cars in my road as a guide if the windscreens are icy I usually take that as a hint not to bother, but it depends if the roads are dry and its sunny then theres not likely to be much if any ice on the roads, its if theyve been wet its overcast and the windscreens are still icy you can expect black ice.

chewa

awavey wrote:

....but it depends if the roads are dry and its sunny then theres not likely to be much if any ice on the roads, its if theyve been wet its overcast and the windscreens are still icy you can expect black ice.

I do this. If roads are dry I'm ok, but if they have been wet I'm a bit more wary. Though frost on the car won't put me off. Frost on roads is quite grippy.

I do get caught out as my commute (Fife to Edinburgh) starts of at river level and I often don't encounter ice until Dalmeny (which has it's own microclimate, I think!)

Have fractured ribs three years in a row coming off on black ice!

bompington

chewa wrote:

Have fractured ribs three years in a row coming off on black ice!

Well, we'll certainly all be following your recommendations then...

okgo

I've ridden a road bike through snow in Richmond Park, so I guess for me, never!

richk

When my wife tells me I'm going to work in the car

chewa

bompington wrote:

chewa wrote:

Have fractured ribs three years in a row coming off on black ice!

Well, we'll certainly all be following your recommendations then...

Been caught by all being fine my side of river and the exposed bits of route still being icy, nearer town. The three in a row was about 9-10 years ago. Much more aware now as I don't bounce so well these days.

tangled_metal

Depends on your route really. My commuting route is a short side road then mostly bus routes until near the end where there's a side road, mixed use path, metal bed footbridge with s slippery exit and a section of road/mixed use pavement at the end. Part of that last one is a bus route but not all. The industrial estate is one of two dodgy sections.

So basically two winters so far and never stopped due to ice. More likely I stopped because I was feeling lazy or a cold together with not wanting to get worse before the weekend.

BTW I only had normal tyres on. One year with a hybrid using 1.75" tyres, nobbly to the edges and fairly flat/ grooved to the centre. Then last year a 37mm tyre that came with my PlanetX London Road bike. These were a thinner version of my hybrid bike tyres. This year I clad it with marathon plus tyres so will see how it goes.

I just leave a bit earlier. About 15 minutes extra on a half hour commute. Then just take it easy. My route is an undulating route fit part but the second half going in is kind of a continuous downhill, albeit very gradual slope. They've put a hill on that second half this past year. Well well a new bridge over the new bypass that is. The wind over that worries me more ice TBH.

TriathleteIain

Definitely agree with not using cars as a judgement. I gauge how wet the roads look and go from there.

cycleclinic

spiked tyres are the answer. Last winter I used the road bike every day and accept the risk of a slide which happened twice.

I'll fit the spiked tyres if it get icy.

tangled_metal

Ignore my earlier post. It's too icy to commute today. Wish I'd known it before I went out. Took a slide. Fettled my bike by the side of the road and only 10 minutes late. Just needed to straighten my bars and brake levers before I leave work tonight.

First icy slip on a bike ever. Just can't see how I need spiked tyres. It's icy in this one section that accounts for at most 1 minute of a half hour commute. Everywhere else is gritted bus route or roads which don't get too bad. What are spiked tyres like on clear roads or just tarmac?

I've got marathon plus tyres, are they any good in winter? If not spiked tyres then what is a better option than marathon plus tyres? Thinking puncture resistance and grip in winter.

fat daddy

spiked tires ..... heavy and noisy

that's it really .. buy the ones without massive lugs and they roll ok, but their weight does slow your acceleration down .. once you are rolling though its fine.

and the noise ..... I like the noise, but I don't like that other people can hear it

performance on the dry - absolutely fine, they corner, they stop .. no issues

performance in the ice/frost/snow - I have no idea, since buying them we have not had any ice !

graeme_s-2

Tangled Metal wrote:

Ignore my earlier post. It's too icy to commute today. Wish I'd known it before I went out. Took a slide. Fettled my bike by the side of the road and only 10 minutes late. Just needed to straighten my bars and brake levers before I leave work tonight.

First icy slip on a bike ever. Just can't see how I need spiked tyres. It's icy in this one section that accounts for at most 1 minute of a half hour commute. Everywhere else is gritted bus route or roads which don't get too bad. What are spiked tyres like on clear roads or just tarmac?

I've got marathon plus tyres, are they any good in winter? If not spiked tyres then what is a better option than marathon plus tyres? Thinking puncture resistance and grip in winter.

I have had two icy falls on my commute (in 10 years) both on the same 15 metre section of ungritted cycle path, one just resulted in a few bruises, the other in a broken helmet and a concussion. I tend to just avoid that path when there's a risk of ice now and stay on gritted roads. On other occasions I've gotten off and walked (carefully) across it. When it's properly wintery and snowy out I've ridden on spiked tyres instead.

Spiked tyres on tarmac are fine. They wouldn't be my first choice, they're heavy and make a noise, but the spikes just depress into the tyre so the rubber makes contact with the ground.

bompington

Tangled Metal wrote:

Just can't see how I need spiked tyres. It's icy in this one section that accounts for at most 1 minute of a half hour commute. Everywhere else is gritted bus route or roads which don't get too bad. What are spiked tyres like on clear roads or just tarmac?

Depends how often you want to repeat today's performance... but this is the big issue: how much ice do you need for studs to be a necessity?
My commute nowadays is also on roads that are cleared. Mostly...
My last tyres were Nokian Hakkeplitta A10s - chosen because they were the narrowest I could find, they just fitted my old bike - but now I've just bought Schwalbe winter reflex quite cheap.
Spiked tyres grip fine on clear roads: I'd say that traction is roughly the same as you'd get from slicks on a wet road.
They are slow and noisy. How slow? On average my commute takes about 10 minutes longer in winter (1:05 to 1:15). Some of this is down to worse weather, heavier gear etc: but I'd say that at least 5 minutes is the tyres. I can live with that, and I actually quite like the noise, I find it reassuring.
I can't quite say how long the old Nokians lasted but it must be into the 1000s of kms. By this year they were definitely starting to lose their grip just a bit.

The other big plus is that they look quite mean, goes well with the "cycling psycho" image you're bound to get at work if you cycle through all weathers.

fat daddy

bompington wrote:

The other big plus is that they look quite mean, .

yet kind of pretty ..... my daughter loves that I have sparkly jewels in my tyres and wants some for her bike !!!!

I have mine on a 26" MTB fortunetly its a very lightbike because each tyre is 1kg :shock:

bompington

fat daddy wrote:

my daughter loves that I have sparkly jewels in my tyres

At about 25mph (not a speed I'm going to be doing on the flat with these tyres!) the frequency of my light shows the studs as stationary, which looks quite cool.

_jon_

When you end up spending half the ride on your backside.

tangled_metal

That's my first slide and I was going very slow too. I knew about all the other risky patches but the spot I went down at never had ice last winter or the one -before. So now I know it can get icy I'll treat it like the other risky sections, slow and any turns to be made in a wide sweep.

My only worry is whether the marathon plus tyres are slippier than my old areo tyres that came from PlanetX on my bike. Without going to spiked tyres, are there any tyres that work better than others? Kind of like car winter tyres?

tenohfive

Any recommendations for spiked tyres that'll go on a MTB? Cross posted in the MTB forum but I almost never use my MTB, it needs new tyres anyway and I figured I'd stick something winter appropriate on them for snowy or icy days.

As an aside I can't speak for cycling but anywhere where there is moisture - near rivers or ponds - the ice risk seems to shoot up.

bompington

Tangled Metal wrote:

Without going to spiked tyres, are there any tyres that work better than others? Kind of like car winter tyres?

No.

Well, I think some (softer rubber, like car winter tyres) might be marginally better, but only by a tiny amount

tangled_metal

So the ones with winter in the tyre name aren't really much better?

The Rookie

Winter tyres will be a softer (faster wearing and slightly draggier) compound that will cope better with cold damp roads, they will give a little more grip on ice (few percent at most) but in reality you'll still be tip-toeing over any you come across.

MrGrumpy

chewa wrote:

awavey wrote:

....but it depends if the roads are dry and its sunny then theres not likely to be much if any ice on the roads, its if theyve been wet its overcast and the windscreens are still icy you can expect black ice.

I do this. If roads are dry I'm ok, but if they have been wet I'm a bit more wary. Though frost on the car won't put me off. Frost on roads is quite grippy.

I do get caught out as my commute (Fife to Edinburgh) starts of at river level and I often don't encounter ice until Dalmeny (which has it's own microclimate, I think!)

Have fractured ribs three years in a row coming off on black ice!

We can`t live too far apart but I do concur with Dalmeny having its own climate. I`ve had a few offs over the years and at one point I would of described myself as a complete die hard. Used to cycle in all weathers on my fixed gear, however I would now choose to be completely sensible, don`t mind the cold or the rain unless horizontal on the bridge. However black ice is a huge risk, just not worth it. My guide for whether its too icy, is my road outside the house, never gritted so a good guide !

bompington

I have the advantage that I live on an unadopted road - and even the bit at the bottom, which is gritted sometimes, is right at the bottom of the priority list so isn't often.
We're also quite high up a hill but in something of a frost hollow, so if there's frost, we get it.
So my ride to work starts on an untreated, frosty road - that goes downhill at about 10% right up to the T junction onto the village street.
So there's unlikely to be anything worse on the route! The exception being a snow-carrying north wind, which will dump snow at work but much less so at home.

This morning though, even bits of the main road were icy. Most satisfying to have the studded tyres crunching along as I look at the view of snow-covered hills in the dawn light.

(that's my road running through the trees on the near side of the valley floor. Pretty much what it looked like this morning, except the sun hadn't risen yet)