Snow Watch

rhodrich

BBC Weather now have a 'Yellow Warning' of snow for Surrey on Thursday.

Should I fit my Marathon Winter studded tyres? It hasn't snowed since I bought them two years ago......

fat daddy

I have used mine several times this year .. even living in Bristol where is snow way its going to ever snow .... they work a treat on totally white iced over roads whre itws wet every evening and frozen solid in the morning at 06:30

so I vote yes .... just make sure you get up early enough to benefit from them if it doesn't snow !

slowbike

Hmm - thursday is a car day ... but Friday may not be - studded tyres are blummin heavy though - not sure I've got the fitness to make it in to work on time using the studs ...

I have used the studs in icy conditions - wow, what a difference!

smoggysteve

Rhodrich wrote:

BBC Weather now have a 'Yellow Warning' of snow for Surrey on Thursday.

Should I fit my Marathon Winter studded tyres? It hasn't snowed since I bought them two years ago......

Is that the same as a warning about yellow snow? If it is don't eat it. Never make that mistake again

bendertherobot

Probably worth it. Slight warm up on Sunday but there's a good chance of ice days coming in a week's time.

slowbike

What I should've said is ...

fit your studed tyres to a spare wheelset ... then you can swap over at very short notice.

rhodrich

Slowbike wrote:

What I should've said is ...

fit your studed tyres to a spare wheelset ... then you can swap over at very short notice.

Which is what I've done. The wheelset is 700c, rather than the 27" I usually run, so I get more clearance under my mudguards. The rear wheel also has a 16T rather than a 15T Cog, as I need to gear down with such heavy tyres. All well and good, but as I said, I've not had a need to use them in the 2 years since I bought them!

itboffin

First one to build a snowman gets a free pint

Paid for by V8

cjcp

My experience of past years is that the snow doesn't seem to settle on the Putney/Roehampton side of RP and then the rest of the way into town, due to slightly higher temps and the volume of traffic.

I'll use my 30mm CX nobblies.

I can only recalling it sticking in town in 2009/2010 - had a brilliant ride home around midnight/1am one night after work, when I had fresh, untracked snow all the way from the Lower Richmond Road to home.

It just seems to have p!ssed with rain every winter since.

Ah, them were the days.

asprilla

cjcp wrote:

I can only recalling it sticking in town in 2009/2010 - had a brilliant ride home around midnight/1am one night after work, when I had fresh, untracked snow all the way from the Lower Richmond Road to home.

That was a wonderful night. Riding through the middle of the park and constantly fighting the back end was so much fun.

rolf_f

Not used mine in years. For snow, knobblies are fine and, with an urban commute, rather than go out on the studded MTB, if it looks icy first thing I tend to just wait until later in the morning when the ice is all gone. The gritting is effective. Even leaving late I still tend to get in before the car/public transport users when the weather is bad.

rhodrich

Hmm.... BBC Weather now showing heavy snow between 6 and 8pm where I live. Studded tyres definitely going on this evening!

vimfuego

Bugger - thought this was a continuation of that other thread.....

viewtopic.php?f=40088&t=13069913&p=19957516&hilit=your+wristwatches#p19957516

london-red

That's the planned hill repeats out the window then :roll:

Might switch from fixed to SS and 16 to 18 on the rear. Will still run the gauntlet on 25mm Gators though.

whatleytom

GP4000s are good for snow right? :oops: Be amazed if any of it actually sticks enough to cause issue surely!?

cookeeemonster

heavy rain for 6 hours before the snow hits...no way it'll settle especially with it coinciding with rush hour

On_What

if it snows I won't be using the motorbike, so pedal instead. Mountain bike is in pieces so CX bike it is, 32mm Vittoria XM is the most aggressive tyres I've got. Bring it on!

kingstongraham

CookeeeMonster wrote:

heavy rain for 6 hours before the snow hits...no way it'll settle especially with it coinciding with rush hour

If there are subzero temperatures overnight it makes tomorrow a no-cycle morning for me.

meanredspider

Lots of snow at home in the Highlands. Doesn't seem to have prevented my youngest son taking his driving test though he'll be forgiven for being a bit distracted by his sister's treatment.

slowbike

whatleytom wrote:

GP4000s are good for snow right? :oops: Be amazed if any of it actually sticks enough to cause issue surely!?

yup - fine if you take it steady and it's not too deep - it's the Ice you need to be warey of...

xbnm

CookeeeMonster wrote:

heavy rain for 6 hours before the snow hits...no way it'll settle especially with it coinciding with rush hour

The problem with that assumption is the last time it happened up in the north east everything turned to a sheet of ice at rush hour with all the salt washed off the roads then the gritters unable to move because of the rush hour traffic. Looks a bit warm still for that down south. Still only took 20 mins on the winters compared to the 2-3 hours by car

hopkinb

Well, I've just fitted my 35mm cx tyres, so don't expect any snow, just lashings of rain. Luckily my raceblade pro xl clip-ons seem to fit over the tyres, so that's good.

meanredspider

meanredspider wrote:

Lots of snow at home in the Highlands. Doesn't seem to have prevented my youngest son taking his driving test though he'll be forgiven for being a bit distracted by his sister's treatment.

Well the boy passed so that's good.

Clouds look snowy here in Cambridge but I think it's too warm right now

fat daddy

solid rain now all day ....... kind of what you would expect from Bristol

BUT I LOVE IT !!!!! ...... just been for a ride, Racing Ralphs on a 42t:17t single speed Tricross .... oooh, it was mud, lots of mud, the pathways were under water, the field had a mud basin to yomp through, all the time the rain and wind ... IT WAS EPIC

best 5 miles of the year ... legs feel like concrete now !

anonymousblackfg

I like the idea of having some studs but seem a really expense/waste of space for something i'll barely ever touch. Having had a very slippery moment riding in the snow a few years ago any other work arounds for snow and ice apart from possibly just using the Mountain bike?

fat daddy

anonymousblackfg wrote:

I like the idea of having some studs but seem a really expense

I have used mine maybe 15 times ... but for £60 that's ... £4 of fun a time, and I have really enjoyed them, more fun than I could get for other £4 activities

jgsi

My faith is with the local council gritting teams ... I use A roads . if it all goes that deadly quiet sort of snow deadly quiet overnight I may sack off tomorrow... just take the day orf... cant be arsed with it at the moment anyways. contract rolling to an end.

bompington

anonymousblackfg wrote:

I like the idea of having some studs but seem a really expense/waste of space for something i'll barely ever touch. Having had a very slippery moment riding in the snow a few years ago any other work arounds for snow and ice apart from possibly just using the Mountain bike?

Look at it as like having a whole new bike that you can use when others can't: that makes £50-60 look cheap, doesn't it? My studs have tended to last 3 winters or so of quite regular use.

For snow - treaded tyres, MTB style, will make a bit of difference but less than you'd think. You could always try the tie-wrap trick


as long as you don't have rim brakes...

For ice - treaded tyres make no difference whatsoever, only studs will do.

fat daddy

the above works surprisingly well ..... but yes I cant imagine that being pretty with rim brakes

meanredspider

Yup - studs are useless on snow - surprisingly bad. Speaking to a guy from Ontario, he said he uses 23c road tyres in proper snow. I've found that anything more than a couple of inches, MTB tyres jest get bogged down unless the snow is very firm - the resistance of the front tyre quickly overcomes the traction of the rear.

Honestly, if I didn't live in the north of Scotland, I'd just stay off the bike. I have no trust in cars especially in England where people tend to run summer tyres.

rower63

Asprilla wrote:

cjcp wrote:

I can only recalling it sticking in town in 2009/2010 - had a brilliant ride home around midnight/1am one night after work, when I had fresh, untracked snow all the way from the Lower Richmond Road to home.

That was a wonderful night. Riding through the middle of the park and constantly fighting the back end was so much fun.

Monday 21/12/09 - my training diary says "run home, heavy snow, 75 mins". (normally it would've been around 65 mins)