What’s the lowest temperatures you’ll ride in?

viddutejhawmales

The wind gets pretty bad. I’ve enjoyed commuting via bike . If the natural environment is too harsh......
What’s the lowest temperatures you’ll ride in?

emanresu

The only thing that stops me riding is ice on the roads

Charlie_Croker

^ Frost and Ice on the road are to be avoided, though it has to be said, these two can make the trail much more pleasant than the ponds of mud

ugo.santalucia

These days 6 degrees probably...

Munsford0

Same for me. Cold and dry I'll still venture out on the road. I have enough gear to keep me warm enough at close to zero. Any hint of ice / frost then it's not worth risking a broken hip.

First.Aspect

About 2-3 degrees, because of frost/ice in the mornings. Unless on a mtb.

If later in the day or a weekend, where i can be more confident that any ice is thawed and there is less traffic, a bit colder.

pblakeney

Frost and ice is not worth the risk or stress.
A look out the window and nominally 5C.

photonic69

Happy to go -2 or more. If I take the main roads to work then they are all gritted and by 8am traffic has killed the ice. It's just riding back in the dark with the risk of ice terrifies me.

singleton

Like most others, if it's icy and slippery then I'll avoid it - otherwise I'll go out.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

For the commute, any realistic temp, I have ~240 stud ice tyres. High wind would stop me, especially if gusting.

On the road bike, approx 6C is my limit and roads are at worst almost dry after rain and rain isn't forecast for duration of ride.

First.Aspect

photonic69 said:

Happy to go -2 or more. If I take the main roads to work then they are all gritted and by 8am traffic has killed the ice. It's just riding back in the dark with the risk of ice terrifies me.

Except if you live rurally or are forced onto a bit of tarmac that hasn't been driven over.

johngti

Same as most here. I’ll avoid ice/frost but otherwise happy to ride.

daniel_b

0 or just below if it is dry.

seanoconn

It’s always sunny and warm in London so never have to worry.

joeyhalloran

Haven't yet found my minimum though if it's low (<2) I will be weary of ice and more likely to ride off-road. Been out in -2-0 C fine but doesn't get much colder here.

pep.fermi

I managed -14C, but only like 10km.

But 2hr or longer, even with a mild +2C my fingertips become very painful. I tried every existing gloves, even two pairs at once, nothing worked well so far.

kingstongraham

Fell off on an ungritted roundabout in Richmond Park a few years ago, so now if there's ice, I'm out. Takes too long to recover these days. Otherwise bring it on.

MattFalle

ugo.santalucia said:

These days 6 degrees probably...

this nowadays, previously any temp so long as not icy

nowadays I have Zwift and don't heal as well after falling off.

kingstongraham

MattFalle said:

ugo.santalucia said:

These days 6 degrees probably...

this nowadays, previously any temp so long as not icy

nowadays I have Zwift and don't heal as well after falling off.

I'm only riding outside in the cold to get somewhere, not for fun 😀

ugo.santalucia

It's a case of "when the fun stops... stop!"
From a training perspective, outdoor winter miles are rubbish miles, unlike previously believed.
From a fun perspective, it's hard to enjoy a ride, whilst being cold and worried about falling off...
There are a handful of nice enough days in winter to ride, but they are not very many... the good news is that with climate change, winter doesn't really kick in until almost Christmas

N0bodyOfTheGoat

There's nothing stopping you doing this indoors, but the new hip and trendy way to optimally train is lots of heart zone 2, around the point where conversation isn't "easy."

I'd imagine hrm z2 is not too boil in the bag for many, in modern breathable winter clothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWSMTbg0P3U

bonk_king

I used to love getting wrapped up and going riding on fine crisp winters days with blue skies and plenty of sunshine.

But with the sun being low in the sky at that time of year there are a lot of areas in shadow, where hard frosts/icy patches don't see any of the sun.

These areas are treacherous for those who have a lapse in concentration.

That said, I tend not to go out if the temps are lower than 5°C now.

webboo

If there’s frost on the cars outside. I usually walk down the street to see if the water that’s run off the fields has frozen, if so I don’t go for a ride.

First.Aspect

Temp is less of an issue than wet and windy for me. Regularly out in the day at well below zero on gravel trails in the hills near me a couple winters ago.

But 10 degrees, wet into a headwind in April gets me hypothermic.

DeVlaeminck

I used to go out irrespective of how cold it was - so long as the roads were dry. I remember one dark morning (used to do 90 minutes at 6am before work all through Winter) my fingers were so painfully cold debating whether to pi ss on them to warm them up - in the end it was only the realisation that there was no way I'd have enough feeling in them to get my 3 layers of gloves back on that dissuaded me.

These days it's a struggle to walk from the front door to the garage for a zwift session if it's a bit chilly.

wallace_and_gromit

In the old days before I went soft, I was good for sub zero on a club run if ice wasn’t an issue.

Nowadays I rarely venture out cycling when it’s less than 5c and never by choice when it’s wet. Such conditions are fine for running with the dog though!

Unlike riding in the heat, there are no obvious useful physical adaptations by the body from riding when it’s cold or wet.

rick_chasey

Is that true? I always thought adaptation worked both ways?

wallace_and_gromit

rick_chasey said:

Is that true? I always thought adaptation worked both ways?

I think if you spend a lot of time in cold weather e.g. at Polar research stations or living with Eskimos, that you put on circa 5kg of fat. Useful for survival, but not good in the hills. But otherwise, all that happens from a cycling viewpoint from cycling in cold weather is that you get cold - and potentially spend a lot of dosh on better kit. AFAIK, the body doesn't adapt by sending more blood to the extremities to keep them warm.

Riding in the heat results in higher blood volume (9 pints vs 8 pints or thereabouts) and greater ability to deal with the downsides of riding in the heat in future. It's only a temporary effect though. You soon re-adapt to your normal temperatures.

But tbh, I'm such a wimp that I'd never spend long enough riding in the cold to benefit from adaptations anyway!

MattFalle

never known any physiological benefits of doing anything in the cold and wet apart from getting cold, wet, demoralised, hungry and a bitpissedoff, tbh.

ugo.santalucia

MattFalle said:

never known any physiological benefits of doing anything in the cold and wet apart from getting cold, wet, demoralised, hungry and a bitpissedoff, tbh.

I suppose if you want to race in the Flanders, training in Majorca will not prepare you mentally... that said, these days most spring classics are raced in very dry and mild conditions...

pblakeney

ugo.santalucia said:

MattFalle said:

never known any physiological benefits of doing anything in the cold and wet apart from getting cold, wet, demoralised, hungry and a bitpissedoff, tbh.

I suppose if you want to race in the Flanders, training in Majorca will not prepare you mentally...

This must be the only benefit? If you absolutely have to at some point then it is best to be mentally prepared. If you don't absolutely have to then why bother?