I wish I could ride in snow right now. Too much snow here, roads are unsafe.

I am working on a 900m backyard singletrack at the moment, it needs a bit of work, I gotta make it wider and need to pack the snow harder before I can ride it. Loads of snow today here, gotta wait a bit more... meanwhile, ill shovel the driveway :S

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

You guys are crazy. I don't mind riding in bad weather, but with that kind of snow there's nicer things to do than cycling.

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur

just back from 1 hour ride with my 12 yr old son in the snow. He's on a multi gear Pugsley set up with grip shifters so he can wear heavier ( warmer ) gloves and still shift but he was again spinning out a bit with the stock endomorph tire on the rear. My singlespeed Pugsley has 2 Nates for grip so I might put my front on the back for him and replace my front with a Larry. Good times...

Not me in the pic but that's what we do here when the white stuff abounds. It makes the hardest ride seem easy lol.

As someone whose country has very little snow and people fall all over themselves to get to it when we do, I'm amazed more of you don't ski?

Otherwise a friend who lives 'up north' swears by a 15-20 minute warm up on the rollers, half dressed. Then stepping off, final layers on, then heading out. Doesn't do it for much below zero, but work when it's at or just above freezing.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Did most people not read this thread or the first post?

It isn't about the OP finding it too cold.
It isn't about the OP not having other things to do in the winter.
In fact, most of the replies in this thread are very removed from the point of the thread, however valid and agreeable they might be.

The thread is about the OP complaining about their bike getting dirty when they ride.
That's it.

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Exp001

OP here. I'm following up on the fender suggestion. SKS Raceblades on order. Somehow I'd forgotten about fenders before I posted.

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Saura mon coeur que mon cul poise.

adapted from Rabelais

There ya go!

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2012 Fuji Altamira SE - 6.42kg

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I did.

If he ski's, bike stays clean


The second part was just some info other might find useful, maybe even the OP. Because if grime is already one reason not to ride, the temp could not be far off being the second

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Well, my winter bikes drivetrain if fully rusty after a training, we have very salty roads. Chain/casette does not last longer than a 2-3k Km, brake pads wear out very fast, aluminium silver colored rims corode and gets darker, sfifters sometimes gets frozen and does not work. Rubber on tyres gets hard and starts to crack. Pulley wheels sucks up dirt and must be replaced after a winter. I bought my winter bike with Deore for 150Eur and after one winter there is already half of the bike replaced. probably after this winter i will sell this bike for pennies and get new one for next winter.
Hydraulic brakes and air forks in winter is even worse.

Could you please describe the impact of winter conditions on hydraulic brakes? I don't recall that being mentioned in the threads debating their merits.

^^same problem here - salt

it's not just drivetrain that suffers, i had a magnesium merida once that after a winter literally broke near BB. so you either clean your bike after EVERY ride, which is painfull but it gets easier with time, and after you figure what and how to wash it takes ~10-15 mins. or you get a winter bike that you throw away after it's all squeaky and rusty

clothes suffer too - all this GORE stuff is great untill few laundrys = few rides. after that the material looses it's qualities significantly - it's not that a great deal if it's dry, but in wet, forget about 'waterproof' anything.

nonetheless, winter cycling is pure fun, my personal best is -20C with clear sunny sky and you really feel 'alive' after such ride. from my experience, even one hour in poor conditions with frozen feet is better (training wise) than half a day of indoor training. as a matter of fact, i dont use my trainer at all. it's a great bike stand for washing a bike though

Oil gets too thick, brake levers gets stuck. Probably you want some lower viscosity oil in brakes. At temperatures around 0 my hayes do work fine, but under -10 and hydraulic brakes just doesn't work. It's the same for fork, it gets slow and unresponsible.

never had any issues with my Hayes on my Pugsley no matter how low the temp and rigid-rigid serves me well so no fork issues either on road on off. Cleaning hasn't been an issue on road or off either perhaps because of the lack of shifters, derailleurs, cassette etc etc

Endomorphs suck regardless... I spin mine out occasionally on asphalt and other solid surfaces. The Nates will serve you well! I've been debating between those or some Husker Du's I think the HUDU's will work better in my climate.