Winter Biking

P13C35

Been biking every morning since May. Winter is somewhere on the way and I don't want to loose my routine. I have a stationary bike, but that doesn't get me out if the house. Any tire suggestions? Im not concerned about cold, but our cheap city has a poor way of dealing with clearing the streets. The side streets are taken care of by just dumping a bunch of sand at the intersections and letting the car traffic spread it out. Last year not much snow. Living by Lake Michigan the weather has its own mind. Used to WI weather, but fear traction on a new route. I got a Specialized Hardrock mountain bike.

NorthCascades

If you have disc brakes you can stud your own tires with zip ties.



Otherwise go as fat as possible and don't put much air in them. Wide tires are like snowshoes, they spread your weight over a larger area, which also gets you more traction. But go more slowly than normal.

cwolfman13

I primarily ride my CX bike outdoors in the winter...but honestly, if there's a bunch of snow on the road and bike trails, it's a no go. I can work through patches here and there and wet surfaces fine enough, but not blankets of snow.

As much as I dislike training indoors, I bought and indoor trainer for this winter...I just missed too much training time last winter and I live in a fairly temperate state...I'm hoping to have a relatively good balance of outdoor to indoor this winter.

BrianSharpe

Winter tires (this one is a Schwalbe Ice Spiker.....)

canadianlbs

love the studs. around here we mostly get sloppy, super slippery snow that packs down and then skids out away from the snow underneath, so there's nothing that really helps you with that. and car snot is always dangerous no matter what.

but i buy a new set of studs every couple of years and just eat the expense because it's so worthwile. you have to ride like a land yacht - no sudden stops or sharp turns to give the studs a fair chance to bite. but there's nothing like the extra stability you get from them. it's usually just enough of an edge that you can deal with even the slop and the snot. on actual ice you feel like a scene from swan lake. when the conditions are rough or uncertain, try to ride more like a snowboarder. i find that helps me to deal with fishtailing and little slips - the bike squirms a lot but so long as my weight's not fully committed to the saddle i can usually just let it correct under me.

as far as tires: i think different ones will work better for specific conditions. i have kendra somethingsomethings right now. my first pair were schwalbe snow studs and i'd go back to those if they were still being made. in between i think i had their winter marathons and didn't like them as much. knobs are where it's at, where i live.

P13C35

Thx for all the input and help onhow to ride and what to expect while riding. Im a bit of a control freak but Im learning to trust machines more. Lol.