Water bottle is sitting on my bike in the other room chirping at me. Surest sign Winter is near.
Not that we have particularly harsh winters here, but I’m without a car on weekdays this year, so 100% bike commuting should be interesting. Let’s see how accurate these El Niño predictions are.
Ordered a couple of showers pass goodies, including their elite jacket and some kinda waterproof socks. Fenderized the caadx too. Finally picked up some spacers to fix the rear fender line at the chain stay bridge. Also had trouble finding something to get the front lower at the fork bridge because the bracket that came with is too short to get close to the tire. I must be doing something wrong though because I’m having a shitty time trying to get things to stop rubbing, rattling, and generally being annoying. Or is that what fender life is about?
Anyway the commute is only 6.5 miles and we have a shower at work, so I’m probably over preparing.
Pretty much.
Just wait until your bike falls over or gets bumped against a rack and you have to bend them back into place!
I finally said screw it and ordered a pair if Lake MXC303 winter boots. No more screwing around with shoe covers!
I bought a pair of goggles to match my race cape.
Time will tell if they are an improvement over sunglasses.
I think this will be the winter that I actually put fenders on my fredsled and ride a bit more outside.
But, between Ray’s and skate skiing, I doubt my road riding will be considerable.
I can’t stand goggles on a bike. They kill my hearing and peripheral vision. I might feel differently if I wasn’t riding in traffic 95% of the time though.
It was 55f the other day and I saw a guy dressed heavier than I do when it’s zero. Wtf guy?
This is gonna be my first year winter commuting, should be interesting. Haven’t decided if I need studded tires yet, haven’t lived in this city in the winter yet.
It’s gonna be interesting.
Yup. Not even cold here, but at the merest hint of rain/chilliness some folks get seriously bundled. I was sweaty when I got home, in a plain t-shirt and shorts.
[quote=BabbyMatt]Not that we have particularly harsh winters here, but I’m without a car on weekdays this year, so 100% bike commuting should be interesting. Let’s see how accurate these El Niño predictions are.
Ordered a couple of showers pass goodies, including their elite jacket and some kinda waterproof socks. Fenderized the caadx too. Finally picked up some spacers to fix the rear fender line at the chain stay bridge. Also had trouble finding something to get the front lower at the fork bridge because the bracket that came with is too short to get close to the tire. I must be doing something wrong though because I’m having a shitty time trying to get things to stop rubbing, rattling, and generally being annoying. Or is that what fender life is about?
Anyway the commute is only 6.5 miles and we have a shower at work, so I’m probably over preparing.[/quote]
PYB and our team of experts will tell you why your fender installation sucks.
But yeah, sometimes they are just noisey, but certain things really can help.
Hm I’m gonna be (west) coasting through this one on 50F lows and maybe some rain
I already miss my colder-than-thou salt crusted high horse
- plastic shitblockers just wiggle about, especially if you only have the supplied stays and a long connection to the fork crown.
- metal shitblockers wiggle about if you buy the velo-orange ones and don’t spend a lot of time getting them just right.
You can stabilize both plastic and metal shitblockers by adding connection points to your bike. My setup uses a bent stay in front of the fork crown to stabilize the front of the fender, and it works pretty well. If I did not have old beat to fuck v-o fenders I could probably dial out most of the noise and rubbing, but I DNGAF.
You should use at least a front mudflap, which will make the noise and rubbing worse but will save you $$$ and time on drivetrain maintenance.
[quote=kmcdon]This is gonna be my first year winter commuting, should be interesting. Haven’t decided if I need studded tires yet, haven’t lived in this city in the winter yet.
It’s gonna be interesting.[/quote]
Do you live someplace with lows below freezing for multiple days and ice/snow? Just order some studded tires now. You’ll be slow and you’ll hate them, but you’ll get better exercise. Also there is no better feeling that YOLOing your way across ice and snow in the dark. I hate hate hated studded tires but they were 100% worth the peace of mind.
This thread is going to make me jealous. Texas winter is probably milder than Iowa spring. TC I loved commuting and riding in the snow, ice and muck.
Also you bros doing fenders, do the ergott trick and put a mud flap on the front end of your rear fender. If you actually ride through slush and salt, this trick legit saves your cranks and pusher from the worst of it.
You can also cut and shape an old water bottle to do the same thing, and that’s more rigid.
[quote=kmcdon]This is gonna be my first year winter commuting, should be interesting. Haven’t decided if I need studded tires yet, haven’t lived in this city in the winter yet.
It’s gonna be interesting.[/quote]
i bike commuted about 80-90% of the time last winter in boulder. i did not find enough of a need for studded tires, but i rode my mtb when it was really snowy and occasionally walked short sections of ice if i came across them on my road bike. I did not really come across any large enough ice sections to bother commuting entirely on studded tires - seems like it’d be annoying for the vast majority of the ride. but someone gave me some hand me downs, so i have the option to reconsider this winter.
I’m gonna be on a fendered MTB this winter as well. Right now I have slicks on it, with the option of putting on the stock knobbies. My commute is only 3 miles if I take the train, with the option to make it 20 if I’m feeling lively.
I think I’m gonna try out the knobbies and see how that goes, and just adjust accordingly.
I change between studded and non studded regularly throughout the winter. We are expecting a-lot of stuff here in flag this year… all around though I consider biking in snow significantly safer than driving in snow.
Gonna grab some rusty studded tires from the used bin at local co-op and throw on a beater wheel, would rather swap wheels than tires depending on weather. Probably just front wheel.
Every year around this time I get excited for winter biking and usually find some old MTB on craigslist to pull snow duty, and as the temps drop from 90s to 50s I fucking love it, but I know in a couple months when its well below freezing commuting is just a thing I have to do and its not fun but it is rewarding. Biking through and after all the insane Boston blizzards last year was so much fun though, hope predictions of a similar winter are true.
Here’s this years horse, still needs fenders and more appropriate tires.
