Winter bike / winterising a bike

[FLV]

Just curious really rather than looking for any help or advice.

I was chatting to a chap at work yesterday and as he's a cyclist, told him of a little trip I'd been on the few days prior. He asked about the bike and in that part of the conversation he was astounded that I had ridden my 'best' bike, in winter.

Now, he is certainly a die hard roadie. But he has a couple of bikes he says he wouldn't dream of riding in anything but bone dry summer conditions.

I wondered if this translates to off road riding at all. I have a full suspension that I ride less often, but that's due to mud clearance and keeping the wheels turning rather than actual weather protection.

Do you have winter and summer bikes? Or indeed winter and summer wheels or forks etc ?

Just interested as I say above. I'm not judging.

[whitestone]

On winter roads you have to deal with salt which doesn't do much good to components.

[redefined_cycles]

No winter or summer bikes here Dave. Did one long 300 mile winter trip a couple years ago on basic Campag and it all siezed over the few weeks later that I checked up on it. So I now avoid Campag (but probably my fault for not fettling it in time). I know a few people with summer and winter bikes but I don't totally understand it myself...

Maybe fatter tires for winter would make more sense and less carbon (rim brake) rims to ensure they don't just last 3 months. But that's about it. A bike is for all seasons I say

[Lazarus]

I try really hard to not run suspension in winter but I would not refuse to ride it.
I add mudguards to the MTB
I add the dynamo hub to the commuter
I ride SS once really muddy ( IE now )

I did have a winter road bike when I was a roadie but I think it's largely fashion/ what they do. I always thought we rode a heavier bike, as we do less miles so its harder training to keep you fit.

[sean_iow]

Isn't a roadie excuse to buy a new bike more often, the old good 'summer' bike becomes the winter bike and you buy a new 'best' bike.

I ride my bikes all year. If you ride off road is there any difference in conditions between summer and winter? It's just as muddy after rain in the summer here as it is after rain in the winter, it's just warner.

[lune ranger]

That’s got to be people with more money or more bikes than me.
Also, I want to ride my best bike every ride, and out of the three I have, they are all best bike in different circumstances.
Closest I came to a winter bike was a set of winter wheels when I was in my proper roadie phase. They were only slightly less good than my best wheels but had the 28c tyres on to save faffing about.

[ScotRoutes]

My "road bike" tends not to get out in the winter. There's no space for decent mudguards, the tyres are thin and the roads are often icy/frosty. My previous one had rim brakes too - which I'm not a great fan of if it's cold and wet.

My Amazon #gradventourer fixes all of these problems and also has a dynamo so I have no concerns over lighting.

[Jurassic]

I ride my fat bike all year round (either with fat wheels or 29ers) but I tend not to ride my full sus bike often during winter in the hope of prolonging the life of the pivot bearings, so I suppose my fat bike is my winter bike.
Back when I went temporarily insane and was a roadie, I had a winter hack road bike, the good bike only came out in summer and for races. I try to avoid road riding these days but if I do feel the need I have a spare pair of wheels with 32 road tyres for my gravel bike.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Doesn't really cross my mind with my pushbikes but they're all rigid with little to wear out. However, I did apply the summer only / dry days logic to motorbikes and rode something else through winter ... some of that might be the reasoning that none of my 'good' bikes were really suitable (read safe) for use on potentially slippery roads

[fatbikephil]

Yup. I have winter bike versions of everything, its a great excuse to buy more stuff. So the Ice Cream Truck gets bud and lou and flat pedals instead of JJ's and SPD's. The Jones gets another set of wheels with the crux duros on and a 22t sprok, and I tend to use the Kramp more in the winter than summer. The straggler gets winter wheels with a dyno hub plus these days it gets its mudguards back on which now don't feature in the summer. I have the cross check as a fixed gear bike which also has winter wheels with a dyno hub as I use a pair of Miche track wheels in the summer. That said the miche wheels are now on the steam roller which after much debate is going to be a salt free bike. Bikes that get used on the road in winter get plenty of WD40 sprayed on them as well as waxoyl on anything that may rust on the frame. If I know its going to be salty on the roads followed by mild temps (i.e. + 5 degrees) I give the bike a hose down after a ride and plenty of WD 40. I love riding in winter off and on road, especially when its dark, cold and damp as this is when you meet the least people and get to feel smug that most other cyclists are tied to their trainers in the garage. I've spent a bomb on winter / wet weather gear in recent years and it makes winter riding in relative comfort dead easy, even for a wimp like me.

[ton]

prior to retiring last march, i cycle commuted for 38 years. all year round, no exceptions.
when i was first married and a bit skint, i had 1 bike for everything. rode ctc runs on it, rode roughstuff on it, and commuted on it.
it was a bloody nightmare to keep it running smooth.
after a few years i bought a dawes super galaxy, for best. used for tours and ctc riding. kept my old bike for work.
if you ride everyday, you deffo need a second bike. be it for winter, or for work.

once i became a bit more affluent i always had 3 bikes. a best tourer, and mtb for offroad, and a old tourer for work/winter. perfect.

[FLV]

Interesting,. Bit of each so far.

[Cyclepeasant]

I am impressed Ton!
I too also cycle to work all weathers , (currently 35+ miles each way)
Always had a commute anything bike,then best? Bikes for off road,road during leisure time.
Currently using a cube 29er hybrid with,dynohub, mudguards,rack, belt and hub gears etc.
I always wash or hose the bike after a couple of days of salty roads.
Salt wrecks everything unfortunately,Ask any motorcyclist!
True,most roadies have winter and summer bikes.
Mtbers generally spent most winter off road with occasional road use to link various bridalways etc,so salt damage tends to be minor if you don't clean the bike after each ride. So the best bike is used all the time in all seasons....in my experience.
It's interesting to know what others have bike wise.

[Rob S]

Year round cycle commuting is impressive. I only ride to work six months of the year, but I spend a significant amount of my day outdoors and don't fancy starting the working day cold and wet.

I have a road bike and a hard tail. I mostly use the road bike in the winter as the bridleways turn to swamps round here. I normally run the hose over them if it's been nasty out.

[Lazarus]

Personally think commuting depends on distance.
Had a 40 mile round trip ( done twice a week ) and now back to a 20 miler which I do every day.
IME the issue with big mile commuting is you don't cycle.for fun.
Also ,given it gets the most mileage , I don't see the point in it being rubbish.

[Jurassic]

Personally think commuting depends on distance.
Had a 40 mile round trip ( done twice a week ) and now back to a 20 miler which I do every day.
IME the issue with big mile commuting is you don't cycle.for fun.
Also ,given it gets the most mileage , I don't see the point in it being rubbish.

Yeah, I totally agree with this. I used to pressure myself to commute by bike and I started to hate it. Now I only do it when I feel like it and thankfully it's become something that I look forward to doing again.

[slarge]

Definitely 2 road bikes - a summer bike with carbon wheels, frame, decent kit and no mudguards, and a winter bike with cheap (disposable) wheels and mudguards. Wet road braking with carbon rims is not fun.....

Plus winter commuting wrecks bikes - rims, brake pads and drivetrain all get hammered and often only last 1 year.

As for mountain bikes - the hardtail gets a rear mudguards but that's it. Mostly I don't ride too much off road in winter though as Warwickshire off road is just a bit rubbish.

[benp1]

Winterising involves mudguards, otherwise same bikes for me

I don't have a "road bike". I do have a commuterised gravel bike and a brompton so I guess they sort of count

Otherwise it's the same bikes for me. I cycle commuted every day pre lockdown and it was always the same bike, didn't bother winterising because it was a commuter. Still have the bike but it's my least ridden bike now

[thenorthwind]

It's broadly a no from me.

I'm probably a bit more likely to take the rigid bike than the full-sus in the winter, and might use plus wheels both ends rather than my preferred 27.5+/29 setup, but both have mudguards which stay on year round. I don't live in California!* I wouldn't not take the full-sus if the route demanded it.

My "road" bike is a gravel bike with full guards, so pretty winterised anyway. They also rarely come off... maybe in the height of summer if I'm feeling particularly debonair

*Actually, the one time I did ride in California, I wished I had mudguards

[whonickedmename]

A yes from me, partly practical but also an excuse to have more bike choice...

Road - summer/dry weather bike has 28c tyres/rim brakes/no guards, winter/wet weather bike has 32c tyres/disc brakes/permanent mudguards
Gravel - summer/dry weather bike has 55c tyres/no guards, winter/wet weather bike has 40c tyres/permanent mudguards
MTBs (fat/29+/bikepacking/FS) - used according to the type of ride / conditions / feeling on the day

[Teetosugars]

Do you have winter and summer bikes?

Yes, for the road..
A Cannondale Caad 10 with full mudguards, and 25m Conti 4 season tyres..
And a summer Bowman with no guards, and less bombproof tyres.

For off road, tend to use my HT more than my full suss too..
When I do actually ride.
Which, lately, has been rare,
Sadly.

[rudedog]

I winterise my MTB by building up protective layers of caked in mud. This provides camouflage from bike thieves and helps keep salt from eroding my bike.