Winter-proofing your bicycle & Winter bike maintenance

I also spray some GT85 onto a rag and give the frame a good going over with it once it's clean and wipe off any excess... Easier to clean later...

+1
Thatr or a bit of spray lube, helps alot.

My new winter tyres.

Nearly 1 Kg per tyre, roll like you're running square wheels, vibrate like hell, and are bloody noisey too. Also £50 per tyre the for the displeasure of using them. Will be fun when the snow arrives though ;)

Oooh, nice. What are they?

I cannot wait to try some obscenely large tyres on my Mather (should it arrive before summer).

They Hardened the fuck up

I was waiting for the first one. Thanks.

Conti Nordic Spike.
(Actually made in Finland as opposed to Germany, before Hippy comes a hatin)

They feel very strange when cornering on the road (not surprisingly), but should cope with both ice and snow well. Give 'The Mongrel' that all important post apocolypse bike look ;)

ObContiIsShit

ObContiIsShit

Thing is these Conti Nordic spike 240s, dont really look like conti tyres. They are made in Finland and have no orange conti logo. My hunch (hope) is that they are outsourced to Nokian. Nokian use a special rubber compound on their winter tyres, and hard wearing steel carbide studds. The rubber feel right, but only time will tell if the studs are steel carbid or not. All the scandinava reviews I read compared them to Nokian Hakkapeliitta 240.

Where's the picture of 'The Mongrel' fully set up with spikes then? I half expect you to be kitted up all in white like you’re on arctic military training!

As for winter proofing, I find having a shit bike helps with that worry and a state of mind that getting soaked/cold/covered in crap is all part of the fun.

+1 I'm using a geared tourer with 35s for wintery days. Nice bike for nice days like today.

Where's the picture of 'The Mongrel' fully set up with spikes then? I half expect you to be kitted up all in white like you’re on arctic military training!

As for winter proofing, I find having a shit bike helps with that worry and a state of mind that getting soaked/cold/covered in crap is all part of the fun.

Actaully its all-black ninja bike. Not really clever for winer riding but I jus bought the cheapest cycloX frame I could find that had rack and mudguard fittings. If it ever needs rebuilding, I may rattle can it a more visible colour.

I was planning on posting a pick in the readers wives anti-porn thread, but my cameras a bit screwed. I'll get around to it at some point. The gaps between the crank arms and the chainstays, the misplaced V-brakes, amongst other things make it serious anti-.

For true readers wives it will need to be photographed in a badly decorated room with soiled sheets in the background

Titanium fixed for winter.

It's the same as the summer bike

use wider/non slick tyres

Is this good advice for road riding? I was given the impression that narrow road tires have better water clearing potential that those with that present a flat profile to the road.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Is this good advice for road riding? I was given the impression that narrow road tires have better water clearing potential that those with that present a flat profile to the road.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Sheldon refrutes the need for tread for road riding. When describing flatter tyres he was describing car tyres. Increased surface contact will give better traction + bigger tyres can be run at lower PSI allowing them to better shape themselve to the road surface. I'd say that during the winter months there is a fair amount of shite on the road, meaning that a tyre with some tread will have something to dig into.

People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

so i guess just wider tires? i personally cannot afford new tires, not a separate bike. had my first accelerating skid of the winter the other day, i imagine it looked kind of like the UCI world champs race where the guy washes out at the end and the other dude does a mentawl kick out.

Where's the picture of 'The Mongrel' fully set up with spikes then? I half expect you to be kitted up all in white like you’re on arctic military training!

Sorted. Winter Penge bike.

2 Attachments

Mudguards.
Use Black gold jetwash proof grease (got 1/2 a tub left, anyone know if you can still get this?) on all bearings.
Hose bike down when you get home: No high pressure jets near bearings.
Let it dry overnight then GT85 on all moving parts before you ride next day.
I use GT85 as a daily chainlube, I find it doesn't attract crap like most "wet weather" chain lubes.
Watch the wear on all consumables pads, tyres, etc).
And wear overshoes, I use cheap crap ones for a tenner off of FleaBay, work fine.

if it's pissing down .. just carry a change of clothes. if you get caught out, wrap a plastic bag around your shoes. oh, and mudguards. even clip-on raceblades work well, no need for drillings on the frame/fork. they keep you nice and dry (unless it's really pissing down)..

Sorted. Winter Penge bike.

Not beautiful but kind of cool in a post apocalyptic way.

Not beautiful but kind of cool in a post apocalyptic way.

Cheers ;)

TBH it looks like it was built by some with no clue that there are different types of bikes, which use different componentry. Aside from the current 'ugly winter bike' mode, I have cycloX tyres for it, and strip it to bare essentials for 'ugly cycloX bike'. Plus I have touring tyres, rear rack and panniers (getting lowrider front), and full mudguards for 'ugly touring bike' mode.

has anyone tried winter boots? I looked at the Sidi's but they seemed to be really over-priced and to use their old tech. Reviews also suggested they let water in the top which would defeat the point a bit.

I've got Sidi 'waterproof' boots and to be honest I don't wear them unless the weather is really, really foul / cold where wind-chill becomes a major PITA. Water tends to run down your legs and then into the boots which then sloshes around with no way of escaping. Wearing full-length waterproof trousers would help but I tend to overheat in anything longer than 3/4's..

After a miserable winter last year I settled on wearing my usual Sidi shoes that drain really quickly. A couple of pairs of merino wool socks for when it gets really cold also help and dry off pretty quick (M&S do multi-packs that seem to be the best value I've found)...

As far as winter-proofing my bikes - as mentioned above I try and make sure I give it a good clean at least one or twice a week and follow the advice given by the Condor team mechanic here: http://www.raphacondor.cc/club/chain-cleaning-workshop-tips-by-andy-verrall (in a nutshell use a decent degreaser followed by silicone spray and web-lube on the drive-chain). Might be stating the obvious a little but it works for me.

To keep feet warm and dry when it's really wet I use some carrier bags and a pair of large socks. Simply use my normal shoes, pull on a bag over the shoe and then the sock over the top of that. It's easy, cheap 3 pairs cost me £2 and it works perfect every time. As the sock goes above the bag on my shin it soaks the water and I never get wet from the top which was always a problem with my overshoes.

i steal the overshoes that my gym have for the staff to use when entering the pool area

they are shoe shaped and elasticated, so better than a plastic bag - which can poke out of the shoe and then get caught in the chain

so got soaked feet yesterday. my planned solution is to get some waterproof socks, my friend (outdoor type) has some and rates them very highly, so my shoes just get soaked but toasty feet.

oh and i got some "proper" cycling gloves for winter as i found that last year my regular gloves didn't actually stop the wind much.

bring it on nature.