Winter Road Bikes

I spent a few years doing a mainly rural commute of about 13 miles e/w. New BB, chain and bar tape every six months. Guards every year as they eventually broke with the vibes. In the winter, clothes were more important than the bike. I wish shakedry had existed then!

Quintessentially British to spend multiple times more on a summer bike you ride 2 months of the year and plough on the rest of the time on a blue Ribble with Xenon 9 speed and a rack

I only stopped commuting on my fixed because I went to midfoot and the toe overlap was a bit mental on the short frame and I was starting to do ultras so I wanted to be on one bike all the time, hence the move towards the Kinesis stuff. I did end up doing quite a few commutes on my Inbred SS but that's another kettle of yabbies.

It's like taking fresh socks when bikepacking.

You don't need them but DAMN it feels good to get that clean, nice pair on, even for only a short time. :)

So much this. My winter bike is my default bike from September to the end of March, and gets used when it’s wet in spring and summer, so it is the bike I ride the most. I have no qualms at all about spending money on it, I want my riding to be enjoyable.

I'm maybe outing myself with my comment as that's exactly what I do - good bikes in the shed until the grit is a distant memory. Seeing some of the full guard and disc builds here (particularly @PhilDAS), I'd definitely go down that route if I was starting afresh as it's one bike to do it all. But as it is I have a mish-mash of rim brake skinny-tyre bikes that no-one else would buy so I'll ride them till they break! Apart from the summer ones...

The benefits of riding fixed are many! Although that's probably the biggest one

edit can I add that my fixie is an amazing winter bike

good to see the Cycliq going strong! How is the battery?

good to see the Cycliq going strong! How is the battery?

Dead. Got a 4-5 NIPs out of it during my time 😄

Bought a couple of batteries to replace, but I've realised cycling sucks this time of year so I'm not going to bother.

Got a 4-5 NIPs out of it during my time 😄

thats fucking good!!

Yeah, I even have best groupset probably of any bike on my 2-3 season bike, the only difference is running a cheaper chain and cassette, mudguards and tyre choice in the winter compared to summer. Spend 70-80% of my miles on it....yes stuff does wear out but am still impressed by the combination of using wax and regular maintenance is doing to the longevity of everything.

The fact my 'summer' bike is 3kg lighter and made of carbon is enough to look forward to, doesn't matter it's actually a cheaper bike than my main bike.

I will add that my Ti bike was not strictly a winter bike. It was my only road bike for 18 months and it did everything from the daily commute to audaxes and fast laps. I usually kept the mudguards on all the time because they're like 300g or something.
Now I have a summer bike build on the go so it will mostly be the wet and winter bike in the future

I just run the same CAAD year-round. Mudguards and alloy wheels in the winter, sans mudguards and carbon wheels in the summer.

My winter bike is my summer bike. Anyone who rides a bike without guards in summer hasn’t lived near Manchester for long.
Near chain, cassette and break pads each spring, maybe new tyres, and it’s now a summer bike.
Last time I took the guards off to race it we had flooding the next week

Its amazing how far a clip on rear fender and shoe covers will go for staying comfy through hard times LoL. The commute to work is only 7 kms so my opinion may not bear as much weight. My only other than summer bike is an apocalyptic build with a rack and thicker tires

#bracesforimpact

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Yes I did consider it actually. But then it would look like all the other Ti bikes.

An amateur Passoni vibe 😂

Agreed. Just because it’s winter you don’t need to ride a shit bike..

As long as you run a cheaper chain, cassette, BB and mudguards then what’s the problem? There isn’t one. It’s not being fussy. I think if you are a bike person you’ll get it!

x-post from mudguards thread

unfortunately had a very low speed 'racing incident' with a clubmate this am; mangled my front pdw mudguard (very thankful to not have fucked anything else up incl. clothing).... functionally it is largely ok after bending it a bit back and forth but would like to replace at some point - obviously SHIT because they cost a lot and i only need a front. long shot but anyone happen to have a spare? anyone tried the new alloy sks guards?

photo is pre repair efforts :-)

Looks fine. Carry on.

Agreed. Or get Bluemels and make sure you've got long flaps.

Your ma has long flaps.
and your da likes it.

have the sks edge al 50mm ones on my gravel bike, despite the big clearances on the bike, have needed a bit of modding at the front due to the guards rectangular cross section and more curved profile of the fork crown

Give Condor cycles a shout.

They once sold me a replacement blade after I stood on one of mine and crumpled it (which was a not-so-funny-at-the-time incident involving beers and one of my cats).

involving beers and one of my cats

Drunken cats can be a menace

dropped them a line - will see what happens :-)