winter bike

anrothar

entirely thrilled
anyone going to be riding through the winter/ building up a winter bike? i'm thinking of building up my old 1x1 as a winter bike. easy gear, nice wide tires, maybe studded. perhaps make up some poggis for the hands. any thoughts? will any of you be up for riding when the white stuff is on the ground?
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Dunno about the white stuff. But I'll be riding through the winter as long as the trails are clear enough and it's not, say, 20 degrees or less.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
20 or less is when it's fun. trails are so fast, and desolate. less than 20 is enough to freeze marshes you can ride anywhere you want.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Yes, but it's cold. And I'm one of those guys who sweats buckets regardless of the season. So it gets a little tricky when you add those temps and any length of time. I'll see what I can do. It gets me out of the house so I'm going to try to keep at it.
 

Maurice

New Member
A bit early to be thinking about that, still a lot of good riding to do. Actually autumn is my preferred season: less bugs, less humidity, beautiful scenery, ...

I ride through the winter also. Last two winters I've ridden the singlespeed and it's been good (didn't have a geared bike actually...). I've put together my trail bike back, around 4" of travel. It'll probably be a mix of both this coming winter.

I agree the winter is nice when everything is frozen over. It's tricky sometimes though as even in the dead of winter some areas can still thaw a bit when it's sunny, and then it's not so fun. Too much snow can be trouble too. Over 10" and you're contemplating an amazing cross-training session... Below that however it can be quite fun. I have ridden many times in deep and compacted snow, I think it's great for balance. Just don't expect to go very fast.

I'm also a big sweater, the key is clothing that wicks away moisture. I have an MTB-specific winter jacket and will wear only that and a long sleeve jersey underneath (well, not only, I have my tights and shorts also). It's usually good for 2-3 hours, as long as I don't stop (which I don't anyway). What bothers me most is the hands actually; it's really tough to find gloves that will keep you hands comfortable.

Good trails,

Maurice
 
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DANSPANK

Guest
I'm going to try some winter riding. I want to make some gains on my fitness and know the fat season would be a great time to do it.

I used to have problems with a stinging in my ears because f cold wind but a pack a bit of cotton wool in there and I'm peachy.

The only other issue is taking a fall onto a nice cold stone - it seems to hurt morethan falling in the summer!
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
Maurice, invest in a pair of pogies, and your hands will love the winter. you can even make em yourself if you're handy enough with sewing. check out: http://www.icebike.org/Clothing/handprotection.htm

the main site: http://www.icebike.org has a ton of valuable winter riding info as well. i used to be a member of the email list that was attatched to it years ago(98/99 i think). the least amount of clothing you can comfortably wear is definitely the key. you should be chilly for the first five minutes of the ride.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
That is hockey season for me. Once Nov. 15th rolls around I am in an ice rink whenever I am not doing my day job.
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
i'd like to do x-country skiing and winter riding - not a dh or snowboard rider. there xc skiing was a bust last winter. please throw some advice my way in my "Spare Bike Build" post, whcih i suspect will be moved to the ss forum...
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Lots of cold weather experience posts here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=153960

Hope you have a lot of time. This is a whole forum devoted to winter riding, and that thread is titled "Today, I wore..." which is a 5 page post of what people wear in the cold. I have not read much of the thread at all. As Maurice says, a little too early. Plenty of time to get frustrated yet with wet leaves on rocks :) OTOH, never too early to start putting that Xmas wish list together.

My 2 biggest problems are actually hands and feet. I've been mostly a road rider up until the past winter, which amplifies the cold factor tremendously. The only thing that I've gotten to work for my hands and feet are plastic bags. Seriously, they work great as glove liners. Not very breathable. But they do the trick.

The pogies look interesting. Wouldn't a standard pair of ski gloves work? I don't see why not.

Brad,

I've read that speed skating is actually the best non-biking workout you can do to help biking. Some well-known skater apparently won some bike race in the recent past. That last sentence was pretty vague, but I have nothing else. I know hockey isn't speed skating. Just figured I'd throw that in.

Does anyone else have a trainer? This is the first year I'm making a concerted effort to not let my fitness gains from this year fall off (much) through the cold season.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
i'm considering rollers.

ski gloves don't work as well as the pogies, because your fingers are seperated, they have a ton of seams and you are still contacting cold shifters(if you have em) and brake levers. the pogies create a whole little environment all their own. they hold the heat from your hands in that entire area, thereby keeping the metal within them warm, and the air around your hands warm.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
anrothar said:
i'm considering rollers.

ski gloves don't work as well as the pogies, because your fingers are seperated, they have a ton of seams and you are still contacting cold shifters(if you have em) and brake levers. the pogies create a whole little environment all their own. they hold the heat from your hands in that entire area, thereby keeping the metal within them warm, and the air around your hands warm.

Man, I'm baffled. They shoot a satellite so close to the moon to use its gravitational force as a propellant to the next destination, yet they can't make reliable ski gloves? What is wrong with this picture? You'd think keeping your hands warm would be pretty high priority when skiing.

I have a pair of lobster claws. They stink. By the end they're soaking wet and useless.

I went with a trainer because what I've read is that the more interval work you do, the better off you are with a trainer.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
my 29er wheels don't fit in a trainer:( of course, i could through some 35c touring tires on there and they probably would, but i really hate changing tires.
 

mergs

Spokompton's Finest
JORBA.ORG
I spend most of my time snowboarding in the winter and this year I hope do much more backcountry splitboarding (which is highly aerobic bc you climb, xc ski style, then put the board back together and ride downhill, usually through trees and deep powder, yeehaw).

That said, I'll ride probably mtb once or twice a month, just so that I am not a total jelly fish come April. I also like those bright sunny days that are not too cold, but that thin layer of snow on the ground. I'll be the smelly one with all my snowboarding polypro gear riding Tourne or LM on a trek SS.

I like the idea of changing the gearing (mentioned above). I might throw on a 20t cog just so I can sit more on climbs (for traction).
 

ytc100

New Member
anrothar said:
white stuff is on the ground


Means SKIING!!!!!!!

I would like to get a few rides in this winter 'cause getting back on the bike was painful last spring. Not sure how I'll manage it though as I'm on the mountain skiing whenever I have a day off.
 

ytc100

New Member
normZurawski said:
Man, I'm baffled. They shoot a satellite so close to the moon to use its gravitational force as a propellant to the next destination, yet they can't make reliable ski gloves? What is wrong with this picture? You'd think keeping your hands warm would be pretty high priority when skiing.


I have skied in -25 degree wind chill with these gloves and a pair of "smartwool" glove liners and my hands were plenty comfortable. Any warmer than 20 degrees and I need to switch to a lighter glove.


http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/ou...&GCID=C14965x010&keyword=BLD0700+patrol+glove
 

ytc100

New Member
normZurawski said:
Good deal - thanks. Overall I'd prefer gloves. And those listed in the link are on sale. Bonus!


They have 'em in black too somewhere on that site...
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
ytc100 said:
They have 'em in black too somewhere on that site...

Basically whatever comes the cheapest I'm all for, they could be pink for all I care. They have a black in the Ice Glove - well, black and grey. That's for ice climbing though, and more expensive. And the prodigy glove.

Now I need better footwear. I've seen some people take winter boots and screw in some clips. Maybe I'll check the ice bike site for ideas.
 
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psycleridr

Guest
Let's talk feet

All great info on the hand/gloves, but what about feet? I am one of those that no matter what i have tried my feet feel like blocks of ice which makes it miserable for me, while I never have had problems with my hands either biking or skiing.
 
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