winter riding

oneoff

I've just changed over to my winter bike, which prompted me to post this photo of my 2014 cube peloton taken last year at Blackstone Edge Reservoir, which stands at the top of Cragg Vale. Cragg Vale is claimed by some to be the longest continual ascent in England.
Forget the Turbo, buy some winter gear and get out there.
You know you want to.

Best wishes,

dannbodge

I do both. If it's stormy or icy and midweek I'll jump on the turbo. There's no way i'm going out when there's ice. I like not having broken bones.

Still fail to understand why people hate others that use the turbo etc.

Riding on a turbo in rubbish weather doesn't make you any less of a cyclist than one that goes out in anything.

ugo.santalucia

I don’t mind the going out in rubbish weather.., it’s the faff that comes after… cleaning, washing, drying, mopping… you name it…

oxoman

I was told that winter riding is character building. Cant beat it other than the cleaning afterwards. PS nice picture oneoff.

plymouthsteve

It's that or that.
Electric mtb for exploration, bad weather or when I've thought of every other excuse not to ride.
Or, 2024 Allez being tweeked into winter beauty with hydraulic discs, full length fenders (not shown), 32c tubeless and aluminium frame. Lucky boy!
Not clever enough to put pictures straight though 😕

me-109

A full six months of last autumn -winter-spring were spent purely on the indoor trainer with not a wheel turned in anger outside. And that's with an MTB and a gravel bike in the stable. I couldn't summon the enthusiasm to bolt the mudguards into the gravel bike and face the outdoors due to the previously mentioned post-ride faff. That and actually facing the cold for prolonged periods.

This year's looking more of the same. Whenever there's been good weather I've had other commitments.

mrb123

webboo

plymouthsteve said:

It's that or that.
Electric mtb for exploration, bad weather or when I've thought of every other excuse not to ride.
Or, 2024 Allez being tweeked into winter beauty with hydraulic discs, full length fenders (not shown), 32c tubeless and aluminium frame. Lucky boy!
Not clever enough to put pictures straight though 😕

Fenders 😱 just where do you live Plymouth steve. They are MUDGUARDS in the UK.

oneoff

Hi mrb123,
Impressive!

plymouthsteve

Mrb123, yes that is a fantastic picture, and the right way up.
And, OK.. mudguards.. or actually rain guards surely?

super_davo

Again both have their place. Turbo trainer is great because you don't have the whole cleaning and maintenance faff that goes with winter riding, and you can do it any time of the day. But I wouldn't want it to be the only riding I do and winter for me means long social club rides usually with a race against the light on the way home (which I very much enjoy).

But that picture... I have ridden that road many a time and there is no way I would want to do any of the three possible descents from there in the winter on a rim brake bike with 25mm tyres.
For winter, disc brakes and 30mm plus tyres make a massive difference - allowing you to bomb along giving as much thought to lines and stopping distance as you do in the summer.

paulbnix

I don't understand all this cleaning that people complain about.
All I do is hose the chain if I've been on gritty roads then a good spray with GT85.
The rest of the disc braked bike will survive a bit of road muck.
If I'm lucky then next time I go out I'll end up in a rain storm that will clean most of the muck off.

pep.fermi

I don't ride on the roads (for sport) when it's dark, not safe. Riding in the no-car forest near home no problem, my light is good enough and I know all trails.

And I don't ride when it rains (though this is very rare), because I fear the next day I will be ill. So it wouldn't be one more day of riding, it would be some fewer days of riding.

Haven't been on the turbo this season yet. But maybe I would have if I didn't also do running and swimming.

webboo

plymouthsteve said:

Mrb123, yes that is a fantastic picture, and the right way up.
And, OK.. mudguards.. or actually rain guards surely?

No mudguards, the same as mud flaps not rain flaps.

pblakeney

webboo said:

plymouthsteve said:

Mrb123, yes that is a fantastic picture, and the right way up.
And, OK.. mudguards.. or actually rain guards surely?

No mudguards, the same as mud flaps not rain flaps.

Yeah. They don't protect the tyres from rain, they protect the rider from muck thrown up by the tyres.

davebradswmb

pep.fermi said:

I don't ride on the roads (for sport) when it's dark, not safe. Riding in the no-car forest near home no problem, my light is good enough and I know all trails.

And I don't ride when it rains (though this is very rare), because I fear the next day I will be ill. So it wouldn't be one more day of riding, it would be some fewer days of riding.

Haven't been on the turbo this season yet. But maybe I would have if I didn't also do running and swimming.

Why do you think that riding on roads in the dark is not safe? I do it every year, there is an argument that you are more visible riding with lights at night. Every year it takes me a couple of rides to get used to reading the road in the dark again, but after that it's all good.

davebradswmb

From a ride in the snow from 3 years ago on knobbly tyres. I have since invested in studded tyres for when it gets icy on my commute, slow but effective.

I won't ride on the roads for fun in ice, it just isn't fun, but I take the 'cross bike into the woods and have a blast, it's a great workout and much nicer than a turbo session. And cleaning up after takes maybe 10 minutes with a hose as I'm not at all precious about this bike.

ugo.santalucia

paulbnix said:

I don't understand all this cleaning that people complain about.
All I do is hose the chain if I've been on gritty roads then a good spray with GT85.
The rest of the disc braked bike will survive a bit of road muck.
If I'm lucky then next time I go out I'll end up in a rain storm that will clean most of the muck off.

As always, it depends how well equipped (read wealthy) you are. For example, if you can get in and out of a garage, rather than from your main door, that saves some work. If you have outdoor space to hose the bike, that saves some work... if you have someone doing the laundry for you, that saves some work, if you have a permanently set up workshop, that saves some work. If you have none of the above, then any wet ride is a nightmare.

thegreatdivide

super_davo said:

But that picture... I have ridden that road many a time and there is no way I would want to do any of the three possible descents from there in the winter on a rim brake bike with 25mm tyres.
For winter, disc brakes and 30mm plus tyres make a massive difference - allowing you to bomb along giving as much thought to lines and stopping distance as you do in the summer.

What did people do before disc brakes and wider tyres? Stay inside until spring? Avoid any form of descent?

I used to (most of us used to) grind my way through the dark wet and cold months on rim brake bikes and 25mm tyres (23mm before that etc etc) and although I now have several bikes with wide tyres and disc brakes inc the gravel and I'm lucky enough to have a well stocked workshop and an area to clean, I just can't be ar$ed when it's grim outside these days. It's way easier to kill myself on the turbo over winter and come out the other end fit and ready for the good months - plus my drivetrains thank me for it.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Since getting my first smart turbo days before Xmas '17, I've only rarely made the effort to go on "proper rides" into the South Downs lanes between November and the end of February most years, when we've had consecutive days of dry weather that isn't so likely to cover my road bike drivetrain in muddy grit.

This winter I might make more effort to head out, but on the hybrid, as I only managed to get up to the some hill climbs (various ways up Beacon plus Beaches near Bishops Waltham) a handful of times over the last 14 months. I hoped to do a loop around Old Winchester Hill, but weather and fatigue have been against me in the last six weeks.

Having the turbo permanently setup makes it so easy to get changed into summer kit and do a session, whether that's z1 for ~30mins; an ERG workout or a short virtual race etc.

mrb123

I abandoned night riding a few years ago once I bought a smart turbo and a mule bike to go on it.

I was always happy riding on unlit country roads as felt pretty visible to the few cars I'd see. Getting out of town always felt a bit dodgy though. I nearly got mown down a couple of times at a particular roundabout where drivers seemed to struggle to see me despite me having decent lights.

Plus there was always the concern about coming off on a patch of ice or frost. The back roads soon turn sparkly once the sun goes down. Unfortunately the quiet roads tend to be the untreated ones.

Provided I can get out in daylight I do still ride outside all year round though. The cold, dry winter days can be among the best. Fortunately I do have a dedicated winter/bad weather bike and some decent kit - proper winter boots are great to have as are the right gloves for cold or wet conditions.

pep.fermi

ugo.santalucia said:

paulbnix said:

I don't understand all this cleaning that people complain about.
All I do is hose the chain if I've been on gritty roads then a good spray with GT85.
The rest of the disc braked bike will survive a bit of road muck.
If I'm lucky then next time I go out I'll end up in a rain storm that will clean most of the muck off.

As always, it depends how well equipped (read wealthy) you are. For example, if you can get in and out of a garage, rather than from your main door, that saves some work. If you have outdoor space to hose the bike, that saves some work... if you have someone doing the laundry for you, that saves some work, if you have a permanently set up workshop, that saves some work. If you have none of the above, then any wet ride is a nightmare.

Very good point.
At my cheapest, as a student, I kept my bike in my room, the one room where I slept and studied as I had no other space. Not much mud cleaning or workshopping was reasonable there. Now I own a house. With a big patio under a glass roof, a big garage, a small garage full with more ParkTool than I'm capable of using, a big wooden garden shed, and a huge garden. Any cleaning and workshopping is easy, sensible and very pleasant.
I'm an awful mechanics but this is another story...

paulbnix

I accept the point you have made Ugo.
I do have a garage and a hose pipe.

I just don't clean my bike every time it gets dirty because its only going to get dirty again in a day or two.

ugo.santalucia

paulbnix said:

I accept the point you have made Ugo.
I do have a garage and a hose pipe.

I just don't clean my bike every time it gets dirty because its only going to get dirty again in a day or two.

not just the bike… floors, clothes, shoes, the lot…

Dorset_Boy

paulbnix said:

I accept the point you have made Ugo.
I do have a garage and a hose pipe.

I just don't clean my bike every time it gets dirty because its only going to get dirty again in a day or two.

Your drivetrain etc will get worn really quickly, but maybe you are happy to replace such things very frequently.
Others aren't.

pblakeney

My winter days have tailed off since I got an indoor trainer. I will still go out if it is dry and not overly windy but you don't buy a dog and bark yourself. 🤣

paulbnix

Dorset_Boy said:

paulbnix said:

I accept the point you have made Ugo.
I do have a garage and a hose pipe.

I just don't clean my bike every time it gets dirty because its only going to get dirty again in a day or two.

Your drivetrain etc will get worn really quickly, but maybe you are happy to replace such things very frequently.
Others aren't.

I wasn't completly accurate - the chain is the one thing I wash and relube.
Probably get about 2000 miles out of a winter chain.
Discs seem to look after themselves with pads lasting about 1k and I've recently replaced the front rotor at 6k. Rear is 8k+ and no real wear on the rotor.

pep.fermi

paulbnix said:

Discs seem to look after themselves with pads lasting about 1k and I've recently replaced the front rotor at 6k. Rear is 8k+ and no real wear on the rotor.

Interesting.
I replaced my pads zillions of times but never any disc. Just never thought about it
Maybe I should. How to know when to change the disc? I will Google it.

paulbnix

pep.fermi said:

paulbnix said:

Discs seem to look after themselves with pads lasting about 1k and I've recently replaced the front rotor at 6k. Rear is 8k+ and no real wear on the rotor.

Interesting.
I replaced my pads zillions of times but never any disc. Just never thought about it
Maybe I should. How to know when to change the disc? I will Google it.

I hadn't thought about it until I was chatting to my mate during a snack stop on a ride and he said my rotor looked worn.
You could see depression covering the braking area.
The spec says 1.8 mm deep and replace when it gets to 1.5.
Mine were exactly that.

davebradswmb

ugo.santalucia said:

paulbnix said:

I accept the point you have made Ugo.
I do have a garage and a hose pipe.

I just don't clean my bike every time it gets dirty because its only going to get dirty again in a day or two.

not just the bike… floors, clothes, shoes, the lot…

Good point. I have a patio area with a hosepipe mounted next to the back door and a washing machine just inside the back door so I can strip off outside and bundle everything in without too much mud ending up on the kitchen floor. The trees at the bottom of the garden ensure that no neighbours get a nasty shock.

davebradswmb

Off road riding at night is great fun too. I don't do anything extreme and get away with a couple of 800 lumen lights. You feel that you're going about twice as fast as you actually are.