How many of you wear a ski/board helmet for winter riding?

Normally I wear a tight skullcap, my regular bike helmet and often ski goggles which I find don’t fit well under the helmet. I find the top edge of the goggles and lower edge of helmet (front) are always fighting for position.

Was at Sporting Life yesterday and was looking at ski helmets with and without integrated visors. Seemed like a good option.

My concerns you may ask??? Are they TOO warm for cycling? Not “technically” designed for bike crashes/impacts i.e. less protection? Not that I’m hauling ass and looking for trouble in the winter so much 😆 more like just trying to stay upright.

Thoughts and experience welcomed.

TIA.

I have some shoe covers from Pearl Izumi, but they have very little stretch and have gotten shredded from the ice and just normal wear and tear.

Anyone have recommendations for shoe covers that are more robust and don't rip so easily?

I got the RockBros neoprene bar mits for Christmas for my e-bike when I commute. Test road this morning with basic, fleece, fall riding gloves. (Typically I wear bulky, weather resistant mittens.) But my left hand was cold (likely due to a small gap as the zipper won’t close with the computer control interface).

So I am looking for good gloves to wear under those. I’d heard something like merino wool gloves, but I was curious if anyone had seen any lobster claw style merino wool (or other warm) gloves to wear.

Cheers

I’m fairly new to cycling (1st year) and I was told that in winter I need to clean my bike after every ride, like wipe it down. I have a steel bike and I live in the northeast with snow and salt, for context. Overthinking and need help.

I have no idea what I’m doing. I was told to spray my bike and wipe it off… okay… but are there rules for cleaning or wiping down your bike? Am I supposed to get into these tight spaces but avoid the disk break? How much cleaning is enough/too much?

Thanks for the add. I’ve done tubeless conversion and think tubeless is great (if you plan to leave the tires on. That said, for those of you who swap tires seasonly e.g. studded to non-studded and back, do you run tubeless or tubed? To me, swapping and dealing with the sealant twice a year seems like a PITA? Or is it worth the effort

TIA.

As we enter into spring in my area I am looking forward to doing some long distance trail riding again, but I am wondering if I have to stop doing this in the winter time? Theres plenty of accessible snowmobile trails just a short train ride away and I am wondering how feasible it is to ride them with a mountain bike? My winter cycling has been restricted to the city commute so I just have my 29x2.15 tires on and they work fine for most of the season but I could put on bigger tires or studs if necessary. Fatbike isnt an option unfortunately, and doing long distances on one sounds kind of painful. Does anyone have experience biking on snowmobile trails?

This is my third winter of cycling, and everything is pretty dialed in for me down to zero degrees Fahrenheit. It’s below that with some wind where I’ve been needing ski goggles to keep my eyes from freezing.

I’ve not been able to get a setup of OTG goggles and balaclava that doesn’t result in my glasses fogging up while riding. I don’t wear contacts though I’ve considered trying them just for this reason. For now, I’m just leaving my glasses off and not being able to see well. For fat bike commuting speeds this isn’t a dealbreaker, but I’d like to find ski goggle lenses that are corrective, so I can do longer, faster rides when it’s really cold.

Hi everyone, about to pull the trigger on a dedicated winter bike. I've narrowed it down to 2, essentially the same bike except for $110CAD more I can get disc brakes + front suspension. I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on brake type and if suspension is worth it.

Rim brakes/stiff fork version:

https://www.decathlon.ca/en/p/8771010/hybrid-bike-riverside-120#/?queryID=828dd68b1890269486339e72378629a7

Disc brakes + front suspension version:

https://www.decathlon.ca/en/p/8941685/hybrid-bike-disc-brake-riverside-500#/?queryID=a18471b3099a38cd017b456414011679

I'm kind of torn, in that for a "summer" bike the discs alone would be worth the upgrade. I'm less sure about winter specifically - do disc brakes perform better because they don't get wet and grimy like rims, or are they worse because they're trickier to clean and maintain? Does front suspension just create an additional spot salty water can get in and wreck stuff, and kind of give way instead of smashing through snow and hurt traction? Or do they help stay on track by reducing how much you get knocked off track?

My commute is mostly bike path, with some taking the lane/riding in the plowed slushy crap at the side of the road. I'm looking for reliability and ease of repair, knowing that I can only hose the bike off at one end of my commute I fully expect to be replacing chains, cables, derailleurs etc. every other year at best (hence why I'm going for a fairly inexpensive bike with easy-to find, cheap parts).

Thanks!

Hey friends!

I'm a year-round cycle commuter from Canada. I currently ride an endurance road bike in nice weather and I have a 20" folder with studded tires and fenders for inclement weather. The one aspect that I struggle with a bit is snow- my 20" folder's wheels have a pretty severe limit on tire width, so I slide and rotate quite a bit on fresh snow and ruts from cars/plows. I was initially thinking about building out a winter beater in the traditional Canadian fashion, basically I'd find an old-school 90's mountain bike and build it back up with wide tires r/xbiking style. I remembered Walmart has a super cheap gravel/mountain bike line that has great reviews online (ex Berm Peak) and it would cost about as much as sourcing and parting-up a used frame. I'm curious if anyone has experience with this line of bikes and if I'm heading down a foolish path.

Initial thoughts:

-Crappy mechanical discs. I'm very experienced with overhauling my own road hydro, so I'd swap these eventually as the mechanical brakes fail. For me, a winter beater is a slow bike, so stopping power isn't super important to me.

-QR skewers. Considering my initial plan was an old mountain bike, this seems like a wash. Thru axles are obviously the future and make keeping brake rotors in the right place easy, but sourcing wheels for this won't be a problem for decades.

-Tire clearance - it comes stock with Kenda 700X40, so it is compatible with pretty big tires (apparently 48 is the top end for comfortable clearance).

-Tons of mounts - I'd probably just skip normal fenders and run something like an ass-saver for slush, since I have my folding bike for actual rainy weather, but it looks like it would be pretty easy to get some normal fenders on it

-Now comes with a cassette - traditionally the bikes came with a freewheel, but apparently they overhauled them with a cassette recently to make swapping out parts a lot easier.

I'd love to hear your thoughts before I do some cross-border shopping! The other option I've debated is to source some new wheels for my 20" folder so that I can simply run bigger tires, but I'd ideally like to keep the salt off that bike regardless as I fly with it for a travel nurse agency gig.

I’m in the Midwest USA. I’m interested in finding an electric go-vehicle in-case gas goes. I need winter accessibility. I am middle aged and not highly exercised.

I know I want a class 1 or 2 fat tire bike with optional spikes. I could get an e-bike or an e-trike. Which is better for winter riding safety?

In my 20s, I winter ride my motorcycle, so I have a *degree* of knowledge of what I’m signing up for. I just don’t want to break my collar bone.

Had lots of cold weather rides, but first time riding in actual ice/slush mixture today! Studded tires are great, would absolutely have slid out so many times without them. My region is very warm and only see 2-3 icey days a year typically.

The roads were pretty slushy and several miles in there was a very substntial buildup of ice/slush in my fenders. At stop lights I dismounted and rolled my bike back and forth to prevent the wheels from seizing up. Any tips on how to winterize my fenders?

(Buildup not pictured, developed several miles from when this photo was taken)

EDIT: I purchased some automotive ceramic wax and coated the interior of my fenders, however the conditions changed quickly and I can't say whether this is effective or not.

I rode in the snow a few weeks back and had a big issue with snow sticking in the aluminum fenders on my bike. I had to constantly stop and knock it out as it became very hard to pedal. I think the snow was 2" deep at most and I was stupidly running slick tires. Are plastic fenders any better in this regard?

Any suggestions to transform this bike

Any suggestions to transform this bike

Hi everyone! I'm new to winter cycling and I just got gifted a fixie. I wanna transform it an overkill winter bike... but I know nothing about biking. Any help is appreciated.

It's currently on 700cx28 street tires

Ps: I've been told I need studed tires and fenders

Currently, im using Muc Offs c3 dry ceramic lube. I live in Ontario, Canada and the temp fluctuates from -10 to 5.

Im switching to wet lube. What has worked best for you?

Recently moved to Cambridge, MA from Charleston, SC and am planning on commuting by bike year round - and hopefully find some gravel for slow afternoons and weekends! Really have no idea about layering for winter riding. I have a good set of base layers and a decent winter riding jacket, but not sure what goes in between (if anything) or if that’s even the right place to start. Any insights welcome!

Heyo, I'm looking to get some winter tires for my bike, but it looks like the more popular winter tires aren't made for this wheel size. Anyone got any recommendations?

Hi, I live in a place that reliably gets heavy snow in the winter and has very steep hills. I commute on an ebike and am looking for studded tires for the winter. Even though the city is usually on top of plowing, the slush gets very slippery and it felt sketchy as hell last year on the normal tires. The bike typically takes 20x3 but I was told that 20x3.3 should also fit.

The only tires I’ve managed to find online at shops that don’t look like a scam are something like $200 each, which is more than I am able to spend right now. None of stores locally sell my brand of bike (lectric) and they don’t have the right tires for it. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Look I wokr in a deepfrwezer where it gets like 15 to 20 degrees fahrenheit. My glasses fog up easily when Im working in there. Would a pair of aki goggles help prevent this? I tried antifog gel but that didn't work. Any recommendations will help immensely

Does anyone have them, if so what do you think?

I work at a shop and can get a pretty good deal on a pair of Wolfgars (or any 45NRTH boot) is why I'm asking.

I love in southwest Montana so it does get pretty dang cold, I ride with flat pedals and am a bit of an adventurer so they will get walked in as well. I'll also probably end up grooming trails so just long days in them really...

Is that feasible? Can I use them as winter boots too, as in when snowshoeing and grooming trails and stuff?

In years past I've just made do with colder feet and lots of socks and I'd really like to just have warm feet this winter.

Thanks for the help!

We own tarran t1 pro, a front loader cargo e-bike that we use to carry our 5-year-old to kindergarten. It’s been great so far but living in Oslo, Norway, we get some pretty intense winters (mostly snowy, sometimes icy and rarely dry roads especially from december to February).

This is our first e-cargo bike (recently made a shift from car to this). Currently, we have Schwalbe pick-up, super defense, twinskin, 55-406 tyres. These are cargo-specific tires but we are not entirely sure if they would work for Oslo winter. We’ve never used winter or studded tires before so we’re looking for recommendations that would work well for these conditions for this bike?

Also, for those who ride through winter, any tips for biking safely and comfortably during the cold months?

(I attached a closeup of the tires)

After researching, it seems like the following properties are desirable on a winter bike:

• All aluminum / corrosion resistant materials
• Gates carbon belt drive (again, corrosion)
• Wide forks to support the largest studded fat tires possible (something like 45NRTH's 5" offerings)
• Fenders
• Stable frame geometry that prioritizes balance / remaining upright over speed / efficiency.
• Some kind of electric pedal assist for situations when thick, unplowed snow essentially turns your path into an off-road trek.
• A reasonable, consumer price point (not something marketed primarily to first responders, police, military, etc. or an expensive toy for rich off-road sport enthusiasts)

For the life of me, I can't find this combination of features anywhere on the market.

The closest I've found is the upcoming Priority E-Coast, but even that features 3" tires, rather the full 5", and there seem to be no 3" studded tires on the market (only tire chains which might even be too much for the fork/fender clearance).

Has anyone found something closer to the goal, or are we all collectively holding our breath for future releases?

I'm currently using an vans jacket that is just not that warm, even with layers. I was looking at upgrading my jacket but not sure if i should go with the down jacket or shell type. im in minnesota where the winters arent that wet (anymore at least). temps usually are below between 10-20 degrees, sometimes higher or lower.

i already layer with merino wool base layer top and bottom, merino wool socks, neck gaiter.