Author Topic: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .  (Read 5896 times)

GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23129
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« on: April 21, 2014, 10:16:45 AM »
 . . . yes, there are a few moments of beauty in the snow.  Yes, it's fun to blast past traffic that's hardly moving.  Yes, cycling to work at -40 and hearing people come in from the parking lot complain about the cold does grant you a certain amount of manliness.

But the real reason . . . is mornings like today.  7 degrees C (44 F) with hardly any wind this morning.  No rain or snow.  The sun, just high enough in the sky to not make bike lights necessary.  After all those dark below zero mornings and snow/wind/ice it's just the nicest feeling . . . almost euphoric.  Everything is lighter, quicker, and more comfortable.  Fuck I love spring.

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2014, 04:01:46 PM »
It felt real weird, almost surreal, to be biking in shorts and short sleeves past two days. I had to remember to pack extra water.

FuckRx

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 793
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2014, 04:22:16 PM »
. . . yes, there are a few moments of beauty in the snow.  Yes, it's fun to blast past traffic that's hardly moving.  Yes, cycling to work at -40 and hearing people come in from the parking lot complain about the cold does grant you a certain amount of manliness.

But the real reason . . . is mornings like today.  7 degrees C (44 F) with hardly any wind this morning.  No rain or snow.  The sun, just high enough in the sky to not make bike lights necessary.  After all those dark below zero mornings and snow/wind/ice it's just the nicest feeling . . . almost euphoric.  Everything is lighter, quicker, and more comfortable.  Fuck I love spring.

that's amazing!! such a cool post. cheers.
what do you wear as head gear/face gear to protect from the cold wind?

samburger

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 257
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2014, 04:24:32 PM »
I walked to the bank this morning. 60 degrees, drizzly, grass blazing green for the first time since september. I nearly cried.

GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23129
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2014, 05:47:48 AM »
what do you wear as head gear/face gear to protect from the cold wind?

I have a face mask like this:


and wear a double knit thinsulate winter toque under my helmet.  In combination with some packing tape to cover the vents in your helmet your head will stay comfortably warm to -40 that way.  The benefit of the face mask/touque over using a balaclava is that you can unattach the velcro at the back of the face mask while riding and stuff it into a pocket if it gets too warm.  Covering the face starts to get necessary any time you get around/below -5 to -10 C with some wind.

George_PA

  • Guest
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2014, 10:26:06 PM »
Now that the weather is finally getting warmer again, last week, I was adjusting the derailleurs and noticed that from biking this winter my bike was covered in a coating of dried salt residual.  It was from going through all those alleys and roads covered with snow and slush. 

The salt is high corrosive and will destroy metal quickly, thus a friendly recommendation to fellow mustachians is to get the hose out in mid April and spray it thoroughly and scrub down your bike after all that winter riding.

   

GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23129
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2014, 06:11:20 AM »
You don't want to leave that salt on your bike all winter long!  Take a large watering can filled with hot water and rinse off your bike at the bottom of your driveway every time you come back from a long or particularly slushy/snowy ride in the winter.  Make sure to completely rinse off the chain, cassette, front and rear derailleurs, and brake pivots (as well as anything else that looks salty).  Then bounce your bike a few times to knock the water off, run a rag along the chain to dry it off and reapply lube.  Takes about 3 minutes start to finish, and keeps your bike from getting too much corrosion.  Water doesn't hurt stuff, but that road salt is murder on bikes.

If I didn't do this in the winter my bike would have completely disintegrated from rust by now, but we salt like crazy in Toronto.

Cinder

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 468
  • Location: Central PA
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2014, 02:13:42 PM »
You don't want to leave that salt on your bike all winter long! 
...
Water doesn't hurt stuff, but that road salt is murder on bikes.

If I didn't do this in the winter my bike would have completely disintegrated from rust by now, but we salt like crazy in Toronto.

Thanks for that advice!  I live in Central PA, and we salt like crazy.  I was wondering what the 'proper' technique was.  I also had a bit of rust on my chain, and I picked up a chain cleaning kit and some chain lube, looks really nice.  My derailleur seems a little more 'sticky' though.  What's the best way to get into alll the moving parts and clean them up?

TrMama

  • Guest
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2014, 03:14:40 PM »
The only way to get them really clean is to take it apart, clean each piece and then put them back together.

Take some photos as you disassemble so you can get everything put back together again.

GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23129
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2014, 07:00:14 AM »
Yeah, everything has to come apart in the spring for a soak in some degreaser, then be dried and re-greased.  I like to use marine grease on anything that doesn't need to move (seat post tube, any screw that goes into the bike to hold on your racks/water bottle holders) as it's pretty waterproof and keeps all the crap out of the bike.  I use snowmobile grease on the bike hubs so they don't freeze solid when it gets down to -30.

I grease my cables all winter long to keep water out of the cable housings.  If your derailleur is getting sticky, check the bit of cable housing near the rear wheel of the bike, and grease/lube up the cable in that area, then work the derailleur back and forth a few times to pull the lube into the housing.  This will make things much smoother.  Might actually be a good time to replace your cables, winter cycling is hard on them.

Remember to check your chain often in the winter (take a measuring tape, the center pin on one of the links should match up exactly with the center pin 12 inches away.  1/16th of an inch over and the chain is almost done.  1/8th of an inch over and you absolutely need to change the chain.  More than that and you probably need a new cassette too.

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2014, 05:43:33 AM »
Watering can with hot water is a good tip. I'll have to remember that!

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the dumbass pedestrians that hog the entire path of a MUT and don't move no matter how many times I shout "on your left!" Or they do move, but not until I'm two feet away. Sigh. I'm starting to enjoy the rainy days more....

I could change my route, but that particular trail is the only smooth surface running east-west for a couple miles. Everything else is tied up in construction or potholed to hell.

PindyStache

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 241
  • Location: Minneapolis
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2014, 03:51:31 PM »
Watering can with hot water is a good tip. I'll have to remember that!

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the dumbass pedestrians that hog the entire path of a MUT and don't move no matter how many times I shout "on your left!" Or they do move, but not until I'm two feet away. Sigh. I'm starting to enjoy the rainy days more....

I could change my route, but that particular trail is the only smooth surface running east-west for a couple miles. Everything else is tied up in construction or potholed to hell.

I hear you! Don't worry, most will start out the season with best of intentions but will quickly peter out and the trails will get emptier again... until the day bikes have the main traffic lanes connecting all throughout town and cars are relegated to specific car-trails that only go here-and-there within cities!

GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23129
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2014, 07:16:36 AM »
Watering can with hot water is a good tip. I'll have to remember that!

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the dumbass pedestrians that hog the entire path of a MUT and don't move no matter how many times I shout "on your left!" Or they do move, but not until I'm two feet away. Sigh. I'm starting to enjoy the rainy days more....

I could change my route, but that particular trail is the only smooth surface running east-west for a couple miles. Everything else is tied up in construction or potholed to hell.

I hear you! Don't worry, most will start out the season with best of intentions but will quickly peter out and the trails will get emptier again... until the day bikes have the main traffic lanes connecting all throughout town and cars are relegated to specific car-trails that only go here-and-there within cities!

And people ask the drivers, "Did you DRIVE here?  That's so crazy!  Haven't you seen the weather outside?  You must be so brave to drive in conditions like this!  I just rode my bike."

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #13 on: April 29, 2014, 07:33:57 AM »
Had the first ride of our fledgling Mustachian bike club last night. I think we all agreed we liked winter better than rain (unless it's warm rain).

BenzoV

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: The real reason I bike in the winter . . .
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2014, 08:25:24 AM »
I also live in western pennsylvania, the saltiest place west of the Atlantic come February, My best practice for keeping my salty bike clean in the winter is:

1) Quick Spray off with a hand pump garden sprayer ($25 bucks) before bringing the bike inside. Just enough to get the salt off.  I keep this right inside the front door.

2) After it drip dries on some entry mats, I'll apply a liberal spray of tri-flow from a aresol can on the chain, cassette, and rear derailleur.

3) Wipe down excess spray from chain and derailleur.  Sometimes I'll do a second pass of triflow or other lube on the chain, depending on how grungy my rags are after the first wipedown.

I take the chain off the bike and clean it with some simple green about once a month to get the really stubborn grit out.  Replace the chain after the rainy spring season.

I also keep a small spray bottle full of 90% rubbing alcohol and dust my brake rotors or rim brake surface and give a quick wipedown every now and then to keep the brakes working smooth.  Especially in case of overspray from lubing the chain.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!