Are you going to ride in snow?

Prairie Dog said:
@Latitude rides on A/S Marathon GTs during the winter and I believe, at one point, he decided to park his bike. I can't comment on what conditions others are riding on during the winter but I would certainly err on the side of caution and install A/S tires as a minimum requirement. Sometimes it's hard to avoid ice especially if its there is snow covering it. Even tires with about half the number of studs as most other winter tires such as the Schwalbe Winter K-Guard would provide peace of mind when encountering small patches of ice and won’t break the bank either.
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Yep. He put it away for a while. So did I, even though I didn't plan to, but the stupid amount of snow we got this year made up my mind fast. But I could easily justify a set of knobbies for mud and snow, and probably will. Just don't think I'm tough enough for ice cold rides, so studs seem overkill.
 
Art Deco said:
Since you guys know tires ... if I stay off the icey stuff next winter, will offroad/knobby tires do ok in 4 or 5 inches of snow? They don't seem to clear trails around here in winter.
Edit a Como with 650b maybe two and a quarter inch wide.
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I find the Marathon GT 365 tires are good in 4 or 5” of fresh snow, and on packed snow. Snow that has settled and is heavy/slushy or rutted is more problematic. Directional stability really suffers. So I tend to avoid just about anything but fresh or smooth packed snow. And ice, must avoid ice from now on! Ouch.
 
Latitude said:
I find the Marathon GT 365 tires are good in 4 or 5” of fresh snow, and on packed snow. Snow that has settled and is heavy/slushy or rutted is more problematic. Directional stability really suffers. So I tend to avoid just about anything but fresh or smooth packed snow. And ice, must avoid ice from now on! Ouch.
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Yep, now that I'm retired I'm not even driving on ice. Are you recovering from the crash OK? It takes a long time for us nowadays...
 
Art Deco said:
Yep, now that I'm retired I'm not even driving on ice. Are you recovering from the crash OK? It takes a long time for us nowadays...
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Yes, I got off lucky. Still a really sore shoulder, like a pulled muscle, and a couple of minor bruises. On the mend but off the bike still, it hurts to put my arm forward like riding. I keep forgetting my age.
 
Latitude said:
Yes, I got off lucky. Still a really sore shoulder, like a pulled muscle, and a couple of minor bruises. On the mend but off the bike still, it hurts to put my arm forward like riding. I keep forgetting my age.
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"Forgetting my age" is why I bought my bike in the first place ...
 
Finally back out on the bike today. Most roads and trails are clear, and Lake Huron is melting. My shoulder held up pretty well, the exercise was good I think.

2FC92C58-1973-4660-894D-6F98365B06A5.jpeg
 
It really seems odd to think of an entire great lake melting. It's been years since l was up at Lake Erie in winter, but I do remember a frozen shoreline and people ice fishing, and sailing for hours in a pretty big boat just to go around a peninsula that barely showed up on a map.
But I have trouble even visualizing it now, though I know the great lakes together are really an inland freshwater sea with 100s (thousands?) of miles of shoreline.
Glad to hear you are able to ride again. And that the d@#m ice is melting.
 
Snow Warrior

Here’s a poignant NFB documentary that delves into the struggles of an Edmonton bike courier during one of Alberta's infamously cold winters.

www.nfb.ca

Snow Warrior

Snow Warrior is a love letter to the splendour of winter. It captures the beauty of a northern city through the eyes of a bicycle courier named Mariah. …
www.nfb.ca www.nfb.ca

More here.
 
Prairie Dog said:
Snow Warrior

Here’s a poignant NFB documentary that delves into the struggles of an Edmonton bike courier during one of Alberta's infamously cold winters.

www.nfb.ca

Snow Warrior

Snow Warrior is a love letter to the splendour of winter. It captures the beauty of a northern city through the eyes of a bicycle courier named Mariah. …
www.nfb.ca www.nfb.ca

More here.
Click to expand...
tldw;
:)
Does she use any winter tyres?
 
That’s a good question Stefan as it doesn’t appear that she’s riding on studs in the doc. Perhaps it’s sort a badge of honor among couriers. Amazing that she even clips in during the winter season.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
How smart was I not to replace winter tyres yet...

View attachment 81921

Guys! I've got fiber broadband as of today! Now I can watch Netflix in 4K :) What I'm missing is a better PCI Wi-Fi card to make full use of the fast connection... (ordered).
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All the very best ebicycles and accessories available... Add then the proper riding practices.. especially maintaining precise cadence during all your rides and now the foresight to keep the proper tires on your bike...
Really Stefan.. you are absolutely the best on this site if not the entire planet 👍 🤣 😘
 
Well I'm gambling a bit and I took the plunge (ok I was a little bored and needed to do something). I've swapped out the studded winter tires (Kahvas) for my summers (Donnelly Stradas). And oh boy is the bike fast (or conversely I was slow on the studs). My ebike is a recent setup (late fall) of a Surly Bridge Club so I didn't get a lot of time on the faster lighter rubber before the snow came .... so the change over now really made a difference.

I figure even if we get more snow (likely) that it will be wet or will fall with rain afterwards, and with the consistently warm daytime temps the ground will be a lot warmer so it will melt relatively quickly. Worst case, I can wait a day or two for any slippery conditions to improve.

Swapping the tires was also done with a spring tune up. General cleaning (boy do fenders make a huge difference (see link in post above .... ewwwwww). Close inspection of front fork dropouts (no problems). Cleaning up the wiring from the fall installation of the front hub kit (tighter wraps using new hook/loop tape). Then a little lube, a few adjustments and an overall cleaning.

I still have a slightly squeaky front brake rotor and the front fender needs to be adjusted a bit more ... but I have a week of good weather so lots of time to tinker with little things in preparation for an active spring/summer/fall.

Come on Spring!
 
@Stefan Mikes - I've held off on swapping out the Wrathchilds for the time being as I can't ride the trails without them given the current ground conditions. Even with the recent double digit temps, there's still plenty of ice and hard pack to negotiate. I'll post a full accounting of Thursday morning's ride tomorrow.

Good to know that you will be milking a few more kms out of those winter skins Stefan! 👍
 
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