Winter Biking

The challenges of winter biking can be considered in four categories: the six U's of winter biking. (Two are double-u's)

• Keeping warm is not very different from staying warm doing other aerobic outdoor activities.
• Keeping your bike working: Salt wrecks havoc. Fenders and a serious mudflup help a lot.
• Keeping upright: Studded tires make ice much less treacherous.
• Staying unhurt: Use good lights, and wear visible clothes, and wear a helmet.

Winter Riding Tips

Staying Warm

Keeping hands and feet warm is often the hardest part.

Although winter-specific bike shoes are available, they are very expensive. A cheaper option is to forgo clipping in, and use ordinary shoes on boots on platform pedals (e.g., BMX pedals). In addition to allowing the use of inexpensive, warm footwear that you may already own, this allows quickly putting down a foot if necessary in slippery conditions. Choose shoes with plenty of room for thick socks, but don't overstuff them as tight shoes can inhibit circulation. To ensure that your blood is still warm by the time it reaches your feet, make sure you have plenty of insulation on your legs, too.

Lobster gloves (hybrids between gloves and mittens) can be helpful for riding drop bars, but for real mittens are the best for keeping fingers warm when it's really cold. The insulation in the palm should be something that doesn't compress too easily so that it still insulates when you grip the bars. Double-thick wool is excellent for this. As with feet, size up to allow circulation, and keep your arms well insulated so that they heat can reach your hands.

In extreme cold, consider chemical hand warmers. They work particularly well with mittens. You can preheat your mittens by putting the warmers in the mittens about 5 minutes before you go out in the cold. Chemical warmers are small bags of iron, cellulose, activated carbon and salt that oxidize slowly giving off heat for several hours. Because the heat liberation process is one of oxidation, they can be stopped or "turned off" by placing them in an air tight bag and squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing the bag. By using this technique one can get several commutes from a single pair of warmers.

Another option for hands is pogies--insulated covers that go over your hands and handlebars. They are best for bikes that are stored inside a warm building, so that the handlebars stay warm.

For your head, a helmet cover can help make a regular helmet warm; snow sport helmets are a nice luxury. Snow helmets come complete with warm linings and ear flaps, and some even have vents that can be opened and closed as needed while you ride. To add warmth, a thin balaclava can go under a helmet. Special balaclavas that are thin on top and thicker below are made for use with helmets.

When it's really cold, protection for your face is also nice. Neoprene face masks work well; the type that comes with a thin hood that fits easily under a helmet stays in place better than the kind that just wraps around the lower half of your head. Good quality ski goggles can protect your face from the cold, and are designed and treated to avoid fogging. For riding at night, you'll need to seek out clear lenses, which are available from most major manufactures, but may not be stocked by many dealers.

Keeping your bike Working

Fenders and a serious mudflap (almost--or actually--dragging on the ground) help keep salty slush off your bike. However, rusting chains are still a problem. The KMC rustbuster chain is treated to avoid rust and holds up much better in salty conditions. Some people find that wax-based lubes work best in salty conditions--oil-based lubes can get salt solution mixed in and become corrosive.

Bikes that don't use derailleurs--single speed bikes or bikes with the gears internal to the hub--are much more tolerant of worn, rusty chains, and also avoid issues with derailleurs freezing up. They also allow the use of full chaincases to protect the chain from dirt, salt, and water. Chaincases are popular in Europe but very hard to find in the US. See the resources section for some options.

In serious cold (well below freezing), some grease used in some bikes thickens or freezes. If you run into that, it may be helpful or necessary to repack with low-temperature-rated grease...or, as a quick fix, to flush out the grease with a light lube spray. A classic example is freewheels or freehubs, which can stop engaging when it gets cold. Detailed instructions for dealing with this are available on the icebike web site.

Staying Upright

Studded tires are great insurance for riding on expected or unexpected ice. Carbide studs last more or less forever, even riding on bare pavement. Steel studs wear out very fast on bare pavement and quickly become useless.

For snow, studs don't really matter, unless there is ice underneath the snow. Knobby tires are good for snow. Chevrons don't work as well--they allow too much sideways movement. There are two strategies for tire width and pressure. For riding on roads with moderate amounts of snow, narrow tires can cut through the snow so that you are riding on the pavement. For trails with deep snow (e.g. snowmobile trails), very wide tires with low pressure help you "float" on the snow.

Staying Unhurt

Riding in winter often means riding in the dark. Good lights and reflectors are essential.

When purchasing and mounting rear "blinkey" lights, be aware that many products direct the light in a narrow beam. These must be mounted and aimed carefully, and even then, they are not as visible to drivers coming around a curve, or drivers seated high up in a truck. The Planet Bike Superflash and the Real Lite both have relatively wide light distribution, similar to that used (and required) in car tail lights.

The best reflective material available is "conspicuity tape" made for marking trucks. It is available in red and white at most auto supply stores. Yellow is brighter than red, and is made for school buses. It is harder to find, especially in small quantities, but you can get a 15 feet for $15 which should be a lifetime supply.

Resource List

Equipment

Lights

• For generator lights, Peter White Cycles in Hillsboro NH has a web site with extensive information.
• DiNotte Lighting is a New Hampshire manufacturer of high-performance bike lights.
• The Real Lite is a giant LED tail light.
• A more compact and inexpensive tail light with excellent performance is the Planet Bike Superflash.

Parts

• The KMC Rustbuster chain is coated to prevent rust. The 1/8" version, for single-speed and internally geared bikes is available through the Quality Bike Products distributor, so almost any bike shop can order one easily, or you can mail order it from Maine, for example. The derailleur version is harder to find but here is one source.
• For studded tires, Peter White Cycles in Hillboro NH has a web site with extensive information.

Bikes

• US bikes with internal gears and chain cases include the Breezer "new" Uptown 8 and the Redline R530.
• Dutch bikes, which typically have internal gear and chain cases, are imported to North America by Fourth Floor Distribution who provide a list of Canadian and US dealers. Bikes they import include Batavus and Koga-Miyata.

Clothing

Often cycling-specific clothing is not necessary, is overpriced and/or is not meant for cold enough weather. A good first place to look for warm clothes that will work is your closet. If you do want to buy something, two sources of reasonably priced general-purpose outdoor clothing are Campmor and Sierra Trading Post. Consider also local gear stores and local thrift stores.

Information

• Icebike web site. Also links to the icebike mailing list.
• Wikipedia Icebiking page. In case you are wondering what the point of this page is, given the existence of the Wikipedia page, Wikipedia forbids things like specific product recommendations, commercial links, etc.