So, like I said before, I would elaborate more on the bike and it's components that would be necessary for commuting in Winter. In my last post I talked about the basic riding gear that should accompany you as you ride in the sub-freezing temps. All well and god if you've got the bike taken care of, so here we'll talk about that.
There's plenty of options when it comes to exactly what type of bike to ride. However, it mostly comes down to what you put onto the bike that will make the biggest differences. You can have a hybrid, mountain or road styled bike and find ways of commuting to work or school or whatever it may be.
For me, I'v lucked upon a cyclocross bike. I have a Trek Cronus from 2013 frame, with a random assortment of parts. From the Sram drivetrain, consisting of all Force components and a Rival crank to the TRP RevoX Carbon brakes.
One of the nice things about having a cross bike is the tire clearance. Unlike many road bikes, cross bikes will either run a cantilever brake setup or a disc brake setup, leaving ample room for running larger/wider tires with more treak or studs if need be. While some not having the same braking power as you may find on a road bike, the cross bikes will still do a great job stopping when need be.
The most important thing to get covered when thinking about components on your bike when commuting through the Winter is your tires. Tires have so many variations from slick to studded. And depending on your riding conditions, this could vary from day to day. One day having a few minimal rubber bumps to grab hold on the cold ground, to studs when you could encounter sheets of ice while riding. From my standpoint, it's better to have a little too much tire, than not enough. As I found out today sliding out on my heavily rubbereized nubs of rubber sliding and falling down on some ice. Luckily I was only going a few miles an hour, transferring from the sidewalk to a helix to cross a bike bridge. Mostly I was just embarrased. But I learned about leaning and sliding pretty quick.
In that situation having studded tires would have been ideal. And probably will be for the rest of the Winter up here in Wisconsin.
Going beyond the tires, there's a handful of other things to think about. One thing I do highly recommend is getting some fenders. You may not need them everyday, but when there is snow on the ground, it's either have them or show up with a wet butt and a dirty bike. For the past month I've been riding without them and finally got a set on. Boy can I tell you what a difference they make. Not only do they keep me drier, but my brakes stay cleaner, my butt stays drier, and the vast majority of the bike stays cleaner, too.
Besides the fenders and tires, there's a few other small parts to pick up. But beyond these, you don't need to worry much about it for now. Invest in some quality tires for whatever bike you have. And make sure to have a few pairs. Three would be ideal. A little bit of nubs for the drier, less slippery days. A heavy rubber nubbed pair for the thicker snowy days or heavy slush days. And finally a studded pair. For those days when it's just icy and terrible.
-Dave
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