Currently Riding a Ribble R872 and loving every moment. It’s really spurred me on to keep up the KM’s in the winter months. I’m guessing that the Dark months wont have the best effect on the R782 in the grit and rain and crappness.

Whats the general opinion on the matter? do you don’t you?

I did this weekend. £300 well spent in my opinion. Just got to get some full length guards on it.

yes – thread closed

no – thread open

do you get a winter MTB?

Yep. Full length guards are a god send in the depths of winter. I have some old tiagra/ sora kit to bolt to a frame. The stuff is that old and cheap I not give two hoots if it gets trashed.

I have a R872 .. the internal routing is not ideal for winter use. No way to clean the cables after a wet ride etc and they quickly corode .. or mine did last years anyways.

I have a cheap alu winter bike. It has all the scars of winter use too .. from flaking paint to shifters, pedals, rear mechs that look as if somebody has attacked it with a grinder.

One good thing about a solid heavy winter bike is when you go back to the summer bike .. everything is just so fast!!

I got a cross bike after crashing my Scott carbon road bike last winter. Was lucky that it was just the rear hanger rather than the SRAM red mech. Thought a cross bike would be good for winter use and touring/gravel/bridleways etc and with sora components, it’s cheap to replace worn or crash damaged parts.

Yes. I have winter MTB and just about to buy a new best road bike so can downgrade current race bike to winter duties.
With the MTB I got fed up wearing out all the full suss bearings etc as well as crud in cables, ruined drivetrain and wear to forks so bought a steel hardtail. Trouble is the Soul is such fun I ride it almost as much in the summer now but at least when I do ride it in the winter it doesn’t cost a fortune in wear and tear.

Yes, but that’s the only road bike. I don’t race on the road – just miles for fitness and days out. So full guards, cheap heavy bits etc.

Makes all the difference on mucky, wet days – no need to worry about it too much.

Yes – a good winter bike is essential if you want to keep going. Also a good winter HT MTB if you can!

From reading this thread I don’t think I have summer bikes!

I don’t ride on the road much in winter. When I do I use my cross bike or my ss commuter.

Full guards are very good, essential in most club runs.

My personal opinion is that it is not worth getting a specific winter bike. Rain is fine, it is salt that kills bikes. When they are gritting it is icy and I don’t ride on the road when there is a risk of ice.

So it is summer bike or off road.

I put some rigid forks on my ss towards the end of November and that is my winter mountain bike for hacking around on local trails.

YES 🙂

Definitely, though I basically have a ‘year round’ bike, a race/sunshine bike, and a ‘truly hideous’ bike.

do you get a winter MTB?

Not really, but as the bulk of my mtbs are rigid singlespeeds they probably qualify…

Yes..
Just get one of their “madebyan7yroldinTaiwan’ frames from Ribble, throw on some 25mm tyres, full guards, and get out there and ride…

I use the well proven formula:

Bikes needed = n+1, where n = number of bikes owned.

Never fails.

Yes, singlespeed with full mudguards if road version, otherwise with big grin if mtb.

I don’t understand why a bike is for a season only. My bikes run all year round. They’re MTB. They like sun, dry, mud, rain and snow, and so do I 😛 . Riding off road doesn’t stop because there’s mud, so winter road bike is not required either. I’ll get a road bike if I want to ride on the road however.

Yes, singlespeed fixed with full mudguards if road version

Fixed that for you 😉

Fixed that for you

Thank you, and a proper option on a frosty icy day, feeling the exact amount of traction on the rear wheel.

Yes, yes you should. I bought a Kaffenback for this exact reason and really rather like it. It is not light or pretty but it stops well, has full mudguards and brushes off potholes. It also has mounts for a proper frame pump. Job done.

or locking up if you’re not quite smooth enough riding over ice (yes, I’ve seen it…)

To the OP, yes, based on n+1 and arguably cost if you actually do build something more durable/cheaper but no in that it’s not essential, especially if your ‘summer’ bike isn’t ultralight, expensive anyway.

FWIW, I use my CX bike for that with two sets of wheels (road and CX) which I can swap quickly.

I have both a winter road bike and winter MTB. The mtb is an On One 29er singlespeed which I put on mudguards rear and front and the road bike is my crosser. Both bikes steel.

Yes, full guards and Di2.

Like @hh45 I’ve got a winter Mtb bike but use road bike all year ( full guards for winter) and lucky enough to be able to hose it down at work every morning. Its only a means of getting/keeping fit thru winter. If its icy I’ll commute off road on my Soul. Got fed up of trashing nice kit and bearings in winter.

My only roadbike takes full guards. My only MTB is a hardtail.

🙂

Is it enduro-specific though, BD? That’s the important question.

Should I get a wet weather bike?

FTFY

Yes if you have the funds, space and inclination. It doesn’t have to be winter to want/need a durable and more weather resistant bike. My ‘winter’ bike nearly gets as much use as the better road bikes.

Plugging through the winter on a heavier, less racy bike is good training and it’s a real pleasure when you can move on to some bling when the weather picks up.

Don’t forget the noddy overshoes and winter gloves.

Not for me. I just use the one CF bike all year round. If it’s wet and I want guards, I have clip-on ones. I don’t get this winter road bike thing – if it’s good enough for me to want to ride it in winter, it’s good enough for summer too.

Although I’m about to use them in a swap – I swapped an old pair of Oakley M frames and the guards for a once-worn pair of Assos winter tights RRP £270 🙂

If you can afford it get winter boots instead of overshoes. Miles better.

molgrips in not adhering to N+1 mantra 🙂

I must confess to quite a bling winter bike and whilst it’s a nice bike, getting onto something lighter and faster is one of the pleasures of spring.

My winter bikes my summer bike as well carbon fibre lurcher with carbon forks …

Unfortunately running big apples doesn’t do much for the top speed but does tend to stop it falling over when the going gets slippy.

molgrips in not adhering to N+1 mantra

Each of my (6) bikes has to be substantially different – can’t have duplicates. The most overlap is the Patriot and the 5 – and even that vexes me 🙂