Just wondered if you had a ‘winter’ MTB, like I have a ‘winter’ road bike?

As a clubman, rather than defining myself in any particular facet of the the sport. I am find I ride my road bikes more than the others but enjoy them all equally. I have only one MTB tho’ Id really like a winter specific bike some kind of fat tyred single speed type deal.

Just looking for excuses really.

I mainly use a ss mtb in the winter. Much easier to clean, cheaper to keep going and gives a but of a change.

Fully rigid mtb for depths of winter.

Rigid mtb, 1 x 10. I also have a rigid SS for when it’s really muddy.

GB

Rigid ss for the mud (ie August-April)

Fat tyre might work round our way, I think, because the mud’s very thin. Would be a proper nightmare if you got mud clinging to a 4-5 inch tyre !

All my mountain bikes are fit for purpose, so no.

all of mine are fit for purpose too – one, for the purpose of riding through a giant bog and not cleaning it afterwards

Rigid ss for the mud

same here, only used for local rides though, and now with Mud X’s on both ends.

P1040757 by eastham_david, on Flickr

Yep, as above used for all local riding and mud plugging.

Yep this one mainly!!

Yes, Rigid with a Rohloff hub and mud x tyres Son dynamo hub and Supernova Triple E3. It gets me to work and back off road all year round whatever the conditions. It never gets cleaned and is about to go into it’s fourth winter of off road commuting having done 2 winters before that on the road. It’s on it’s second chain and rear sprocket and other than oil changes and changing brake pads I’ve done nothing else, even the Rohloff cables are original.

alfine 8 equipped hardtail, with winter tyres and a 130mm travel fork. No cleaning or seizing or clogging up.

I run the fork a little softer, and use flats instead of SPD’s

I only ride it when the mud is bad enough to warrant mud tyres.

I’ve posted this just about everywhere else so I might as well 🙂

My new winter bike

Mine:

Cuts through all the flag & bloop that gets thrown at it perfectly…

8)

Mine. Took it for the first spin of the season yesterday.

Having made a winter MTB a some years ago (rigid 26″ ss on 32-17 with ‘alt’ bars and 1.8 mud tyres) I liked the benfits of less faff, expense and rediscovered the buzz of simple bikes that I had as a teen.

I played around with alfine hubs on MTBs when they came out, quite liked them. To be blunt, I think conventional gears are unsuited to long distance winter use, I’ve limped home on gears that suck, skip and won’t engage properly too many times. 12 – 16ish tooth cogs are pretty hopeless in muddy conditions. And exposed suspension elements always bother me, they’re pretty good these days but it’s still a harsh test of expensive kit.

Now, my winter MTB = my summer MTB.

If it works in winter clag, it’s good for the summer high-mileage use with a change of tyres and maybe gearing. Rigid 29er SS, blocky 2.2s in winter, big 2.4s in summer, sometimes an extra tooth at the back to help get up boggy climbs with less momentum. If I want some gears, I’ve found a cut-cassette 17-34T limits chain line change and ditches the tighter-wrap gears so works well in the mud too.

All I want now is a 5-spd wide-range Rohloff. Lighter and a bit less ‘grinder’ feel, it’d be perfect.

My summer bike is also my winter bike, SS hard tail:

Ragley Ti Single Speed by brf, on Flickr

fargo and two sets of wheels one light and narrow for on the road and one fatter for off road. plus you can tour on it………..

I used to build up something cheap from the classifieds, didn’t bother last year though…..not decided what i’ll do this year as space/time/funds are an issue….

This was 2 winters ago rig….

SDC10738 by jcabuckley1974, on Flickr

……..i miss it! 😥