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Enjoy it to a point, though definitely prefer it when the temperatures drop and it becomes solid again. Just very wary about changing grip levels from one corner to the next. Had too many sketchy moments today to get any real speed up - that said, my rear NN is like a semi-slick 🙁
my rear NN is like a semi-slick
I'm of the opinion that winter riding is when tyre type/condition actually makes a difference.
Rediscovered Whitewater Kayaking last winter. Paddle when it rains, ride when it doesn't.
Hate the mud.Mostly road all winter for me. Love the snow though, will get the SS out when it comes!
Its amazing how deceiving it can be too.
Hers's a few pics from my ride today.
Even very mild climbs had me using rude words that I normally reserve for much greater challenges.
[img] http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=219365&d=1323547945 [/img]
Looks great right? Then you look down!!
[img] http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=219364&d=1323547895 [/img]
Now tomorrow is buggerred dealing with the aftermath of this.
[img] http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=219366&d=1323547995 [/img]
Hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it.
The inside of the swingarm on my otherwise pristine bike has been scrubbed down to bare metal after just one ride on clay like mud last year and the stuff seems to find it's way into everything. Spending ages de-clagging a bike as the sun sets and the air turns chillier is a pain.
Some people say that biking in winter makes you a better rider, to some extent I'd agree but then I bought two skills compensators for very good reasons.
Roll on March.
It bothers me if it's only muddy because it's been churned up by horses or something!
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today
-4C
^^^^^ yeh well I can't wait for that!!!
No mud, or post ride faff but great fun.
+1 for snow riding.
The only maintenance required is to GT-85 the chain thoroughly after use. The rest of the bike practically cleans itself.
And nothing brings tyre treads up cleaner...
love the mud just makes the same trails diffrent really like the challanges that wet roots etc bring to the ride and as i ride singlespeed just put the bike back in the shed till next ride,walk in the house strip in kitchen and put riding gear in washing machine job done head for shower 8)
Fuxake get a grip. Keep yer full sus in the garage, ride yer hardtail. Out in the mud, home, hose down and GT85 and wipe the chain. Repeat.
Most people on this thread just don't like washing the bike, tells a story about how lazy people have become.
bucket & sponge. sorted.
Yeah buzz. I agree re the tyres. I must have twenty in the garage that would be more suitable than this one which has been worn to hell...
These look like crossmarks? Get some winter tyres! Good choice of car though 😀
Nobeer ftw. It's only mud for gawds sake. Wet dust 😀
Hose, brush, lube. Beer 🙂
Sucks like a dyson .
2 hours on the road bike today .
Why detroy hundereds of pounds worth of kit getting filthy and ruining the trails for ever . Big blocked traction tyres are great for you , but churn it up for everyone else ,as do the horseees .
Speeds are down to jogging pace and proper cornering speeds are out the window .
long since gone off mud, three hours on the road bike today and the bike is clean, no chance of that on the mtb at this time of year.
Big blocked traction tyres are great for you , but churn it up for everyone else ,as do the horseees . Speeds are down to jogging pace and proper cornering speeds are out the window .
Nope. But it depends where you ride.
I like mud but I don't like what it does to my trails, so I tend to avoid them when they're too soggy.
mud just ads variation to the trails and keeps them intresting and provides a different challange. it also greatly improves your skills.there nothing like nailing a technical section of trail in wet muddy conditions and getting the two wheel drifts on!
i can see that it may not be so much fun if your a xc mile muncher
riding on less tenchnical boggy moorland etc.
trail centres with armoured surfaces are a good bet if don't like mud. some places ,such as cannock, actually ride better in the wet.
What is this cleaning of the bike people talk about??
Dunnno pop.
snow riding is awesome, makes the tyres look brand new again 🙂
Try South Downs death chalk clag . Where , in a split second the back wheel is suddenly the front wheel and you are doing a close up inspection of the green algae that bloom on the wet chalk , the very thing that gives it the drag co-efficient of melting ice.
singletrackmind - I remember the first time I encountered wet chalk on a bike. I did a great impression of bambi on ice (just far less cute!). Went back home to Wales realising that biking down south wasn't always as easy as I'd assumed ...
Buy some schwalbe 26er cx tyres. £10 an end from on one.
They don't give you extra grip but you sure slice through the muddy bogs.
Ride a hard tail with mud guards and a neo guard and you are laughing.
On my regular loop I know there are going to be some real horror sections but look forward to trying to clean (!) them.
Cycling on wet chalk does wonders for toning one's glutes.
Nothing works... wet chalk defies tyres as diverse as Minions or Small Block Eights. You just have to be ready to bail at a second's notice.
Solution seems simple- paint your tyres with this:
[img] 
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Chalk will stick to them lovely after that.
Mud is horrible
Everything is a slog, then its another half hour cleaning the bike, then hosing yourself down, dragging grit through the house until I can throw my clothes in the washing machine
Rubbish
Dry or frozen is where its at
Mud is the very best reason for riding a singlespeed. Don't bother cleaning it, just wait for the next rain - never far off.
Full respect for those who ride SS.
On yesterdays ride the drag was so great that I was in granny on some of the flats. Any incline would result in a spin out, and I had to bypass a few climbs through grassy paddocks as they would have just been long pushes through bog - not much fun.
I've got mud right through the house and car.
I hate cleaning bikes. Its not laziness it just seems like a pointless exercise when 30 seconds into your next ride all your efforts are wasted.
I've decided its trail centres in the winter for me.
As for tyre selection they don't come much more aggressive than my Bonti 29-4's.
[img] http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=219024&d=1323110659 [/img]
I've overtaken walkers on the SDW, downhill, sideways and on my ~rse too 🙂
I understand where you are coming from Ben.
I've lived in Leeds for 18 months now and the local loop, or variations of, take in Roundhay, Shadwell, Wyke, Harewood, Eccup, Adel and MVT. I rode for the first time yesterday after a 3 week absence due to a crash and it's the worst I've seen it. Sh1tty, horrible conditions.
Luckily for me I loved it due to my riding absence and hopefully it will freeze over in the near future. In the meantime I'll be heading back down the M1 to ride my old local loop out of Sheff which is less boggy due to the surface and gradient. Lee and Cragg Quarry are also other options. You just need to ride elsewhere, if possible, until it freezes*
*Probably said elsewhere in the post
cx are ace in the mud, you dont slow down as much and seem to be able to carry a straighter line.
fat tyes on a mtb is such a chore in sticky mud
yesterday i did manage to rip out a screw from my spd cleat, probably from all the mud and frozen cleat..
it's not the mud i hate, it's the cleaning.
Woburn = sand so no mud 😀
I can honestly say that I'd never really even acknowledged it's existence past laughing at the state of us after a particularly grubby ride..
..until I started reading this forum that is
Mud is good! I particularly love ankle to knee deep clarty stuff. Now wind on the other hand..........in your face on the way out; in your face on the way home......damn
No, but that's mainly since I ditched gears and sus. Cleaning stuff that adds very little to the ride and gets trashed in the filth seems pretty pointless and I swear my rigid SS is as easy to ride in winter as any other bike, possibly easier over a long day.
Get the right tyres and guards, ditch anything not strictly necessary.
Mud is amazing fun. Some of the best riding I have done is at aston hill in the wet. And Woburn does have lots of mud. You just need to know where to look
I dont enjoy riding in the wet muddy trails during winters, after a ride, you have your bike to clean in freezing weathers, wash all your clothes and then clean the car, no fun at all. Road riding for me in winter, much cleaner.
Do you have any idea how whiney some of you sound? Embrace the conditions,you'll be dead before you know it..
@vegasdave, nothing whiney at all, it's a personal choice for everyone, if you are happy to be caked in mud, go for it chap! 😆
Rainbow - set your bike up for winter, don't drive to ride.
I cannot believe this at all - too muddy to ride?