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When I return from a road ride in the winter my bike is covered in grime, and a quick hose down ain't going to shift it. Nor can I be assed cleaning the drive Train after every ride, something I don't feel the urge to do with cheap parts that cost less than half of what is on the nice bike
Plus as others have said, if you train on a cheap bike over the winter, when you eventually get to take out the nice bike when the weather turns it feels like a real treat!
Also..and most importantly..it's an excuse to have another bike..
My rule is I never use wet lube on the good bike, horrible stuff that makes my drive Train look like it's covered in tar after 10 miles. If the conditions call for it I know it's time for the winter roadie to come out.
I think what this highlights is the difference between people who ride and people who ride 😉 Everyone has different priorities and different objectives
These threads roll round from time to time and there is always a crowd that just won't get it.
Fair enough, but as convert explained if you have ever had a race bike that you cared about and more importantly you hoped to race well on, then there is no way you would risk destroying it over the winter months. As aberdeenlune also said, when they get the salt/grit/toxic waste mix ratio wrong up here in the grim north, it will indeed eat through all the parts mentioned, plus the joy of that first spring ride on the ‘good’ bike is most excellent.
Yes, defo a roadie thing; "All of this versatility has made the 3 Plus an underground hit with ...riders who either want a versatile spare bike for winter use...." STW reviews section, Arkose rigid mtb.
When I were nobbut than a nipper... About 50 years ago, we all rode the same kind of bikes on our winter club runs. An old hack with a 66" fixed gear, one front brake, clips & straps (pedals) and mudguards.
The idea was that "twiddling" - pedalling quickly in a low gear for 60 miles - would improve technique and suppleness. It also meant we were all equally matched when sprinting for signs.
I still have the same sort of bike as my pub/shopping bike. It's nice to be able to leave it anywhere with no fear of it getting nicked.
£4000 carbon fibre jobbie
What have you been eating?
It's funny that it's reffered to as a 'tradition'. During the war.....well the seventies, I think we only had one bike, plus a set of special day sprints. Those bikes for most of the club riders were used for commuting, racing and sunday rides. And just simply looked after.
But I did go one to then keep a bike in absolute tip top condition for racing, and another for everything else.
Still ride the race bike i bought in 82.....I think we just like having stuff.
Regardless of tradition, I ride in one of the oldest clubs in the country (1893) and I’m one of only a few with a winter full mudguard bike and the ONLY rider who trains on a fixed wheel. I rode fixed before I joined the club. It’s just nicer. And you will spin like a God in the cold cold months. (Or grind and curse into a headwind on the wrong gear).
I pretty new to this roadie stuff and you have me worrying. I'm commuting about 40 miles a week at the moment on a very much steel framed 80's Dawes Super Galaxy. Is it going to rust away beneath me one morning?
I’m one of only a few with a winter full mudguard bike
The majority if not all the clubs I’ve ridden with would make it clear that you weren’t welcome without full length mudguards with flaps on days when the road is wet. It's not a tradition thing it’s a respect for everyone else in the group thing.
The winter bike was also a train heavy race light thing (together with the satisfaction of giving someone on a £2000+ bike a good kicking riding a complete clunker. A Czech guy who used to turn up on an ancient MTB with slicks to do just that to the majority of the Cat 1 riders). I guess it’s the difference between a social group ride and a racing focused club.
In the winter (and the majority of the summer) you also want to sit inside the cafe without worrying that your bike is the most attractive target to the thieves outside.
You could of course just have one bike and use it all year and then just replace the expensive parts when they wear out. Whether this is cheaper than buying and maintaining a second bike is debatable and you would need to work out the costings to see which way to go. Be nice if first option was actually cheaper as then you would be riding the nicest bike at all times.
For me, I bought a fairly cheap road bike a few years ago on the Cycle To Work scheme so that I could use it on my commute, on the road rather than my more usual canal towpath.
I quite liked it.
Roll on a few years, decided I would quite like a posher bike, spent a few more quid on nice carbon framed, carbon wheeled, disk braked machine.
Had become quite attached to the old one however and couldn't bear to sell it for the couple of hundred quids that it would now be worth, would rather keep it.
So, why wouldn't I use that in the winter rather than the nicer bike ?
It doesn't have eyelets for mudguards, but those SKS Raceblades fit just fine.
So right now, the old Bianchi is in the conservatory covered in crap from my last few commutes.
The nice Cannondale is in the garage looking pristine.
Why wouldn't you ?
It's not like I went out and bought a second bike just to use in the winter. I already had it.
Oh, I have though ended up in the slightly strange situation that my nice posh 'summer' bike has the disk brakes and the crappy winter hack has the cantis still.
Haven't quite justified that one to myself yet, but I'm working on it.
And I'm looking at some cheap carbon forks for the Bianchi becasue the join between the carbon bits and the alu bits on my old forks is looking a bit corroded. I wonder why ?
No one has yet covered the fact that with the roads being covered in water, sludge, clart the chances of coming off are higher so far better to risk a cheaper set of shifters and derailleur than something expensive.
Mudguards are a necessity because no one likes getting a face full of salty, dirty road spray.
As above. Plus, back in the day, people were probably less concerned if their steel or alu frame took a whack from a fall than I would be with my carbon bike now. Unless, you have access to an x-ray machine, to check the frame out. There is also less tolerance in modern indexed 11 speed drive trains now compared to the 6-7 speed blocks and friction shifters of yesteryear.
Still, it's your bike, do what you like with it.
I didn't get this until last year when I rode my nice XC bike and only road bike all through the winter (about 10 hours per week) to train for the Fred.
I killed every bearing on both bikes and wore out cassettes/chains/multiple sets of jockey wheels.
Was very expensive- it made me understand the single speed movement for winter
I do about 60% of my cycling miles on a "winter"-type road bike... which is why it's also my joint best / most expensive (with my MTB). Obviously this goes against the general trend, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
The bike itself is a custom steel number, with relaxed "all road" geometry. It wears Ultegra stop / go, light disc wheels, 28c tyres and tasty finishing kit. Oh - and, of course, full length mudguards! I mainly use it for commuting c.80 miles per week, but also spec'd it with my favourite sort of road riding in mind: light touring and mixed-weather rides along lost lanes.
I also run an Emonda with older Ultegra, caliper brakes, very light wheels and 25c tyres. Albeit this is second-hand and therefore c.1/3rd of the cost. I use this for faster, dry weather rides. I find this a scary prospect in wet weathers and it therefore gets less use, although it's much faster uphill than the Shand (-2kg and racier geometry).
I won't try to convince you that my choice is best for you, but I reasoned that I should do most riding on a great bike.
Obviously I end up doing a lot of cleaning and maintenance, but I am a pretty thorough maintainer of bikes anyway.
The idea of actually buying a brand new 'winter bike' has always baffled me. The thought of paying £1500 on a bike just to ride in the winter is frightening.
Unless you're a fair weather rider, or you laboriously slave over the cleaning the moment you get home (I don't), winter miles kill your bike pretty quickly. A freshly tuned bike can feel 10 years old within a week. And it's definitely not something I subject my best bike to.
My good bike mainly gets used in the dry, regardless of time of year. It's 2 years old and never seen a hose. And it still rides like a new bike, which is the way I'd like to keep it.
The other bikes are caked in filth, gnarled like veterans of war, and they rattle and grind. They bear scars and come with baggage, but we have memories. They get used year round and do the most miles of all.
Was very expensive- it made me understand the single speed movement for winter
That is different though (and you need to ride fixed as that is even cheaper). Riding a cheaper geared bike still has gears, cassettes etc,. that will be wearing out and while being cheaper to replace they still need to be replaced. If I was in a position where I needed more than 1 bike I would just simply add up the differences and then try and square that with any difference in enjoyment riding the nicer bike. I will never be in that position though as I don't race, don't do cafe stops etc,..
One thing I will add..I'm always on the 'You don't need disks on a road bike 'side of the argument whenever one raises it's head. As such when I bought my winter roadie this year I just went with a cheap allez with rim brakes.
It's a great bike, but having done a few longer rides in the wet, something I have previously avoided, it's clear that I've made a mistake. Rim brakes stop you fine even in the wet, the issue is the grinding of the rims. I'd be surprised if they make it through the winter.
I've now bought a set of road wheels for the caad x, and will be using that when it's pissing down. So technically I now have a good road bike, a spring road bike, and a winter road bike..
@tpbiker - that's my big bugbear with rim brakes, I've replaced whole wheelsets because it's as cheap to do so as buy rims, spokes and build up new wheels on the perfectly good hubs. There's also the fact that a broken spoke can lead to the rim going out of true which then messes up your brakes, either you have to loosen them so there's no effective braking or leave them as is and get that periodic grind, grind, grind every wheel revolution.
I've been out today on my disk braked singlespeed. I hadn't ridden it for nearly three months but it was just a case of pump up the tyres, check the brakes and go. Got home, left it outside in a couple of showers to clean it down a bit 😇
You ride muddy roads?
My legs after last night's roady spin... Sorry...
@verses, all that hair must have cut down on your times somewhat. Or does the insulating factor in winter make up for it? 😉
Come to think of it: what were you doing riding at this time of year in shorts?!?
I like how he thinks that's muddy
That is way too even a coverage to be real. #fakebake
Rinsing off salt after a winter ride can make a real difference, takes a minute.
Shorts in December WTF?
all that hair must have cut down on your times somewhat
I can barely be arsed to shave my face, the idea that I'm going to have the patience to groom elsewhere is madness...
Shorts in December WTF
Yorkshireman living in the south...
How many cats do you have?
Me=none, wife and child=too many
that’s my big bugbear with rim brakes, I’ve replaced whole wheelsets because it’s as cheap to do so as buy rims, spokes and build up new wheels on the perfectly good hubs
Depends what you use as to how much of an issue it is for you... I use Open Sports or Chrinas on my winter wheels ~£18-£22 a rim, and normally get 2+ winters out of a front and 1.5-2 out of a rear at least, a rim swap is only a 30min job if you know what you're doing, so the cost is peanuts really.
And I always have a pair of wheels with new rims ready to go so when it's time to replace rims I chuck on the new wheels, and then rebuild the others at my leisure.
Same approach with drivetrain, £13 8speed cassettes and £8-10 chain, replace when shafted, it often works out cheaper than just swapping a decent 10 or 11speed chain alone.
The bike is nice enough, just uses cheaper consumable whirly bits as Devon seems to be a particularly filthy county and I would rather ride in bad weather than retreat to the turbo.
The thing about cheap wheels is that even on a winter road bike they suck the joy out of a ride imo. Even if it's cold and wet I still want to have some enjoyment. Cheap gears and slightly heavy frame make no difference, but heavy wheels and tyres are definitely noticeable. Even on the winter bike im running a set of sub 1600 gms wheels. Which weren't exactly what it call cheap.
The thing about cheap wheels is that even on a winter road bike they suck the joy out of a ride imo. Even if it’s cold and wet I still want to have some enjoyment. Cheap gears and slightly heavy frame make no difference, but heavy wheels and tyres are definitely noticeable. Even on the winter bike im running a set of sub 1600 gms wheels. Which weren’t exactly what it call cheap.
Actual "thing" is we're all different. Sub 1600g wheels just wouldn't be reliable for me on the roads I ride my road bike on (a lot of that being by bikelights after dark)... where's the enjoyment in having to constantly true wheels or worse still break/buckle a rim 30 miles from home? Whereas you deem 1600g wheels the cut off point for an enjoyable ride I choose to ride slightly heavier wheels, a nice carbon bike and reasonably light, cheap to replace and durable 10spd Ultegra/105 mix meaning I have a "nice to ride" roadbike all year round. 2 minutes with a brush, hot water hose & bucket of hot soapy water after every ride while the kettle's boiling for a brew stops anything being ruined by the calender date I happen to have ridden on.
Same approach with drivetrain, £13 8speed cassettes and £8-10 chain, replace when shafted, it often works out cheaper than just swapping a decent 10 or 11speed chain alone.
Not hugely.
If you're savy decent 10 speed chains can regualrly be picked up for a tenner, a 105 cassettes; £20 so about a fiver more. How many complete drivetrains would you need to get through to save the money to buy those "essential winter bike" sub 1600g wheels of yours?
I can normally get the £13 cassette and £8 chain to last ~3000 miles so it’s definitely cheaper for me than replacing 10/11 speed chains every 1000-1500miles or less which is what i was getting out of 10/11 speed.
And I wasn’t the one going on about 1600gm wheels (that was tpbiker), but FWIW chrinas/open sports* are about 480-490g a rim so don’t have to build overly heavy wheels when mated to decent hubs and spokes... I never even mentioned cheap or heavy tyres, I run the same rubber all year round.
I don't get any joy from riding posh wheels through winter slop and giving them a pothole battering considering the teeny tiny benefit they might confer. If my winter wheels are good enough for the chaingang they're good enough for me.
*other options are available, and if you want wide rims instead Kinlin ADHN's are only 20g heavier and £25 each so no need to be precious about them.
Sub 1600g wheels just wouldn’t be reliable for me on the roads I ride my road bike on
You are using the wrong 1600g wheels, either that or you are not good at riding which can't be true as you keep telling us how awesome you are.
1600g is not light and the weight of my wheels (using DT R460 DB rims at 450g each) with a heavy fixed hub at rear is 1600g. I certainly don't consider them light and I ride them all year round on and off road with them never going out of true.
The idea of actually buying a brand new ‘winter bike’ has always baffled me. The thought of paying £1500 on a bike just to ride in the winter is frightening.
Not everybody thinks like that.
‘Winter’ bike is a nice Italian custom steel frame, decent group set/finishing kit/wheels and PDW guards
The summer bike is a very nice Italian custom steel frame HED wheels, campagnolo etc.
Life is too short for 105 and 2kg wheelsets.
Life is too short for 105
Indeed! Imagine...the horror!
105 must be one of the best value for money bits of kit around. OK if you've loads of money and are a gear freak buy your battery powered Dura Ace. Great for showing off with but at the level of most average club guys the improvement in performance is negated by the riders inability to get the best performance from it.
Even once I get around to popping to somewhere like B&Q and buying an M5x25 bolt so I can fit the rear Cubeguard on my road bike, because Cube have cleverly supplied every v2 revision of this propriety set with an incorrect length M5 for the chainstay mount, I doubt I will choose to take it out in wet wintry weather. It will just make me more inclined to take it out on days where it might rain, spring through to autumn.
A replacement Shimano 5800 chain and cassette would cost ~£50. before we even talk about the extra wear to other parts due to winter grime, such as ~£40 for a pair of finned disc brake pads. Yes, these are consumables, but they will last longer on dry miles.
If I wipe out on some ice or simply wet tarmac, the cost of replacing drivetrain bits like the £300+ hydraulic br505 shifters would cripple my bank account.
In comparison, replacement cassette/chain/pads for the Wazoo cost ~£32 all-in. Plus I can choose to go out on anything from 28-100mm tyres, including a set of 38mm ice stud tyres, to increase the odds of staying upright... Even if I'm going to be slower on the heavier bike.
My best bike has 105! I feel like a fraud...
105 must be one of the best value for money bits of kit around. OK if you’ve loads of money and are a gear freak buy your battery powered Dura Ace. Great for showing off with but at the level of most average club guys the improvement in performance is negated by the riders inability to get the best performance from it.
Like sports cars then, see loads of people sitting in jams in 150mph £50k
Motors. But then I don’t own a car so happily spend on my bikes.
MrSmith that sticker set is excellent- I’m tempted to plaster my winter bike in them and see who notices!
loads of people sitting in jams in 150mph £50k
Moto
Not similar at all.
I do wonder what's behind the "I MUST have the best" psychology.
Obviously some folk are suckers for advertising and consumerism, but it's got to be vanity underneath it all. It's not much more than a badge.
So many better things to spend money on.
What performance benefits are there with Dura Ace over 105? I say that as someone with 105 on the winter bike and Dura Ace and Ultegra Di2 on the other bikes. Am I not getting the performance benefits from using my Dura Ace? Curious now, presumed they were the same just functionally but made from different lighter materials.
Do my club mates who know how to use their Dura Ace gears get some hidden benefit I'm unaware of? How does one learn to get these benefits between different groupsets?
It's a bit lighter, shifts a bit nicer and looks a bit better. Maybe lasts a bit longer (shifters and mechs) bit functionally the same.
Di2 is nicer than mechanical IMHO, but new 5800 105 is really quite excellent for what is apparently a mid range group set.
So many better things to spend money on.
Such as?
I do wonder what’s behind the “I MUST have the best” psychology.
Quite, still happy to ride a 10 year old steel frame instead of a carbon race replica.