Heavy rain, if riding from home, Don't like wearing waterproofs, at the best of times, so having to a) put them on b) constantly manage temperatures and c) be dripping wet after 200m, is not my idea of fun.
Wind and ice are close seconds but cleaning isn't an issue, it's a given.
Uncoiling the hose to clean the bike, only to find that the hose is frozen.
Drying my 5-10s
Having to shower the dog.
Don't mind doing full day rides in winter, as the riding:cleaning time is more favourable. But quick hour or 2 blasts are out as you get just as filthy as you would in a full day. Recently even the roadie has needed a wash after every ride.
Brake pads wearing out. Hate that feeling when you finish a descent and the brake lever suddenly goes back to the bars and you know that's another £15 down the drain. (Life is better now than it used to be - old Avid juicy pads used to last about 10 mins)
Getting changed into riding kit. My body has a dodgy thermostat. I can be lovely and warm, get changed (at home) into riding kit that's at ambient temp and I'll be shivering within seconds. It'll take half an hour of hard riding to get my core up to operating temp and a further half hour to get the feeling back in my fingers.
Ridng in the rain is never as bad as you expect it to be, but I still hate leaving the house if it's actually raining there and then. Once I'm out and going, it's fine.
Thinking about it - it's becoming an old git that's done me in...
in my 20's & 30's I rode in all weathers
grrrr 👿
Having to wash the bike and kit, still ride almost as much as the summer though, more road admittedly
Cleaning the bike and kit.
all of it really.
crap trails
mud - hard going/transmission and shock wear/cleaning
wind
rain
dark
cold - illness
cold - temperature.
Compared to summer time buff trails shorts and T weather and still light at 9:30pm it's all a bit shit really.
That's not to say I hibernate in winter, but as I do a a reasonable mileage just commuting I'm quite easily put off doing extra evening/weekend rides. Fitness-wise I cope but it just means I don't do a lot of "proper" mtbing in winter. I assume if I didn't commute so much I would try harder to get out.
Winter riding eh? It's all shit.
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the time it takes to get my boots and overshoes on
mud splats on my glasses
working away from home means i only get to go out on the weekends so as long as its not raining i will go out. by raining i mean properly tipping down.
it's all very well bigging up the snow but that is atypical down south here
frost is good though
If one more smug scot posts up pictures of snowclad trails I'm going to........ bluddy emigrate there
Cold is no problem, with modern kit I'm never cold and normally too hot
My bugbear is mud!!! It was mudmageddon last weekend in the South East. I've soaked my kit, then washed it and its still gritty. Zero traction up the hills and coming down is a lottery.
Don't get me wrong, I'd still rather be out on the trails than doing anything else (except sailing - now that IS cold right now) but roll on summer
I hate the extra faff.
I want to finish on the trail and get straight into a hot shower and then sit down in a warm house with a nice cuppa. Miss out the freezing cold, trying to get changed outside, packing away all the muddy items, driving home, cleaning bike, separating all the muddy items,, bringing Mud into the house and annoying the wife in the process
But it doesn't stop me, reminds me I should make more of the warm dry days though
Riding in Winters a great time to explore and investigate. It's the only time theres no bloody leaves on the Hedges or Trees so you get to see more... I like it like that I do. Also there are only the Hardcore out, so if you do meet someone on a ride you kinda know they're into the "sport" and I respect that, I respect them for getting out and off the sofa and also away from Family/Home/Work.
However I too don't like washing kit. The bike I jet wash at the local petrol station and sometimes after a long hard ride on the CX'er I'm knackered and have to wait in line to use the bloody thing, that pisses me right off and I get cold (don't suggest a hose at home, so can't be arsed with that) The roadie I wash with cotton wool and babies tears (which I have in ample supply) it also only takes 5mins.
Riding kit, I stand in the shower if I'm proper filthy, then kit off and into the washing machine. I've done 3 washing machines in in 10 years and I expect I'll need another in a couple of years. I have a normal washing machine for normal clothes I just keep a cheap one for riding kit and windsurfing clobber.
Other than that I'm Ok with rain/wind/snow/drizzle/grey clouds, to me it all adds up to Hardcore riding, makes us different, makes us appreciate we are different and happy in the open outdoors.
A lot of words from me today, clearly I'm listening to the whizz of the washing machine waiting for it to finish. 😆
No problems with the actual riding part, like pretty much everyone else has said it's the extra faff at both ends that gets old.
To get ready there's wrestling on overshoes, jamming spare layers in Camelbak etc. and when I get back everything is covered in crap and just getting me, my bike and my stuff inside without getting everything else filthy is really annoying.
Also I usually go by train, and I find that I get very cold on the way home after I've sat on the train for 50 mins, much colder than when I was actually riding.
I'll quit early if I'm having one of those rides where all my skills have left me but pretty much nothing stops me going out. Embrace the mud! 😛
A bloody big front mudguard (thanks for the recommendation Northwind!) and a hardtail with great tyres, a Gravity Dropper and flat pedals make it much better. Rides well and doesn't mind minimal cleaning/servicing. One big ride a week seems to make a lot more sense than a few shorter ones in the faff:fun ratio. I'm lucky I can go to work on the bike in my gear (I sometimes have my knee pads on all day!) and ride straight out and up to the trails rather than getting tempted by loitering in the comfort of my home...
I stop my normal riding, but i dont stop riding.
Summer is all trail bike, fun trails, just getting my jollies however i can.
Winter turns up, fun trails are written off, out comes the hardtail with lots of mudgaurds and i just hack fireroads from thr front door and the drier stuff, which coincidently is the boring stuff. Dont worry about cleaning then, hack bike gets cleaned once a week, mudgaurds keep me clean enough. This interspersed with getting filthy on steep loose stuff on the big bike.
But yea, i stop my normal riding due to all the faff.
Cannot stomach doing more prep and faff than riding time.
+1 for wind - live on the top of a hill so getting going in the wind involves much swearing and muttering until I get to the woods
Like others a recent combination of viral infection, high winds and this weekend, ice. Lots of thin black ice around at the moment. Not much fun in a car or on foot and absolutely diabolical on a bike.
The dust. I'm living though California's historic drought.
Good job that the bike doesn't need cleaning after rides, since there won't be any water left by summer to do it with.
and the drier stuff, which coincidently is the boring stuff.
Round here the drier trails are the steeper more interesting ones (which usually coincide with pushing rather than riding to the top but c'est la vie...)
My bugbear is mud!!! It was mudmageddon last weekend in the South East. I've soaked my kit, then washed it and its still gritty. Zero traction up the hills and coming down is a lottery.
Here in the SE the mud (esp. on the North Downs; clay) is sometimes unrideable. There's a few areas we ride that in the wet, your bike gets so clogged you have to carry it, and a clay bound bike is heavy. Last week I fitted some mud tyres (Medusa LUSTS) and I got through sections where other riders were spinning out.
The great thing about wet mud rides is they make you a stronger, fitter rider. The ones who sit out the winter are the ones at the back huffing & puffing once the trails dry out. Embrace the gloop, DH is fun in the slime. I've never regretted a ride, however foul the conditions.
It's mud for me - can only assume it's an none issue near STW HQ as it doesn't even make it on to the list. It just makes riding off road riding boring around here. I can handle the kit and bike washing and I buy into the whole no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes argument; or I would if the riding was not so boring. I can just find no interest in claggy traction free tracks of ground with ascents made impossible and descents made dull and slow. It just becomes a drudge. I am so jealous of folk that live in well draining areas or with access to all weather surface trail centres.
I pretty much turn to road and off road running this time of year. I'll drive to more grittier trails, or if it's frozen solid, (or whisper it: some hardly used footpaths that don't tend to get churned up) but after 15+ years of winter riding, it's pretty much lost the shine for me. Cold feet (resigned to it, tried everything) cleaning, short days, sloppy trails...nah thanks but no thanks, not every week at least 😉
It's mud for me - can only assume it's an none issue near STW HQ as it doesn't even make it on to the list.
Seeing as they declared the Crossmark 2.25 60a the perfect rear tyre I can only assume that they don't ride anywhere south of the Peak District...
Mud.
I hate the way it gets all over the chain and ruins it.
It's beginning to sound like there's not many mountain bikers here... 🙂
Eventually, when I have enough money my bike's getting a Rohloff and one of those floating chain covers. Then I'll be fine 🙂
Nothing
The post-ride faff. I long for the rides when my bike won't need a clean and my kit's just a bit sweaty / dusty.
It doesn't stop me riding, mind.
Seeing as they declared the Crossmark 2.25 60a the perfect rear tyre I can only assume that they don't ride anywhere south of the Peak District...
Fast rear, grippy front… fun.
I never said it was shit, I just pointed out a whole host of reasons why it's not as good as summer riding. As it happens I did a snow ride last night it was a mixture of sheer terror (in a good way) on the many sheet ice sections and giggling all the way down the snow sections and if I'm lucky I'll get 1 or 2 more snow rides in this winter so it's hardly typical winter riding, YMMV up in scotch landWinter riding eh? It's all shit.
are you new?It's beginning to sound like there's not many mountain bikers here...
I've not got anywhere to clean my kit. I end up traipsing muddy kit up the stairs to the flat. There's limited places to store a muddy bike (none of which are safe) and it's impossible to clean. Then there's cleaning the kit. That's a nightmare too.
Love the riding bit though. You can only get so wet. It's a great feeling.
The faff and cleaning. In the summer ill usually be able to find an hour or so most days to get out on my bike, with all the cleaning afterwards at this time of year then that hour hardly seems worthwhile so ill go on rollers or to the gym instead and save all the faff for longer rides.
Skiing
snow is ace. mud the other day was ace. slush on the roads en route to the snowy forest is the worst thing.
I quite like some mud, that fact that I switch to my hardtail & I don't mind the cold.
Snow can be a PITA as it turns the South Downs into a clagfest.
I do like the fact that the trails are mostly empty, it's like turning the clock back a decade.
British Mud. Mountain biking developed in California for a good reason.
Cold weather and short days I do night ride but love the feeling in the Summer when you can ride until 10, warm nights and dusty trails.
I struggle with a wheezy chest when temps start getting down towards 0 degrees, I have a ventolin inhaler but don't see the point in deliberately inducing it.
I don't have any really good winter kit, and as I'm not a hard core winter biker I'm unlikely to buy any.. I did fill the vents in the soles of my old road shoes with mastic last night, and am interested to see if that helps..
I won't ride on the road when temps are heading for 0 as don't want to fall off on ice.
Normally nothing, but after a recent shoulder wrecking crash, it's fear of slipping off on some ice on 'proper' trails and ungritted roads. Although that hasn't put me off completely, as I just find some ice/snow free off-road trails deep in the woods - and then pootle around at Granny pace.
Mud and the cleaning thereafter, especially if it's pittling down when I get home. I've enjoyed the last few rides though because it's been cold enough to freeze the mud solid 😆 How I long to turf down a dry, dusty, warm trail...
Mud. Don't mind getting it on me or cleaning the bike but all the good bits round here seem to be covered in at least a couple of inches of sticky mud and you just grind to a halt when you hit it, then have to stop every 5 minutes to clean out the forks.
Having a cold and coughing a lung full of phlegm when I go out into the cold air.
The cleaning.
I'll ride Thursday night with the gang whatever but Tuesday (my day off) and Sunday there's just so much more I could do with the hour or more I'd spend cleaning the bike and kit. So unless we've had a reasonable dry spell I'll ride road or run, or ride somewhere with my running kit and a lock.
The faff of getting in and out of muddy clothing at each end of my commute. I'm not worried about the bike, it's rigid with hub gears and just gets the occasional wipe of the chain and more oil added to it. Yesterday though I actually struggled to keep going on the way home even though it's mostly downhill, the mud was so bad. From changing into riding clothes at work to getting out of them at home and clearing the mess left in the porch took an hour. Today I walked to work, though not off road and that also took an hour. The walks also a good recovery aid to the 3 mile run I do when I get up in the morning.
Mud. Mud. Mud.
We went for a walk at the weekend. The clay was so thick and heavy, that even attempting to walk through it was hard, miserable work.
Deep puddles piss me off as well.
Those of you complaining about spending an hour cleaning your bike - you are doing it so wrong!
It's the cleaning for me, but then living in a flat and having the spare room as my bike store tend to put me off the majority of the time. Plus I'd rather be snowboarding in the proper winter rather than trudging about in snow with the bike 😀
Nothing. I ride just as much all winter. love riding in mud, ice and snow.
cleaning the bike takes 5mins including re-lubing the chain.
University exams and studying for them. After tomorrow I'm free though, and I will be getting filthy and stupid hilarious crashes going too fast into wet corners and it'll be great. Getting grit under my safety glasses and right into my contact lens always sucks though. But everything else is bearable.
Pedalling against all the mud makes me stronger and cornering in it makes my balance and reactions better so I can go faster in summer. In theory. I'll probably just fall off a lot.
There's a Lack of scantily clad women running when it's raining and cold outside..that's enough to kill my enthusiasm.
munrobiker - Member
Mud. Thick, claggy, speed sapping mud. It is fine in the Peak where it is just wet grit but riding in slop in the woods is rubbish. However, if your trails get mudy like that then they can't be that good. The best trails are wall to wall rocks.
+1 If you're local area is gloopy mud and even riding downhill involves pushing through the ud it is no fun.
I'm sure it's been said above, but just to add my thoughts on the obvious omissions from the poll options:
- The mud
...and hence...
- The cleaning
No such thing as a "quick" ride when it's muddy, but I do tend to use the single speed for quick evening blasts so not as bothered about keeping it clean.
People actually bother cleaning their bikes? In winter?
Madness!! 😯
Only the mechs, cos the mud dries in to a brick in them and stops them moving.
Let the mud dry. Attack the mechs with an old toothbrush and a Dyson. Stick some lube on the chain, then go ride it again.