Is your winter road bike ready?

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20171027-Understanding-training-Winter-Cycling-Mistakes-0

£200 single speed belt drive hybrid. Full guards, reflectors and lights out the wazoo

Its always in winter mode [ cx/commuter with two sets of wheels]

Plus, am actually disappointed at the poor selection of ‘winter’ bikes above. I know life is too short to ride a shit bike etc. etc. but just sticking some guards (or not!) on a nice road bike does not a ‘winter bike’ make

I wonder what does make a “winter bike”? Certainly full length guards. Alloy rims over carbon and suitable pads for wet braking. A more robust set of wheels for the inevitable pot hole you don’t see in the dark. A selection of lights. Suitable lubes. I don’t bother with different rubber, GP4000’s year round on the training bike. I guess you could go single speed or belt drive but I don’t really have a problem with stuff being trashed over winter. Di2 is a huge improvement over cables in winter though.

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Kinesis Gran Fondo titanium all ready.
My summer and winter bike.
23mm tyres fitted for winter as they fit best with full guards.
25mm back on in summer!
Eyeing up a Mason with more clearance for next year though!
Max

Di2 is a huge improvement over cables in winter though.

10 speed is a huge improvement over 11; I imagine 9 speed would be even better (if you don’t clean your bike).

23mm tyres fitted for winter as they fit best with full guards.
25mm back on in summer!

That makes no sense at all! You can fit 28s (measured) in standard width chromoplastics. It’s very close mind…

Have you tried fitting 28mms in a Gran Fondo?
Ha ha!

Have you tried fitting 28mms in a Gran Fondo?
Ha ha!

Done it successfully, a few times. Schwalbe Durano’s mind, which actually measure 28mm, not Conti GP4000’s which come up about 3mm oversized! But it’s close, I’ll give you that. 25mm Schwalbe’s fit fine with guards, but I guess if you’re running “23mm” conti’s then you already have 25mm wide tyres anyway! 😉

Glad to see the bike is still getting good use!

My commuter is now my winter bike, but only because I have a nice (to me) road bike now too.

Arkose with guards. Need to knock up some flaps though as it’s still getting a bit shit up with the lanes I use to get to work.

Slightly OT, but having ridden a friends Dolan carbon winter bike yesterday, it got me thinking about Chinese carbon (again) but I can’t seem to find any that have mudguard mounts. I have my Giant TCR set up with sks race blades but it’s not great.

On one pompetamine for me.
Picked up off eBay a couple of years ago and still runs like a dream.
Chris king B.B. and hope headset help. Jag wire cables are worth it too.
28mm Conti gp4000s are worth the money. No punctures in 1000miles of commuting on some right nasty glassy mess through Leeds.
Alfine is a bit draggy but unless you are riding in a group it doesn’t matter.

My winter bike is also my commuter so it’s just a case of using that for road rides rather than the “summer” bike.

Ditto. A PX London Road with 32c tubeless tyres and guards.

Mine has been Turbo only to date. I’ve cleaned ad packed away the Summer bike, and cleaned, lubes and added a new rear brake cable to the winter bike:

2017-10-29_01-22-26

4th winter original a £600 Sora Defy still going.

I discovered – and yesterday rode on – the fabled Grand Prix GT tyres. Those replace Lithion 2’s. Slightly disappointed that for a fairly decent wheels set some of those bladed spokes in the Kysirum Elites showed the beginnings of rust – they’ve been in wheel bags – zip slightly open – after being cleaned after last winter.

I don’t commute so this is now winter club / prescribed road rides / turbo.

Whilst the aficionado’s of all things mud-guard are here.

Genesis Flyer or Day-One? Sifting through ebay to see what’s there rather than putting guards on my summer bike (which never work as well as full length ones).

Criteria – must cost less than a month’s petrol ~£150,, take proper mudguards, single speed, disks would be nice but long drops (or mini-V) as a minimum (which rule’s out langsters, tridents, etc).

Mtbtomo . A Chinese frameset with rack and mudguard eyes, lighter than a Bish Bash Bosh, and takes bigger tyres. BSA available.

http://www.carbonda.com/road/gravel/cfr505.html
There is a long thread here. Sign in to get all the pics
http://ridinggravel.forumchitchat.com/post/chinese-carbon-gravel-build-carbonda-8254658?&trail=50

My Norco Search ‘Gravel Bike’.
It’s heavier than my Allez,but I use it on a lot of off road stuff.
Those mudguards stay on & as it’s a size small I get toe overlap with them,I’m aware of them now but the overlap was concerning at first 😯 .
It’s fittad with TRP Spyre cable discs,one day I’ll upgrade them to hydraulics.

Just went 1x for the winter bike. Running an 11-40 with a roadlink on the back. Hopefully get out more than I did this summer injuries permitting.

Thanks Wheelie, looks good but still weighing up between discs and rim brakes

Discs.

any pointers for a bodge that’ll give me full mud guards on my litespeed icon? its now my allyear round bike.. but mainly commuter as i dont get much time to do anything else..!

i have a front crud guard Mk2 but the rear doesnt allow 28mm tyres..

but still weighing up between discs and rim brakes

Discs, discs, discs. Have you ever ridden rim brakes in heavy rain? They are non existent.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XNNACMfO9IfSrt9Z2

I ride this all year round. Alfine 8 on the back, TRP hylex hydraulic disc brakes, full length mudguards, schwalbe marathons (will change to schwalbe winters when it gets icy)

I tried going to a lighter deraileur 1×11 based setup but it made negligible difference even on my hilly commute plus the gearing was a total faff to keep right. This is my perfect commuter I’m so happy with it..

I ride this all year round. Alfine 8 on the back, TRP hylex hydraulic disc brakes, full length mudguards, schwalbe marathons (will change to schwalbe winters when it gets icy)

STP – how do you get on with the winters? im considering getting some for mine, but not sure..will have to check spacing etc.

Mudguards now fitted, all good to go.

Only issue now is I’ve had my Flu jab, and, of course, are now full of Flu, and feeling like Crap. 🙄

DT nails it of course, and in reducto ad absurdum, three speed is better than eight, singlespeed better than three and for the ultimate, fixed is better than everything!

That said, I’m off out on my geared winter bike for recovery from yesterday’s race. Boardman CX Pro frame, Ultegra 6600 10 speed and Giant PSLR Aero wheels. The carbon mudguards were the hardest set I’ve ever fitted. Still not quite cured the rattle.

Winter bike(s) are all ready.
Not mentally ready to go out in the cold and actually ride them though.
After 3 years of ever increasing miles and fitness, I foresee a winter of lying on the sofa eating Tunnocks tea cakes.

DT nails it of course, and in reducto ad absurdum, three speed is better than eight, singlespeed better than three and for the ultimate, fixed is better than everything!

Or do away with the pain of maintaining a drivetrain through winter, take off the cranks and chain, and use it as an adult balance bike. Or do away with the maintenance headache of wheels and having to clean a bike and just go for a run, barefoot naturally as trainers are a pain to maintain through winter too.

Discs, discs, discs. Have you ever ridden rim brakes in heavy rain?

Sorry, I can never let comments like this go unchallenged, I think I must be disc-brake-ist or had some sort of traumatic experience with discs in the past that I’m now repressing, but anyway…

Depending on the disc, braking in the wet should in theory be silent, reliable and powerful, but in my experience, it was noisy, not as instantaneous as the converts would have you believe, and so generally required a bit of pre-dragging anyway to keep the discs slightly warm and dry. I’m sure a good set of Shimanos wouldn’t do this, but then you’re playing Russion roulette with leaking seals it seems.

My winter set up is mini-vs with posh pads (Swisstop BXP) on cheap alloy wheels. Braking is powerful, near-as-dammit silent, but I do still pre-drag out of habit/precaution when descending in the wet.

I wouldn’t labour this point but the mini-vs are almost certainly cheaper and lighter which is why my winter commuter was approx £200 cheaper than its disc-braked equivalent, and I think the current build is approx 9.5kg. No issues with mudguard clearances etc. etc.

Anyway, general point being there are still pros to considering rim brakes, shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

Anyway, general point being there are still pros to considering rim brakes, shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

That and unless you’re posh and buying a dedicated winter bike rather than just demoting whatever in the shed is currently in the worst state, your hand-me-down-summer-bike-now-winter-bike will probably have rim brakes.

Never had disks on the road bike, I don’t think they’re not better than rim brakes, they obviously are. But people get far too caught up in the notion that you can’t ride with rim brakes anymore without suffering some sort of death.

The good weather bike gives way to the bad weather bike when the clocks go back. Goodbye aero swooshy wheels and light weight. Hello wide tyres, disc brakes, robust rims and dynamo lighting (until the end of March unless we get a lovely spell of weather). Either way, I am an eTap convert and it works great with thick gloves. Bring on the long winter miles.

And, just to wade into the disc debate…….to me discs are better in terms of consistency in foul weather and therefore perfectly suited to this bike and its purpose, but in fine weather I do tend towards the simplicity, weight and aesthetic of rim brakes. That being said, rim brakes are a dying breed and I can’t see them even being an option within 2 years on new bikes.

Discs, discs, discs. Have you ever ridden rim brakes in heavy rain? They are non existent.

Yes, i think they’re fine, some have been better than others though.

Don’t know whether it’s coincidence but I’ve had 3 drop barred bikes with discs, one with the Ultegra level hydraulics, and whether it’s the extra weight or drag or just that I haven’t spent enough, but I’ve found them all super sluggish compared to the alu frame rim brake bike I’m currently using as a winter bike.

Mudguards on and an oil of the chain/frame so it’s good to go.

I’m thinking about upgrading my current road bike to something a bit nicer (and fits properly)

I’m struggling to find anything that beats a Kinesis T3, the ribble audax is cheaper but by all accounts is uninspiring and has rubbish clearance, the Kinesis 4S is ~£150 more expensive and is only marginally lighter (plus it has silly disc mounts that I don’t want on it 😉 )

Would absolutely love a De Rosa Milanino Training but they’re like hens teeth, expensive and I can’t find a decent geometry table anywhere.

Is there anything I’ve overlooked? Ignoring things like the Genesis Equilibrium as the geo is more built for comfort and I don’t want the weight of steel (unless it’s really nice steel, which I can’t afford anyway)!

I’m also one of the ones with a single bike used throughout the year.

Doesn’t even change, lights/mudguard etc are left on year round. Since my previous lights got nicked I’m now running an Exposure Strada – really like it so far

Would absolutely love a De Rosa Milanino Training but they’re like hens teeth, expensive and I can’t find a decent geometry table anywhere.

Milanino Training is lovely, hovered over the buy button a few times back when they were on Wiggle. Couldn’t find a decent geo chart anywhere either, though beej off here has one and is just down the road from me, did intend to pop over with a tape measure at some point.

Difficult to beat the T3 though if you want rim brakes. Decent geometry (i.e. not stupidly short and tall). Good ride (apparently). Looks good for the price. Made for long drop brakes so should be easy to fit guards. Option for full carbon fork. I’d have brought one by now it had better routing for Di2.

Anyone fancy a set of these on their winter bike?

Quickguard replaces Quick Release nut for fenders that won’t touch the frame

Looks a bit bonkers.

Proper winter cold and wet this morning. Six degrees with the fine misty rain that soaks you through.

First time out in longs, with shoe covers and winter gloves.

Been riding mine since the beginning of September when the almost incessant rain started!