|   Share your best winter riding tips? | Cory
Jan 17, 2002 11:45 AM | | I'm a newspaper reporter (Reno, Nev.) doing a story on riding in winter. I ride year-round, and I've got all the simple stuff--dress in layers, things like that. If anybody has some little tips you've developed, though, I'd be glad to have 'em.
Anything's fine, from studding your own tires to spraying PAM on your derailleur to shed the snow. I'll use your name or not, as you like.
You can post here or e-mail me, cfarley@rgj.com
--thanks |
| I prefer to stay upright here in Maine. Don't know.... | fred³
Jan 17, 2002 11:59 AM | | about the others. On a more serious note I ride with layered regular clothing and would dearly love to have winter specific biking gear. My tip is to save your money and buy the clothes that'll make riding in winter more enjoyable.
fred3 |
| Leave your toes room to move | Fett
Jan 18, 2002 1:56 PM | | Buy your winter shoes a little bit bigger than your normal shoes. That little bit of room makes all the difference. Also, silk glove liners are wonderful.
Keep your fingers and toes warm and the rest of you will be fine on a winter ride. |
| put antiperspirant on your feet | Offrhodes
Jan 17, 2002 1:57 PM | | Even with thick socks and booties, damp feet can become real cold in NH. Use some sort of antiperspirant, such as speed stick, on your feet to keep them from sweating. Make sure you use antiperspirant/deodorant and not plain old deodorant, that doesn't stop the sweat.
Paul
http://www.offrhodes.xnapster.com |
| another good foot trick... | MPH
Jan 18, 2002 5:27 AM | | I'm cheap. I admit it. I'm not ready to buy "booties", so to keep my toes warm (below 35 deg.), I rip off a 6 or 7 inch square piece of Saran Wrap to cover my toes as I slip my shoes on. Thin enough for you not to feel it, but it'll keep them doggies warm. |
| Fat tires with low pressure (nm) | Karkus
Jan 17, 2002 7:07 PM | | |
| re: Share your best winter riding tips? | ec17
Jan 17, 2002 8:54 PM | | I make studded tires using 1/2" sheet metal screws. I use an old tire. First, I drill pilot holes through alternating knobbies, every 2" diagonally or so. Next, I put the screws in from the inside of the tire. Then I tape the inside of the tire with duct tape a couple of times to prevent the screw heads from puncturing the inner tube. That's it. Works great. You can get by with just a front studded tire, but both tires studded let you have fun on frozen lakes.
Other things I do is wear a balaclava to block biting wind, and if there's a lot of snow or semi-frozen streams to cross, I may wear plastic grocery bags over my socks to keep my feet dry. |
| chain protector | larryc
Jan 18, 2002 9:05 AM | | piece of hard plastic zipped tied to the chain stay to deflect crud off the chain runs.any liquid container section(1 gal.antifreeze jug) can be cut to fit. |
| Sandwich bags over the toes (thin but warm) | The Notorious R.O.B.
Jan 18, 2002 5:20 PM | | |
| these tips are racing/mild climate-specific | mikeb
Jan 18, 2002 6:58 PM | | i've found that during a race, riding right through a rut filled with water is the faster line if the other lines are muddy. for some reason, the soil beneath the water is harder. remember, you're RACING and hopefully you've pre ridden the course and have lubed the hell out of your chain
don't ride around mud puddles, ride right through them. by riding around them, we widen the trail, giving anti-mountain bike yahoos more ammuntion to use against us. once again, based on my personal experience during exceedingly muddy races, (cool and grant ranch during 1999 come to mind) riding through rather than around a puddle seems to be the faster line. |
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