[HoldingOn]

No – not one of Trump’s “friends”

I often get asked by non-cycling people “Do you cycle in the rain?” I’m a stubborn sort, so I cycle in any weather. Rain doesn’t bother me at all (or the dark, which is a weird question I get asked too)

Storm Agnes is inbound here in the UK and it made me think back to Storm Dudley & Eunice, when I got blown sideways across the cycle lane. It was the one time the weather made me think “I possibly shouldn’t be cycling in this.”

Does anyone abide by rules for what weather they won’t cycle in?
Is it just wind that creates a hazard – or is snow a problem too? (I’ve not cycled in deep snow before)
It there a particular technique to cycling in adverse weather?

Topic

[Oldfatgit]

Cheers … thanks for this.
Cheers … thanks for this.

Always good to get a real life experience.

Guess I’m gonna have to get used to riding on a bowl of Rice Krispies ?

[Cugel]

Oldfatgit wrote:

I have winter Marathons with studs … great fun in the snow. Yet to try them on the commute and not sure I’d want to ride the full 40 miles on them … they are noisy and not sure what 40miles of tarmac will do to them

When I first got them, I put the studded Marathons on the winter bike and left them on for around 3 months, riding a number of 30 – 50 mile routes in the wet, frost or dry. 

The studs seem very resilient, as they should be, being made of TCT with a steel jacket. The steel did show some cosmetic rusting after they dried following a wet ride but this didn’t seem to affect their performance or become any worse than cosmetic.

There is quite a bit of road-drag (relatively poor rolling resistance) and they do give a constant snap, crackle & pop noise – but you get used to it. In practice, they don’t seem to wear any faster than unstudded tyres. Perhaps they might even wear more slowly, in the rubber parts, as those studs seem to take a fair bit of the load at the contact patch, going by the noise they make.

[chrisonabike]

Oldfatgit wrote:

Oldfatgit wrote:

Is this a new idea from Topeak?
Instead of panniers that drop out the back rack bag, it’s a pair of pontoons?

Perfect for exploring the national cycle network!

[Backladder]

Nice to hear real life

Nice to hear real life experience, I’ve always assumed that they would only be useful in real snow/ice conditions that we just don’t get enough of to justify using them.

[Oldfatgit]

Is this a new idea from
Is this a new idea from Topeak?
Instead of panniers that drop out the back rack bag, it’s a pair of pontoons?

[Oldfatgit]

My commute home is 40 miles

My commute home is 40 miles door to door, and mainly runs alongside the main Edinburgh <> Glasgow railway.

I tend to look at my route on Headwind before committing; a wind from the East will be mainy headwind home. I’ll then look at windspeed and estimated gust speed.
anything over 15mph constant and 25mph gust, I’ll normally get the train.
[Although I do get caught out. Wednesday last week, wind from the east, constant speed of 18mph … thought I’d give it a go. 6 miles in, it was horrific so I aborted and got the train. Turns out that was the right thing as gusts speeds exceeded 40mph.)

Rain doesn’t worry me too much – depending on where I am.
I’m more likely to give up and get the train if I’m soaked before I’ve left Glasgow – especially this time of year. There is no fun riding 35-40 miles in the cold and dark, especially if you don’t have to.

I have winter Marathons with studs … great fun in the snow. Yet to try them on the commute and not sure I’d want to ride the full 40 miles on them … they are noisy and not sure what 40miles of tarmac will do to them

[chrisonabike]

Nonsense.  You just need a

Nonsense.  You just need a bit of creativity, and the right wheels.

[Hirsute]

Was listening to a news piece

Was listening to a news piece on the flood rescuers. They use poles to find if a manhole cover has been pushed up and out, so hitting that manhole on your bike would have an unplesant outcome as a minimum.

[ktache]

Given a red weather warning I

Given a red weather warning I would not go out.

[Hirsute]

You just reminded me of when
You just reminded me of when I went out after the snow and ice had gone. There was still quite a lot of grit and salt from the gritter lorries and my chain picked up a lot. I had to clean it twice but I couldn’t get rid of it and I’d end up with this orange sheen sheen everywhere.
Had to replace the chain and clean the sprockets again.
Next time wait for a good bit of rain to wash all the crap off the roads.

[HoldingOn]

I am planning to leave early,

I am planning to leave early, so hopefully I can miss the flooding.

As you and Hirsute point out, I could do more damage cycling through a flood, than simply hitting something. I’ve definitely reconsidered my “it’ll probably only be half a metre deep, so it’ll be fine”

[Hirsute]

Now I’m older and more risk
Now I’m older and more risk averse I do check for winds. Tend to get a lot of SW wind and on an nsl road with lots of gaps in trees and hedges, it is too risky going north to south and back.

Usually see photos when there are floods of a brave cyclist going through floodwater.
Really stupid idea : apart from the sewage, you’ll ruin your drivetrain and BB, you have no idea if you will hit a pothole, kerb, then there could be all sorts of debris coming towards you.

[chrisonabike]

As others say – ice (no

As others say – ice (no spiked tyres currently) and high winds unless I’m certain my route avoids avenues of trees.  (Strong winds don’t agree with the recumbent at all and it’s a designated fair weather bike anyway).  Learned that when out years back in a major storm and I got trapped as trees went down at both ends of a road.  Some people didn’t make it home that day.  Even small branches (which might if you’re lucky be deflected by a helmet) can have you off.

[HLaB]

Back in 2013, there was only

Back in 2013, there was only one day I didn’t cycle to work.  That was when a fine dusting of snow fell on the way home the night before, a 23mm tyred fixie was fine but drivers were all over the place which convinced me to give it a miss the next day!

[HLaB]

I’ve cycled in a lot of bad

I’ve cycled in a lot of bad weather (destroyed my front bearings when I cycled through a 2ft deep flood in an underpass, I won’t make that mistake again),  I had planned to commute this morning but I got an early dispatch notice for some stuff I’m waiting on so I messaged the boss about WfH. 

[Author]

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