Lets see your winter bike.
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lol, I love this. Sounds like something my wife would say to me.Speaking of wives, I have to mention, my wife has tried your suggestion of using snot to keep her goggles from fogging up, and said that it works better than anything she's tried so far. I guess I'll have to give it a shot soon myself; my goggles have been fogging like crazy lately, but I also haven't put any kind of coating on them since last winter.
Gotta love it, though; out of the two of us it's my wife that tries out the snot first
.
Nearing completion on this Felt Red Baron (it isn't that anymore.) I live in the Los Angeles area. Winters are of a different sort here.
I was aiming for the WWI era board trackers. It features lots of great stuff they had 100 years ago like front and rear LED lights, Girvin forks, Redline Cranks, 3G 57mm wide rims and something that did actually exist then: Sturmey-Archer drum brake hubs. I was very tempted to use flipped bars but I gave away the only good set that I had. Tomorrow, I am off to Piston Bikes in Simi Valley to get a brake lever that will control front and rear brakes together. Right now, I am going to a BMX shop to get a rear brake cable. It should be all wrapped up and camera ready tomorrow. I hope to do a photo shoot at a museum with classic cars & motorcycles from the 20s and 30s. That would be a real hoot.
-gig
- by Gigmata
I was aiming for the WWI era board trackers. It features lots of great stuff they had 100 years ago like front and rear LED lights, Girvin forks, Redline Cranks, 3G 57mm wide rims and something that did actually exist then: Sturmey-Archer drum brake hubs. I was very tempted to use flipped bars but I gave away the only good set that I had. Tomorrow, I am off to Piston Bikes in Simi Valley to get a brake lever that will control front and rear brakes together. Right now, I am going to a BMX shop to get a rear brake cable. It should be all wrapped up and camera ready tomorrow. I hope to do a photo shoot at a museum with classic cars & motorcycles from the 20s and 30s. That would be a real hoot.
-gig
- by Gigmata
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We don't have tornadoes, poisonous snakes, crockagators or snow storms. I do have to admit I have had numerous encounters with bears, wolves, coyotes, bob cats and mountain lions here though but they are more friendly than giant man-eating reptiles and watermouth cotton snakes. We get blizzards and 16 hours of darkness or daylight until 11PM, depending, but no snow storms that I ever noticed. People don't die in the blizzards here. They die in good numbers from running into trees on their snowmobiles though. We have the best weather in the USA (excepting Alaska). Its seldom too hot so you can bicycle without getting sweaty all summer and in the winter you can do it all: snowshoe, run, bike, ski, xc ski, skate, hockey, curling, luge, tobogganing, snowmobiling or sunbathe on your ice fishing sled with a cool one in hand. You can take part in the many outdoor winter festivals such as the Hikki Lunta Snow God celebration (drinking, snowmobile races, fireworks and and several nighttime giant bonfires out in the middle of a frozen Lake), St. Urho's Day (the day before St Patrick's day where people wear purple and drink cheap red wine), the snow statue contest where participants get drunk and make snow statues (sort of like a frozen Mardi Gras where judges determine which statues are too lewd and need to be destroyed the night before final judging), the outhouse races where teams of two get drunk and compete to see who can push their privy the fastest through downtown, the 200 mile all night sled dog race starting at night on main street, the shanty town ice fishing contest complete with full service outdoor middle of the lake frozen bars, the Suicide Hill nighttime ski jumps where the jumpers remain sober and the annual Polar Bear ice swim in Lake Superior. I attend most of these of these events each winter and have taken part in all of these activities except curling and luge (I cheated on the polar bear swim by taking a 230F sauna before the plunge so it really doesn't count but I am skinny and had to do something to compensate besides getting drunk like everyone else). My father did curling but he said it was mostly and excuse to drink beer.
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Really cool, like it a lot. Can't wait to see it finished. It would work here in the winter (except on solid ice), but I would have some sort of rearview mirror, probably on my glasses to avoid spoiling the clean look. The bars are a little lower than I think is optimal for me for winter but they would also work just fine for me.Nearing completion on this Felt Red Baron (it isn't that anymore.) I live in the Los Angeles area. Winters are of a different sort here.
I was aiming for the WWI era board trackers. It features lots of great stuff they had 100 years ago like front and rear LED lights, Girvin forks, Redline Cranks, 3G 57mm wide rims and something that did actually exist then: Sturmey-Archer drum brake hubs. I was very tempted to use flipped bars but I gave away the only good set that I had. Tomorrow, I am off to Piston Bikes in Simi Valley to get a brake lever that will control front and rear brakes together. Right now, I am going to a BMX shop to get a rear brake cable. It should be all wrapped up and camera ready tomorrow. I hope to do a photo shoot at a museum with classic cars & motorcycles from the 20s and 30s. That would be a real hoot.
-gig
- by Gigmata
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Thank you, us5; she is fun to ride down snowy hills. I'm sure you have your fair share of snow in The U P; I have family living in Newbury.
She has a roadie crank 52-38, mountain bike rear derailleur, touring cassette, drop bars w/roadie brake handles and a tall sissy bar (not shown) because I almost feel-off the back of the bike when she went over a bump!
BTW the rear shock was removed and replaced with a drilled piece of steel stock to eliminate frame flexing and damaging the saddle.
My Great Grand Father started the Newberry News news paper in 1887. He said Newberry was in a 30 acre clearing with wilderness for a 50 - 100 miles on all sides. The streets were full of stumps and there were 30 houses and a charcoal furnace back then.
Tell me if you get sick of these ride pics....
Got out yesterday for a great way to start off the new year. High 20's, cloudy and 10mph wind so not too bad. It's surprising how much snow can melt with salt and 2 sunny days (yet below zero) so I took my mild winter bike out. It goes no handed so well
The Mississippi river started freezing again recently and looked kinda cool. (Deeper snow only at the edge)
It's nice how they put a tunnel under the freeway for bikers
Rode about 7 miles to Crosby regional park. Haven't be inside for many years. The trail was trampled but rough. There is something rattling inside my fork and it sounded like I had sleigh bells attached LOL.
The trees are all wind swept from the north wind.
They had a nice path map and I didn't realize the have a purpose-built bike path through it (not plowed though)
On one of the paths, I saw something sticking out of a low bridge and was thinking WHAT?. Then I got there and someone set up a "branch warning" that a plank was out, How Minnesotan! LOL.
Went off path to get down to the river. I rode in the narrow strip of frozen sand between the shore snow and river ice. Lifted my bike cyclocross style around the trees that had fallen (love triangle frames). Rode about half mile until the sand strip got too narrow and the back tire slid out on the ice. Barely caught it though and decided to move inland
Tried to find the bike path but it was long gone so I rode along a foot path that was kinda like a single track. I was amazed but the grip of the Country Rock tires.
Found my way out and had to go up a huge hill to get out of the park. Luckily it was an actual road and clear. Made it up without stopping but just barely. Headed home and saw just a bit of blue sky, yeah!
Well I got my fun Christmas-break ride in again this year so I'm happy.
Thanks for looking
Steve
Got out yesterday for a great way to start off the new year. High 20's, cloudy and 10mph wind so not too bad. It's surprising how much snow can melt with salt and 2 sunny days (yet below zero) so I took my mild winter bike out. It goes no handed so well
The Mississippi river started freezing again recently and looked kinda cool. (Deeper snow only at the edge)
It's nice how they put a tunnel under the freeway for bikers
Rode about 7 miles to Crosby regional park. Haven't be inside for many years. The trail was trampled but rough. There is something rattling inside my fork and it sounded like I had sleigh bells attached LOL.
The trees are all wind swept from the north wind.
They had a nice path map and I didn't realize the have a purpose-built bike path through it (not plowed though)
On one of the paths, I saw something sticking out of a low bridge and was thinking WHAT?. Then I got there and someone set up a "branch warning" that a plank was out, How Minnesotan! LOL.
Went off path to get down to the river. I rode in the narrow strip of frozen sand between the shore snow and river ice. Lifted my bike cyclocross style around the trees that had fallen (love triangle frames). Rode about half mile until the sand strip got too narrow and the back tire slid out on the ice. Barely caught it though and decided to move inland
Tried to find the bike path but it was long gone so I rode along a foot path that was kinda like a single track. I was amazed but the grip of the Country Rock tires.
Found my way out and had to go up a huge hill to get out of the park. Luckily it was an actual road and clear. Made it up without stopping but just barely
. Headed home and saw just a bit of blue sky, yeah!
Well I got my fun Christmas-break ride in again this year so I'm happy.
Thanks for looking
Steve
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I went for a ride today and took pictures of other folks winter bikes. Last year the thing seemed to be old Huffy type rigid mountain bikes that were all rusty and crusty, especially the chain, freewheel, seat post etc. This year there are a lot of nice bikes and many are modern custom jobs, not like the vintage flavored or junk rats I ride. After looking around today I feel like a piker as far as bike building goes.
Custom Surly adapted to disc brakes (you can see the pegs from the cantilever brakes on the frame).
Another Surly set up for winter commuting.
Rigid single speed 29er set up for hauling stuff in the snow. I use old packs I find at the thrift store and duct tape them on. I use mitts and if it is cold enough chemical warmers, but not wind breaker hand shields. I guess I could make some hand windbreakers out of Sho Goo and an old neoprene pad I have. I guess some folks just like to be neater than me. I personally would not have panniers or baskets on the front as I have a hard enough time as it is steering in the soft ruts.
Here is a guy using his pickup bed for a workspace. On the left is the purple original fat fork with 4 inch tires and behind that is the rear wheel with 4 inch tires. He has replaced the fat tires with skinnier ones for commuting
Employees bike behind a gas station.
Employees 24 inch wheeled bike behind an Italian Restaurant
Employees bikes behind a grocery store. I have ridden road bikes in the winter but it is real hard. You tend to go down when the front wheel gets in a rut. Got to give her credit for riding it in the winter.
Even the local cops are riding their bikes to work.
All the above bikes are real nice either new or custom. I couldn't bring myself to ruin bikes like this in the salt. Here is one more my speed. Rusty chain, sprocket, brakes seatpost etc. A library patron's bike.
This is not a bike picture but I saw it on the way to the library and decided to snap a photo. A picture of a privacy fence made from old skis behind a bar. Jumping skis flank the wood fence hiding the dumpster. Good thing for the fence as there seems to be some holiday dumpster overflow.
Custom Surly adapted to disc brakes (you can see the pegs from the cantilever brakes on the frame).
Another Surly set up for winter commuting.
Rigid single speed 29er set up for hauling stuff in the snow. I use old packs I find at the thrift store and duct tape them on. I use mitts and if it is cold enough chemical warmers, but not wind breaker hand shields. I guess I could make some hand windbreakers out of Sho Goo and an old neoprene pad I have. I guess some folks just like to be neater than me. I personally would not have panniers or baskets on the front as I have a hard enough time as it is steering in the soft ruts.
Here is a guy using his pickup bed for a workspace. On the left is the purple original fat fork with 4 inch tires and behind that is the rear wheel with 4 inch tires. He has replaced the fat tires with skinnier ones for commuting
Employees bike behind a gas station.
Employees 24 inch wheeled bike behind an Italian Restaurant
Employees bikes behind a grocery store. I have ridden road bikes in the winter but it is real hard. You tend to go down when the front wheel gets in a rut. Got to give her credit for riding it in the winter.
Even the local cops are riding their bikes to work.
All the above bikes are real nice either new or custom. I couldn't bring myself to ruin bikes like this in the salt. Here is one more my speed. Rusty chain, sprocket, brakes seatpost etc. A library patron's bike.
This is not a bike picture but I saw it on the way to the library and decided to snap a photo. A picture of a privacy fence made from old skis behind a bar. Jumping skis flank the wood fence hiding the dumpster. Good thing for the fence as there seems to be some holiday dumpster overflow.
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Great idea! Very Cool! I really enjoy seeing what other people are riding too. Mostly I've seen hipsters with fixes, slicks, and a little rear fender (good for them, LOL), seriously expensive cyclocross bikes, full dress commuters with studded tires, and now a lot of fat tire bikes. Once in a while I'll see a "built to beat on" winter bike which are awesome!
Given the general lack of snow this year, it's been hard to pick out which parked bikes I've seen this winter are actually being used for winter commuting, versus just flat-out abandoned.
This city seems to have a bigger winter commuter population than the last city I lived in, but it seems to be primarily bums who can't afford anything else. I'm not sure if these guys are doing us any favors for legitimizing cycling as a mode of winter transportation, because most of them lack any kind of civility (going the wrong way down the road, not sharing the road, etc.). On the other end of the spectrum, the guys buying the really expensive bikes seem to only use them on the trails, not for commuting. There just doesn't seem to be much middle ground here.
This city seems to have a bigger winter commuter population than the last city I lived in, but it seems to be primarily bums who can't afford anything else. I'm not sure if these guys are doing us any favors for legitimizing cycling as a mode of winter transportation, because most of them lack any kind of civility (going the wrong way down the road, not sharing the road, etc.). On the other end of the spectrum, the guys buying the really expensive bikes seem to only use them on the trails, not for commuting. There just doesn't seem to be much middle ground here.
Tell me if you get sick of these ride pics....
Got out yesterday for a great way to start off the new year. High 20's, cloudy and 10mph wind so not too bad. It's surprising how much snow can melt with salt and 2 sunny days (yet below zero) so I took my mild winter bike out. It goes no handed so well
The Mississippi river started freezing again recently and looked kinda cool. (Deeper snow only at the edge)
It's nice how they put a tunnel under the freeway for bikers
Rode about 7 miles to Crosby regional park. Haven't be inside for many years. The trail was trampled but rough. There is something rattling inside my fork and it sounded like I had sleigh bells attached LOL.
The trees are all wind swept from the north wind.
They had a nice path map and I didn't realize the have a purpose-built bike path through it (not plowed though)
On one of the paths, I saw something sticking out of a low bridge and was thinking WHAT?. Then I got there and someone set up a "branch warning" that a plank was out, How Minnesotan! LOL.
Went off path to get down to the river. I rode in the narrow strip of frozen sand between the shore snow and river ice. Lifted my bike cyclocross style around the trees that had fallen (love triangle frames). Rode about half mile until the sand strip got too narrow and the back tire slid out on the ice. Barely caught it though and decided to move inland
Tried to find the bike path but it was long gone so I rode along a foot path that was kinda like a single track. I was amazed but the grip of the Country Rock tires.
Found my way out and had to go up a huge hill to get out of the park. Luckily it was an actual road and clear. Made it up without stopping but just barely
Well I got my fun Christmas-break ride in again this year so I'm happy.
Thanks for looking
Steve
I am really loving this bike. It is a mountain bike frame, right? That first picture kind of throws me off; the fork crown kind of looks like something you'd see on an old English 3-speed, and it just doesn't look like there'd be clearance for a wide tire.
But yeah, that's exactly what I want to eventually get my hands on ... a 20-inch diamond frame, horizontal drop-outs, and clearance for 26 x 2.10 tires. Aluminum tubing and three-piece cranks would be a bonus. I feel like I've seen bikes that meet that criteria a milllion times on the local CL, but now that I'm looking for one, no dice
. I'll just make do with what I have until the right one turns up.We just got about an inch of snow, and my wife and I just wandered around for 10 miles; it was a beautiful 30 degrees out, and the snow was still fluffy and hadn't been trampled much by traffic. The funny thing is the difference in how our bikes took it; I'm guessing it's because I have a boat-load of fender clearance, while her bike (a middleweight) just clears the tires:
I am really loving this bike. It is a mountain bike frame, right? That first picture kind of throws me off; the fork crown kind of looks like something you'd see on an old English 3-speed, and it just doesn't look like there'd be clearance for a wide tire.
But yeah, that's exactly what I want to eventually get my hands on ... a 20-inch diamond frame, horizontal drop-outs, and clearance for 26 x 2.10 tires. Aluminum tubing and three-piece cranks would be a bonus. I feel like I've seen bikes that meet that criteria a milllion times on the local CL, but now that I'm looking for one, no dice
My red mild winter bike is a standard diamond frame bike. It's a "Roadmaster" but not really because it's AMF. Kinda like a Schwinn (and many others) high tensile steel diamond frame but a cheaper fork (sorry, not a mountain bike). It originally had 26x3/8" tires/wheels on it. The new 26" aluminum wheels are shorter so I was able to (barely) fit in 26"x1.75" tires. Sorry, can't fit 2.1" on it. It does have a good original paint job.
The other polished aluminum bike is a Trek Classic Cruiser and I can get 26"x 2.2" on it easily (with room for something a little wider)
If you want a steel triangle frame, keep looking around for a low price 70's one. You might be able to widen the rear frame to fit 2.2" tires (lots of good tricks for this in the Build off threads) and find a wider 1" fork for them too. You can always convert over to replaceable bottom bracket, lots of conversion around. Aluminum? Sorry, I have no idea...
Good Luck!
actually near 50 degree weather today.. made a quick trip to grab some pop, and snapped a better pic
I am really loving this bike. It is a mountain bike frame, right? That first picture kind of throws me off; the fork crown kind of looks like something you'd see on an old English 3-speed, and it just doesn't look like there'd be clearance for a wide tire.
But yeah, that's exactly what I want to eventually get my hands on ... a 20-inch diamond frame, horizontal drop-outs, and clearance for 26 x 2.10 tires. Aluminum tubing and three-piece cranks would be a bonus. I feel like I've seen bikes that meet that criteria a milllion times on the local CL, but now that I'm looking for one, no dice
Thought about it a little more and remembered buying a beater '80s Cannondale MTB about 15 years ago and tried to put a coaster brake hub on it with wide tires. I didn't really know much about the different hubs and tried to get a 110mm axle on it. Not a good idea (too much tension on the aluminum dropouts and poor chainline = crashing several times
) I've recently used a 160mm coaster in a wider aluminum dropout frame and was able to get it to work well. Hopefully this helps.
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I am really loving this bike. It is a mountain bike frame, right? That first picture kind of throws me off; the fork crown kind of looks like something you'd see on an old English 3-speed, and it just doesn't look like there'd be clearance for a wide tire.
But yeah, that's exactly what I want to eventually get my hands on ... a 20-inch diamond frame, horizontal drop-outs, and clearance for 26 x 2.10 tires. Aluminum tubing and three-piece cranks would be a bonus. I feel like I've seen bikes that meet that criteria a milllion times on the local CL, but now that I'm looking for one, no dice
I can't ride road framed bikes in the winter anymore. I can't ride them on trails very well either. I tend to topple over and a foot down could be in a low spot and they are sooo high. Last summer I was crossing a boardwalk over muck alongside a stream and toppled over into a muck pocket in the middle of a log jam. I was covered in Loon poo. It was raining so it really didn't matter, I kept going for a bout 8 miles of single track. Similar things occurred this summer with this bike on trails. I now have an old rigid lower and shorter Giant MB and have retired my Clylocross activities. I would be afraid to ride the red bike but when I was young, before there were Mountain Bikes we used to use 26 X 1 3/8 triangle frames for the woods. Why can't I do this now 40 years later?
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Two days ago it got to 33F and the salt reacted with the hard packed snow and made mush. I went for a ride but only went 2 miles as the going was hard and I had to get off and occasionally push. Yesterday there was a minor blizzard with too much snow to ride. Right now it is -15F with a wind chill of -34F. Its snowing sideways. Stationary velo machine weather until they plow. I can't coax the dogs out into their fenced run unless I go out with them.
Then I guess that would explain why I was so drawn to the bike. It's odd; from the side view the bike looks (to me) like it has fatter tires on it. But yeah, there's just something about the old 26 1 3/8 lightweight frames that I just love. It's pretty much my dream for someone to make one of those frames (same geometry), just with the capacity for fat tires.Having an aluminum frame has been dropping down the list of my priorities lately. So far I only have one full winter of commuting under my belt, but my wife and I both did it on steel frames and they are both holding up just fine. It's the components (axles, pedal bearings, etc.) that have taken a beating. Considering that aluminum frames always seem to come at a premium, I'm not sure if I'm going to go out of my way anymore to find one. However, the decreased weight of the frame sure would be nice ...
.Thought about it a little more and remembered buying a beater '80s Cannondale MTB about 15 years ago and tried to put a coaster brake hub on it with wide tires. I didn't really know much about the different hubs and tried to get a 110mm axle on it. Not a good idea (too much tension on the aluminum dropouts and poor chainline = crashing several times
Yeah, I know Velosteel makes coaster brake hubs for all sorts of different dropout sizes, so I'd be sure to use the appropriate hub. However, just a year ago, when I wasn't as knowledgable, I probably would've done the same thing
.If it makes you feel any better, I'm nowhere near that age, yet I already learned last winter that I can't pull off 26 1 3/8.
The lower center of gravity issue bugs me in the winter. I lower my seat a bit for the very reason that I won't have to fall so far should I fall. However, winter tends to have really fierce winds here, so pedaling can get really tough, and having your seat lowered means you're only working even harder. Of all times, in the winter, when you don't want to over-exert yourself.
