Bike & Weather

[matt20]

I decided to take my car to work this last week when the weather turned cold... 34 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 20mph... Then I came across this brave woman who is biking (also skiing and kite riding) to the South Pole:

"I've decided to start my Polar Challenge on my ice bike as I'm determined to prove that you can ride part of the way to the South Pole."

She arrived in Antarctica on December 23 then spent 12 days acclimatising in sub zero temperatures....

She will now travel up to 14 hours a day in the coldest and windiest place on earth, where she is likely to encounter blizzards, winds of up to 80mph and temperatures as low as -50 Celsius.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... egins.html

So, I wondered what are the general weather limits for commuter biking...

Wind? Rain? Snow? Cold? Heat?

[SamTexas]

I'm quite certain that the limit is in the mind, not the surrounding.

[Lebowski]

I cycled 20 miles today through almost freezing wind with very light snow
just so I could order my new mountainbike me happy

I order a 23" 2012 Trek Cobia

[Ziggurat]

I'm quite certain that the limit is in the mind, not the surrounding.

+1. I've been out this year in about -3 C with no problems and intend to cycle in colder than that. I bought a cycling balaclava and use lots of layers. Still need a good eye-wear solution, though. There are some recommended in a thread some weeks back, just haven't got around to choosing and ordering.

My first year doing any winter cycling, but ... I'm addicted now and I can't stop riding ... thanks in large part to the E-S community getting me into this crazy hobby/addiction

[pdf]

There is no practical limit, but you might have to go to extremes with gear. I ride about 25 minutes one way on my commute. If it gets below freezing, my hands get painfully cold. If the trip were longer, it would be worse. I've ridden in 18 deg F (-8 deg. C) and that is very cold for me. I don't use a balaclava, but I do use a knit cap under my helmet. When it gets below freezing, I usually have on a shirt, sweater, down filled vest, coat, and shell. My body stays perfectly warm but my hands never do. Oddly perhaps, my feet stay warm, as well as my legs, but I am always at least moving my feet. I have tried frequently taking my hands off the bars and moving my fingers and this seems to help a very little, but not much at all.

For me, there is no glove I have yet found that can solve this problem. Had a pair of arctic mittens once a long time ago that would stand up to any amount of cold, but haven't tried mittens on the bike. Not sure you could use them on a bike. The last pair of gloves I got was a pair of Ice Armor Ice Fishing gloves with a gauntlet cuff. Still not warm enough. I am willing to try a set of mittens if anyone has a suggestion, but after that, I am either going to live with it or go heated. My hands are the weak link for me.

[Lebowski]

my coldest cycles have been in -10C when I still lived close enough to work (9km).
Here in Switzerland they sell MTB tires with metal studs in them, if you're cycling
regularly in the winter I can really recommend 'm. I used to fall about twice a
winter before I had those. They are foolproof but not idiotproof if you;re foolish
enough to cycle in winter you;ll be OK, if you act stupid then you'll still fall.

[amberwolf]

As far as heat goes, it gets pretty dang hot here in Phoenix in the summer, but the bike is my only transportation (excepting occasional help from friends with trucks for stuff I can't yet haul with the bikes). So summer or winter, hot or cold, I ride it anyway.

Heat is over 120F some days in summer, commonly over 110F. On the road surface and within a foot or so it's up to 150F, and it's at least 120F-130F riding in traffic, especially when boxed in a bunch of cars at a stop light. Used to do it without a motor, but thankfully now I don't have to...still, it's not very comfy.

[SamTexas]

... especially when boxed in a bunch of cars at a stop light.

Wouldn't be cool to have a couple fans running based on throttle signal? The slower the bike speed, the faster the fans and vice versa.

[amberwolf]

I did something that once for DayGlo Avenger, though ti was based on the brake light switch instead. If engaged, the fan turned on, blowing air in my face. It was before I motorized the bike, though, IIRC.

[Ypedal]

Last friday was the last straw.... -14 celcius + wind chill factor (-30 celcius ) .. and i'm going 65 kph on the BMX ...

got a flat tire 1 km from home, hit a pot hole and the cold air resulted in low tire pressure= pinch flat..

I can deal with the cold, add more clothing... but once the roads get overly covered with icy ruts that dont go away it gets too dangerous... that's where i draw the line.

[Xanda2260]

I dont have a problem with cold, but rain annoys me! And here in the land of eternal drizzle, we get a lot! Mild rain isn't too bad, but add the east coast 50mph minimum winds and it sucks. It also only ever gets down to about -2C at worst here so I suppose Im a bit of a wus

[Ykick]

As long as there's decent traction and no deluge of rain when heading out the door, I usually go. But when temps drop below freezing the electric vest comes out which keeps my core temp up with only a light jacket.

If my core stays extremely warm, my extremities usually do fine. Although, I've been eyeing some grip heaters.

Other main concern is the face but snowboard and snowmobile suppliers have pretty good choice of balaclavas. Just don't walk into a bank wearing one...