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Winter riding - any tips?

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thunderblue

Pedelecer
Aug 4, 2009
116
1
Manchester
Just thinking about entering my first winter of e-bike riding, and I wondered if any of you can give me that one piece of advice that you wish you had known when you first started out ..... thanks in anticipation, and hope you all keep safe.

Elaine :)
 
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Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
Riding on ice? Marathon winter tyres will save a lot of pain.
I didn't bother to start with but discovered we get several weeks of ice even in London, I didn't hurt myself a lot but after coming off a few times I decided to try studs and they helped enormously.
 
jerrysimon

jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
Its certainly getting colder :(

If its icy I just don't ride my bike full stop!

At the moment my challenge seems to be finding a decent set of gloves :eek:

I have a few pairs and tend to wear them in layers. However only the thin pair are water proof. The problem is if they are too thick then operating the thumb throttle, gears brakes etc gets difficult.

Regards

Jerry
 
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Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
jerrysimon said:
If its icy I just don't ride my bike full stop!
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I don't have that luxury here, if we get any snow the trains stop running and the roads grind to a halt. The only way to make progress is by foot or pushbike, it's going to be interesting on a front wheel drive bike this winter.
Apart from when it snows and gets really bad there are often frozen puddles around , it would mean three months on the train to avoid those.
 
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SimonHutt

Pedelecer
Feb 28, 2007
37
0
Cheshire, WA4
Riding on ice

After a couple of falls on icy roads last December, I invested in Continental Top Contact Winter tyres with "micro studs". I fully intended to swap these out for normal tyres during the summer, but kept them on and seem to suffer minimal additional rolling resistance. I am very pleased with them - still need care on ice, but they do give me a chance of staying upright!
 
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Laxey Clive

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 7, 2010
17
0
Glove layers

Don't spend lots of money, just get some latex gloves - the sort that scare you when the nurse (or even worse the doctor) puts 'em on. They are cheap and form excellent insulation under your normal gloves.
As for riding on ice - quite simply DON'T.
Cive.
 
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Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
SimonHutt said:
After a couple of falls on icy roads last December, I invested in Continental Top Contact Winter tyres with "micro studs". I fully intended to swap these out for normal tyres during the summer, but kept them on and seem to suffer minimal additional rolling resistance. I am very pleased with them - still need care on ice, but they do give me a chance of staying upright!
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I had these last year and I only fell of once, that was on thick slush so there was little hope. They worked very well but didn't give me a lot of confidence so that's why I'm trying the Marathon Winters this year, I think now I've had every winter tyre available in the UK. The advantage with the Continental ones is they can be put on well in advance of the ice without the annoying drumming noise that comes with spikes.
 
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Pedalo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2009
443
1
Anyone know of any studded 16 inch tyre options?

Presumably the advice to not venture out on a bike when it's icy applies doubly to those of us with small wheels...
 
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Mike63

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 23, 2008
809
64
If its icy I just don't ride my bike full stop!
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...I'm in full agreement with that, fortunately I'm retired and if the weather is bad I stay in.

I am an amateur wildlife photographer and in the previous 6 months I've taken thousands of shots and I spend my time looking at, processing and posting these pictures.

....Mike
 
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CheKmx

Pedelecer
Apr 29, 2008
210
1
54
Zurich
Rode my brompton across Zurich pretty much every day last winter. Only fell of once or twice And each time that was the tram tracks. If it got too bad I did walk but never had to walk more than 200 m. I think the type of road plays a big factor.
 
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thunderblue

Pedelecer
Aug 4, 2009
116
1
Manchester
Thanks for the advice

Thanks for the advice - it seems like the best thing by far is to fit some good winter tyres. I'll order some and try this, with quite a lot of trepidation, as I am not at all confident of taking the rear wheel off.:(

Anyway, listening to the radio tonight, and hearing that an Arctic spell is on the way, I think I'll have to learn quick! ;)
 
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Trevor Holloway

Pedelecer
May 4, 2010
136
0
Whilst in Finland on business a few winters ago I was gingerly walking along on the pavement trying not to fall over (was about -5C) and got passed by several ordinary bikes whizzing past on the iced up cycle lanes.

Spoke to several peple and its just a case of decent tyres and confidence / practice.

Also saw some guys on motorbikes on the iced up roads too.
 
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HarryB

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 22, 2007
1,317
3
London
I tried to buy some winter tyres last year but it proved very difficult as they were always out of stock. I notice Wiggle are expecting stock in November Schwalbe Marathon Winter Performance Rigid Road Tyre Only £34.19 but I am not holding my breath. Obviously the market for these tyres must be incredibly small as most people don't venture out on bike in the snow and ice. Last year I did get fed up having to walk a considerable way to work as the trains weren't running, so I might consider changing the tyres again.

PS I was thinking I only really need a front tyre as a front skid is usually catastrophic and the back can skid around without too much problem. Any views on this? Obviously if I had a spare £70 for both it would be better.
 
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trickletreat

Pedelecer
Jan 22, 2010
122
0
HarryB said:
I tried to buy some winter tyres last year but it proved very difficult as they were always out of stock. I notice Wiggle are expecting stock in November Schwalbe Marathon Winter Performance Rigid Road Tyre Only £34.19 but I am not holding my breath. Obviously the market for these tyres must be incredibly small as most people don't venture out on bike in the snow and ice. Last year I did get fed up having to walk a considerable way to work as the trains weren't running, so I might consider changing the tyres again.

PS I was thinking I only really need a front tyre as a front skid is usually catastrophic and the back can skid around without too much problem. Any views on this? Obviously if I had a spare £70 for both it would be better.
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Yes, best not to hold your breath.I spoke with Schwalbe UK, and they said that the winters are on back order to the tune of 2000, with no idea when to expect them.
 
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Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
HarryB said:
I tried to buy some winter tyres last year but it proved very difficult as they were always out of stock. I notice Wiggle are expecting stock in November Schwalbe Marathon Winter Performance Rigid Road Tyre Only £34.19 but I am not holding my breath. Obviously the market for these tyres must be incredibly small as most people don't venture out on bike in the snow and ice. Last year I did get fed up having to walk a considerable way to work as the trains weren't running, so I might consider changing the tyres again.

PS I was thinking I only really need a front tyre as a front skid is usually catastrophic and the back can skid around without too much problem. Any views on this? Obviously if I had a spare £70 for both it would be better.
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I got mine from Wiggle about a month ago, it said they were out of stock and I had to wait but they arrived within a week. I'm tempted to order others to sell on ebay in January, with my luck that will guarantee a mild winter.
I also thought about only using one tyre but after reading up it just won't work, the ice on the road is much more slippy than you find in an ice rink. I noticed that light pedalling with the Continental winters would make the tyre slide sideways on the worst stuff, normal tyres wouldn't have a chance. Even if you get time to put your foot down it wouldn't grip and you'd end up doing the splits.
 
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Trevor Holloway

Pedelecer
May 4, 2010
136
0
On page 568 of the Clas Ohlson catalogue they list studded tyres in 50-559 (26") with 104 studs, 45-622 (28") with 114 studs and 38-622 (28") with 110 studs, all at £29.99.
They do not show up on their website though, niether have I enquired about stock levels.
 
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Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
Trevor Holloway said:
On page 568 of the Clas Ohlson catalogue they list studded tyres in 50-559 (26") with 104 studs, 45-622 (28") with 114 studs and 38-622 (28") with 110 studs, all at £29.99.
They do not show up on their website though, niether have I enquired about stock levels.
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There are lots of studded tyres manufactured but not many on sale in ther UK, I'd be interested to hear of any others apart from those I've tried:
Schwalbe snow studs
Schwalbe Marathon winter
Continental Top Contact Winter
 
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