Convincing myself the cycle commute is worth it

Herzlos

I had a pretty bad experience trying to stop with rim brakes on a steep downhill in heavy rain (spoiler: it didn't), so I feel better with disc brakes which aren't as badly affected by weather. They seem to stop better but they also seem a lot noiser and with less travel it doesn't take much for something to rub, but I like the fact that the braking is better in the wet and I'm wearing out a cheap caliper rather than an expensive rim.

I figure the weight isn't too big a deal (my road bike is 12kg!) since I weigh about 100kg and usually carry a couple of additional kgs of stuff. I know a lot of people favour rim brakes for the aerodynamics and weight saving for racing, but I'm very much in the casual category.

lesta_jesta

pinkladyvenus said:

there is no wrong weather just the wrong clothes.

gzoom

Hope everyone is still managing the commute on the bike! Last ride of 2020!

[Deleted User]

My last couple of commutes have been with studded tyres, first time I tried them - sound like a car driving on a flat but didn't come off in the 0C commute so all good. If only the bike shop could get the replacement spoke from Fulcrum to fix my wheel which they had since August (Fulcrum playing silly sods and not shipping) so I could just swap wheels rather than having to change a tyre each time. Sat doesn't look great for safe cycling outside either, -2 overnight and might get to 2 by 12, recipe for accidents on 25c slicks. Sunday maybe better as not frozen overnight. Keeping studs on until at least weekend after next for commuting though

fred246

I have been out with my winter tyres recently. I am not quite sure what they are supposed to handle. I came off once on a sheet of ice. The last time I went on it the snow had melted and the resultant surface water was starting to freeze. Not sure if they are still gritting with COVID. Very scary. They are great on fresh snow. I also went up a muddy hill easily where my normal tyres wouldn't grip. The only other observation I had was that from a young age you realise that if you slam your brakes on, a bike will just skid. That doesn't happen with winter tyres. You just stop.

[Deleted User]

Guess it depends what the winter tyres are - any sort of grippy tread can slide on ice, the point of studs is to go through the ice so your tyre isn't in contact with just the ice to provide superior grip, but not immunity to sliding. Even the best treads on tyres can fail on ice because you only get so much traction before they fail, metal studs provide an extra layer of grip. That said, studded tyres can, in cars at least, actually increase stopping distance and reduce grip in dry/wet conditions due to less interaction between the compound and the road surface, hence better in ice/snow, but remove when it's going to be better.

fred246

I came off when my studs didn't grip the ice. Are you supposed to be able to cycle across solid ice? Good on frost and snow.

[Deleted User]

Not on solid ice if it's too thick for the studs to make contact with the road - they only stick out a couple of mm so if they can't make contact with the road then you're just using rubber on a slick surface and hoping the studs bite into the ice enough. Even with studs if I don't think the bike lane is gritted then I stick to the road

Ballard

I went out for a quick ride (leisure, not commute) yesterday. I set off in glorious weather (for January) but 20 minutes in the heavens opened and stayed very much open for the next half an hour. I should definitely have made more of an effort to check the forecast but I did enjoy the ride bar the last ten minutes when my socks were so wet that trench foot was becoming a danger.

I have flat pedals as I've never got on with clipless and was wondering whether anyone could recommend overshoes. I've largely avoided the need for too much rain protection by not cycling in dodgy weather but that luxury will come to an end if I'm cycling to work.

[Deleted User]

I have some Northwave ones that do my (clipless) shoes fine, I did have some castelli ones that were more like neoprene but they ripped up a bit and didn't last as long as I thought they should, Northwave ones are water repellent (or maybe water proof) and do keep the feet dry though because they are for clipless, have a handy velcro strap underneath to keep it in place as an extra layer which would rub on a flat pedal. You might as well get some walking overshoes or similar rather than cycling ones as they'll be better designed for flats. Consider also or instead, waterproof socks