Do you have a Spring/Summer Bike and an Autumn/Winter Bike ?

[Supersuperleeds]

Nope. All my bikes are used all year round in all weathers.

As long as you keep up with the cleaning and maintenance then it's never an issue.
I ride exclusively road bikes for leisure and commute on 25mm tyres and have never found it to be a problem in the wet.

Though obviously I don't go out when it's ice or snow.

Slacker

 

[MikeW-71]

Having just bought myself a new road bike, I was considering come mid-late Autumn getting back onto the Hybrid until the spring.

Why ? Just have this idea that the Hybrid would be better suited for the damp road conditions plus the Hybrid is a Halfords Carrera Subway and cost substantially less than the road bike so if there are any nasty substances on the road or chances of damage due to the conditions I would rather it happened to the Hybrid.

Mostly though, I am thinking the road conditions over that period might be better suited to a bike with the bigger tyres etc.

I've ridden throughout last winter with 23mm slicks, even in the wet at times and it was absolutely fine. I don't have a "winter bike" as such now, just my usual bike and the best bike.

I am, I admit, a bit of a fair-weather cyclist, so I tend not to go out if it's raining (inevitably I get caught out sometimes). I don't mind riding on wet roads though, so once winter rolls around, some mudguards will go onto the carbon bike and I'll pop on some Conti 4 seasons instead of the GP4000S. If it's a nice day and there won't be ice about, I'll be out on the carbon bike. It's not going to dissolve in water and it won't rust, so why shouldn't I use it? It may not be out as often, but it'll be out Keep it clean and there's no problem.

I'd rather not throw either bike down the road, so neither will go out if it's icy.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Same bike all year.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

First year I've had the option to choose my intention is to commute the Sirrus as is and take the Synapse out on nice weekend days. Partly to keep grit away from the Synapse, partly because when it gets slippy I'd prefer to be on flats to clipless.

The Sirrus did fine on Flakjackets last year, it now has 28C Durano plus on it so we will see.

 

[Saluki]

Carbon bike for the nice weather, Aluminium bike for the grotty weather and a MTB with Schwalbe Landcruisers on for really grotty weather when our local roads are covered in mud and cow poo.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Hmm, I was looking for a reason to buy something for trail riding...

 

[ColinJ]

Not so much bikes for Spring/Summer vs Autumn/Winter as Nice weather/Special rides vs Nasty weather/General rides. I have mudguards on the Basso.

Up until now, my Basso (general bike) has had much lower gears than my Cannondale (special bike) so I also rode the Basso if I were going to be tackling lots of tough hills. I am in the process of putting a triple on the Cannondale so that will no longer be an issue.

 

[S.Giles]

Reading through some of the above posts made me wonder what the disadvantage of using mudguards is (ie, why not leave them on year-round?).

Steve

 

[ianrauk]

Reading through some of the above posts made me wonder what the disadvantage of using mudguards is (ie, why not leave them on year-round?).

Steve

For my commute bike.... I do

 

[Smokin Joe]

Reading through some of the above posts made me wonder what the disadvantage of using mudguards is (ie, why not leave them on year-round?).

Steve

Wind drag and weight.

 

[S.Giles]

Wind drag and weight.

Much too esoteric for me to worry about!

(Thanks for the speedy replies, BTW)

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Wind drag and weight.

Weight wise does add up to much compared with how heavy the bike, wind yea well can cope with the lose of about 1mph on avg, when I do get a fair weather bike it might be different, usually in this country its too much hassle to take them off and on and off ect.... beside I think it looks better with them, though the bike would be quieter without them

 

[ColinJ]

Reading through some of the above posts made me wonder what the disadvantage of using mudguards is (ie, why not leave them on year-round?).

Steve

My Basso does not have much clearance, but I can squeeze Crud Road Racer mudguards on and leave them fitted all year round. The Cannondale has more room so the Cruds would be a better fit on that bike, but the parts on that bike cost a lot more than those on the Basso so I would rather not expose them to more muck than I have to, guards or not.

If I could afford it, I would retire the Basso and replace it with an audax/light touring bike with proper SKS mudguards and a rack. I'd probably choose titanium or 953 steel for the frame.

I like the Cannondale, but if money were no object I would probably retire that bike too and replace it with a carbon fibre best bike. That bike would be as light as I could make it without going mad. 6.5 - 7.0 kg would be nice. (1.5 - 2.0 kg less than my already lightish Cannondale.)

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@ColinJ I would love a bike sub 10Kg

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Reading through some of the above posts made me wonder what the disadvantage of using mudguards is

I do a mixed commute, drive then cycle, mudguards would get knocked all out of shape laying the bike in the back of the car. Mounting QR ones every ride would be an annoying faff.

They rattle loose and rub etc.