Cold Weather Riding

[Alex321]

Quite a timely topic, I was all ready to go to work on the bike today, but taking out the trash first thing reminded me how cold 0 degrees feel like even without windchill.......So despite no ice on the roads, plenty to winter gear (including heated gloves), I choose a different way to get to work.

Still got to enjoy the lovely sun rise, empty roads, but with warm bum/steering wheel and singing along to Mariah Carey......I'll make up for it with commuting on the bike rest of the week (maybe) .

Yeah, a pretty nippy commute in this morning. 1C according to my Wahoo, and it felt like it. Most of me was Ok, but my fingers were like blocks of ice by the time I got to the office 57 minutes moving time). Was a bit nervous about possible ice on the roads, but didn't come across any - and there were dry parts to ride on almost all the way in.

 

[hennbell]

There's no lower limit if there's no ice. But here in SE Londinium it rarely gets too cold..
@hennbell is the one for cold temperatures

Its -13C and snowing today, a beautiful day for a bike ride.
Boxing day we are looking at low of -33C, so no bicycle.
fortunately the cold snap occurs over Christmas vacation no I don't have to worry about the commute.
I will be doing some zwifting to keep in shape.

 

[hennbell]

The coldest I can cycle is about -25C then mechanical things happen.
When it gets this cold the pawls in the free hub start to stick. Then you end up pedaling but the freehub does not engage and the cassette just spins, you go nowhere. You could replace grease in hub with a light oil and go colder but I have not tried it.

I once tried to warm things up with a lighter so I could get going again. Strangely petroleum based bicycle lubricant does not react well to warming with an open flame.

 

[kayakerles]

On a recent visit to the planet Neptune, it was a brisk -235°C. A little more nippy than I'm used to, I only rode for 2.5 hours. Once the eyelids froze in the open position and my fingers & toes fell off in my gloves and shoes, I headed back to the spaceship. Riding with no hands and not sure if my feet were still there was getting weird! The next day it was back up to 198°C. Balmy, by the previous day's chilly temps.

On another note, here in the States it was reported that yesterday's temp in Dallas, Texas reached 28.3°C (28.3° F) But hey, who SEZ there's any such thing as global warming? ☀

 

[Oldhippy]

On a recent visit to the planet Neptune, it was a brisk -235°C. A little more nippy than I'm used to, I only rode for 2.5 hours. Once the eyelids froze in the open position and my fingers & toes fell off in my gloves and shoes, I headed back to the spaceship. Riding with no hands and not sure if my feet were still there was getting weird! The next day it was back up to 198°C. Balmy, by the previous day's chilly temps.

On another note, here in the States it was reported that yesterday's temp in Dallas, Texas reached 28.3°C (28.3° F) But hey, who SEZ there's any such thing as global warming? ☀

Nice to see you back!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

On a recent visit to the planet Neptune, it was a brisk -235°C. A little more nippy than I'm used to, I only rode for 2.5 hours.

Seeing as -273C is absolute zero, I’m seriously impressed at how cold you’ll go. You must be from Pluto.

 

[gzoom]

I have no idea if its climate change or not, but I much prefer the ride into work slightly misty and warmer, rather than cold/dry but freezing!!

Only came across a handful of cars today on the way into work, going to try and nip home early today given it is after all xmas eve and for once I actually have the whole 2 days off .

Looking at the forecast ahead it looks almost tropical with double digit temperature coming, might even actually go out for a ride on the road bike over the next few days! Happy holidays all

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The coldest I can cycle is about -25C then mechanical things happen.
When it gets this cold the pawls in the free hub start to stick. Then you end up pedaling but the freehub does not engage and the cassette just spins, you go nowhere. You could replace grease in hub with a light oil and go colder but I have not tried it.

I once tried to warm things up with a lighter so I could get going again. Strangely petroleum based bicycle lubricant does not react well to warming with an open flame.

I was skiing at Lake Louise about 18 years ago in those kind of temperatures, it was -27C from memory. The lifts stopped at one point, I believe due to the cold. We went from the top, in a blizzard, face masks ,and mitts on and it was so cold we stopped at the first place to get a hot chocolate and warm up. Think we ended up at a rough ratio of four runs per hot chocolate. Bitterly cold

 

[MichaelW2]

The coldest I can cycle is about -25C then mechanical things happen.
When it gets this cold the pawls in the free hub start to stick. Then you end up pedaling but the freehub does not engage and the cassette just spins, you go nowhere. You could replace grease in hub with a light oil and go colder but I have not tried it.

I once tried to warm things up with a lighter so I could get going again. Strangely petroleum based bicycle lubricant does not react well to warming with an open flame.

My Shimano Alfine 8 stayed in the set gear at -5. It took about 20 mins to free up with srd grease. Using the oil dip oprion extended cold weather operation. Could you run a winter freehub on oil?

 

[Alex321]

I was skiing at Lake Louise about 18 years ago in those kind of temperatures, it was -27C from memory. The lifts stopped at one point, I believe due to the cold. We went from the top, in a blizzard, face masks ,and mitts on and it was so cold we stopped at the first place to get a hot chocolate and warm up. Think we ended up at a rough ratio of four runs per hot chocolate. Bitterly cold

I was skiing once in Jasper in similar - -29C at the summit, -22C at the base.

I came closer than I liked to getting frostbitten cheeks by taking one top to bottom run with a half inch gap between my buff and my goggles. My daughter had sat that run out in the base lodge, and when I got back to her she said "Dad - your cheeks are white", then poked them, and I had a hard ridge running across each cheek, which took 2-3 days to go back to normal.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I was skiing once in Jasper in similar - -29C at the summit, -22C at the base.

I came closer than I liked to getting frostbitten cheeks by taking one top to bottom run with a half inch gap between my buff and my goggles. My daughter had sat that run out in the base lodge, and when I got back to her she said "Dad - your cheeks are white", then poked them, and I had a hard ridge running across each cheek, which took 2-3 days to go back to normal.

Was the skin waxy as well? We had neoprene masks and goggles but the cold found every gap.

 

[Alex321]

Was the skin waxy as well? We had neoprene masks and goggles but the cold found every gap.

I think it was, yes.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I think it was, yes.

There’s something called frostnip which is the stage before frostbite. The whiteness and waxiness is the stage before that. With frostnip the top layer of skin will often blacken and die. But the underlying tissues recover. With frostbite the underlying tissues die as well. I’ve had frostnip when I used to climb in the Himalayas where high camps could drop to -40C or so.

 

[gavroche]

THAT is going to be limiting, unless Wales is more tropical than I thought.
Days on end in lots of the north can be lower than that - in fact at times 5 feels positively balmy.

Yes it is but still better than a broken leg or worse. Spring will soon be here.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Yeah, a pretty nippy commute in this morning. 1C according to my Wahoo, and it felt like it. Most of me was Ok, but my fingers were like blocks of ice by the time I got to the office 957 minutes moving time). Was a bit nervous about possible ice on the roads, but didn't come across any - and there were dry parts to ride on almost all the way in.

Almost 16 hours cycling I’m not surprised hands got cold.