Commuting on road bike through winter

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Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
Despite wiping the brake pads & braking surfaces after every wet ride, I found I wore out wheels annually even with mudguards and good quality brake pads.

I've ridden a disc braked bike with mudguards since 2015 for wet or wintry commuting.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
I've ridden a disc braked bike with mudguards since 2015 for wet or wintry commuting.

Yup, wont go back to a rim braked bike for the commute. Was going through a set of rims every 18 months and gawd knows how many sets of pads.
one pair of disc wheels since 2013 and a new set of pads once a year makes perfect sense.
 

roubaixtuesday

self serving virtue signaller
Hi all, just after a bit of advice. I took my Trek Emonda SL5 2021 into the bike shop today as it had a flat tyre. I commute to work daily on it (5 miles each way). The man in the shop said it was unusual to commute on that bike, and also that I shouldn’t use it through a ‘British winter’ as it would ruin it. Thinking about this on my ride home, I found myself thinking ‘why?’. The actual tarmacced roads won’t be any different because it is winter will they? Obviously I’m not going to ride it in icy conditions, but in a bit of cold and wet I can’t really see why it would have any damaging effect on my bike. Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.

A quick Google throws that up as a £2k bike. Looks nice!

I do a 10 mile each way commute all weathers, so about double yours. I only did one winter on that kind of bike. Here's why:

It'll get wet pretty much every single ride; even if it's not raining, roads will be damp, your arse likewise.

Everything on the bike will be liberally sprayed in shoot off the road twice a day.

None of this makes it impossible, but...

1) You'll be a bit miserable getting wet every ride. Mudguards make a huge, huge difference, both to you and to the bike. Get some.

2) You'll get punctures. These are more frequent in winter as all sorts of stuff gets washed on the roads, and it's hard to avoid in dark and wet. It sounds as though you're not very confident with fixing them? Learn how to fix a puncture and get puncture resistant tyres.

3) It will all wear out much faster. You'll likely need to replace the entire drive train at the vernal equinox. Other things like cables and dérailleurs are likely to gunk up and work less than perfectly.

4) With the best will in the world, the bike will suffer cosmetically. Are you OK with that for your "nice" bike?

A second bike fitted with cheaper drive train and proper (as opposed to race blade type) mudguards may actually be cheaper as well more practical for you. And you have a spare if anything breaks.

Enjoy!
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I have a bike specifically for winter commuting. It's done about 4000 miles since I bought it less than 2 years ago. Besides normal components that need replacing (bar tape, chains, tyres, and brake pads), I've gone through a disc rotor, a set of jockey wheels, had the headset replaced, and a new bottom bracket, plus a set of gear cables (which I would have had done anyway after two years to be fair). My last service cost me nearly £200 in service and parts. My summer bike has done 12,000 miles in just over 3 years. Besides normal components that need replacing, I've put on a new cassette. I didn't need a new one, but was setting up a wheel for turbo use, so bought a new cassette for it's non-turbo wheel and popped the other cassette on the turbo wheel. That cassette is still going strong. I had the bike in for a complete strip and rebuild last year, where new cables were put in, and all bearings were checked, regreased, etc. My last service was £129 for the service, which included a strip and rebuild, plus all new cables and outers, brake pads, and bar tape. Still running the original bottom bracket and headset.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
As said above i too have recently moved to disc for commuting and although ony cheap cable discs they offer more consitant braking in all weathers and i wouldnt like to go back to calipers especially over winter, its a cheap bike only 25 % cot of the OPs bike new but it suits my needs perfectly and if parts do get worn then its a lot cheaper to replace parts.
 
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Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Another consideration - where do you leave the bike at the work place? Is it exposed or at risk of being stolen or vandalized? A good bike like the trek is going to be more of a temptation to tea leaves.
 
OP
OP
G

Gillymate

Regular
Cheers for all the comments guys, it’s definitely made me reconsider and travel through winter on my other bike! And regarding the puncture repairing etc, I can do that but just a bit more unsure on the new bike as I’ve never had to do it and thought the tyres were a bit more technical! Anyway thanks very much for all the comments
 
OP
OP
G

Gillymate

Regular
Another consideration - where do you leave the bike at the work place? Is it exposed or at risk of being stolen or vandalized? A good bike like the trek is going to be more of a temptation to tea leaves.
And it’s safely locked away at work!
 

Oldhippy

Cynical idealist
Walk the bike in to work and say nothing. They will be embarrassed to assuming it's fine. That's what I do anyway and no one ever questions it.
 
Yes, as others have said, so long as you increase the maintenance intervals, it will be fine, the bike won't spontaneously combust, but it is true that winter will increase the wear rates on various components. There is some logic in using a cheaper bike for these less pleasant months, as your cost per mile will reduce over the long run. Of course, that means shelling out on a second bike, so it would take some considerable time before it pays for itself over increased running costs of your 'best' bike.

Depending on the value of your best bike, and how much mileage you do, it may not make sense to take this approach. No judgement here, but if you are having to take your bike to the shop for a puncture, then you might actually stand to save a small fortune not running your best bike into the ground, especially if you wind up taking it in for every little problem, but if you are prepared to put in the cleaning, maintenance, and ride a 'winter' bike, and it's your main method of transport, it's not a terrible strategy, and one many here will employ to keep running costs low, and their pride and joy in tip top condition for the kind of riding they purchased it for. Nothing wrong with commuting on a road bike, and I did it myself for many years, but when I had the funds and space to have a second bike for commuting, I picked up something that simply did commuting better, and my road bike was then used exclusively for leisure activity and exercise, it was always raring to go, because it didn't get hammered on my 20 mile round commute on a daily basis.
 
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