Do you change your set-up?

[fossyant]

The only time that I change the bike is the spare wheels have knobblies on and come out for snow and ice. Like previous replies I am seriously thinking of spikes this year, which obviously means the mildest winter in the last 3 decades is almost upon us!

Studded knobblies are awesome........ bit slow on tarmac, but I can ride to work on the Trans Pennine if I so feel...and did do last winter.

Here is a link to riding on compact ice with the Schwalbe Snow Studs I did last winter

One Here !

And Another !

 

[ianrauk]

Same bike and set up all year round. Using 23 slicks, what ever the weather. only 2 days this year bad weather have stopped my commute and that was because of heavy snow.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Whilst not commuting I do swap my lighter summer wheel/23mm tyre combo for stronger wheels and tougher 25mm tyres.
Main reason is I ride much more in the dark and wet, the winter wheels have much thicker rims for the extra braking wear in the gritty winteryness and the fatter tyre and heavy rims withstand the potholes that are harder to spot and give slightly better grip.
I also tend to flip the bar stem to give slightly higher bar height as it's more comfortable with extra winter clothing layers and being more upright helps to see in the darkness.
The extra riding effort is good training.

 

[addictfreak]

Mountain Bike stays the same all year round.

In the winter, my 'good' roadie goes into hibernation and the winter bike comes out. Winter bike still has slicks, only difference is it aluminium as opposed to carbon and I fit mudguards and lights of course.

 

[Arch]

Apart from whehter or not you really need different kit, there's a nice seasonality to swapping bikes. My Mum always used to do a grand swap of all our winter and summer clothes when I was little (she still does to some extent, with her own clothes). I found it terribly tedious, not having much interest in clothes, and nowadays I just wear the same stuff, only more layers in winter, and fewer shorts. But it was a marking point, like the school terms, and the clocks changing.

When Mephistopheles moves upstairs to the flat (and gets a service if he's lucky), and Monty moves down to the lobby, it's winter - and vice versa makes it spring again....

 

[HLaB]

On my old commute and trips to uni I just use the same Ridgeback Velocity, its shod with 700 X 37c tyres so handles most conditions well. It was/ is only 3-5 miles, for anything longer I'd be tempted to go for something with drops and narrower tyres; I think that would be a all year rounder too.

 

[palinurus]

Normally ride my fixed commuter all year round, but if there's snow and ice I use my 'cross bike with studded tyres fitted to a spare set of wheels.

 

[cyberknight]

Winter time i get the subway 1 out running 26x1.5 city jets,the main reason being that its older and i would rather wear that out than my few month old roady.

It is also fairly bombproof as well over the hidden potholes and the wider tyres give me a bit more grip on the icy back roads that i ride on.

 

[Flying Dodo]

About 3 years ago I stopped using my (then) best bike for summer commuting and decided to keep using the heavy steel commuter bike all year round. That way, it's good training to lug the extra weight around. If it's going to be icy or snowy, then I'll put the spare wheels on which have Marathon Studs on.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I ride commute on a fixed all year, In the winter the geared bike I use for summer club runs goes away, the fixed gets geared down a couple of teeth and gets used on the Sunday runs as well.

 

[summerdays]

The Vantage has 32mm Marathons on anyway so I only change for snow; then the Mountain bike comes out. (note to self - order some spiky tyres before I need them

)

I'm on a hybrid with Marathon's all year round - the only difference is the lights... however I bought studded tyres last year which arrived just after the snow went ... so they are lovely and new. I suspect now I have bought studded tyres you can safely not buy them on the grounds it won't snow ever again

.

 

[hackbike 666]

No obsession with rushing to work so I use the same tyres all year round.

 

[Tinuts]

No change - I have a commuter bike for all commuting. Only change is if there is ice or snow, then the MTB comes out with studded tyres

Yes, same here.

 

[RedBike]

I loved trying out studded tyres ealier this year. I rode along this frozen stream (it wasn't deep) with no trouble at all. Rode into the carpark at work, got off the bike then went completely arse over tit. I hadn't realised just how icy it was. Sadly the tyres fell apart after just 2/3 uses.