Summer and Winter bikes...

[Maz]

I don't quite get it. Why do some people have one bike for summer and one for winter? Is it because the summer bike is a roadbike with no 'guards and/or the tyres are too skinny for wet wintery roads or some other reasons?
I only have the one bike (Sirrus) and it seems good enough for year-round use, though I will be putting skinnier 23mm tyres on it soon.

 

[buggi]

winter bikes are a bit studier, whereas summer bikes are usually lighter bikes with more expensive parts. basically a winter bike is one you don't mind trashing (or sometimes the winter one is the old summer bike when you get a new summer bike but you haven't got the heart to part with the old one)

 

[Maz]

Cheers, buggi. You don't know how great that makes me feel, safe in the knowledge that my only bike will get trashed - I've only had it 6 mnths.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Just clean it frequently and keep it lubed. Get guards if you don't already have them - they make cycling nicer and protect your bike.

 

[GrahamG]

Mudguards. That's all you need. Then it's just a case of cleaning it every couple of weeks - particularly the drivetrain.

 

[Unkraut]

Basically a winter bike is one you don't mind trashing (or sometimes the winter one is the old summer bike when you get a new summer bike but you haven't got the heart to part with the old one)

Ditto. The old bike can then be subject to all the salt they put on the roads when it is freezing. All the other grime that gets flung at you doesn't matter so much either.

 

[andy_wrx]

My Winter bike is my old bike, my Summer bike is lightweight carbon bling, with fancy wheels, etc.

Of course I can ride either at any time of the year, but the new one has more expensive gear and brake components I'd rather not wear-out (cos I'm tight !) by riding in the salt and muck on Winter roads.

And in Winter if I'm doing long-slow-distance stuff, wrapped in several layers of clothes, with 'guards and lights weighing-down the bike, I might as well ride the older, heavier bike.

 

[Arch]

My summer bike is my lighter, flashier bike, on skinny tyres, and removable lights. My winter bike is sturdier, heavier, fatter tyred, dynamo lights because it's ridden more in the dark, hub gears and brakes. Both have mudguards and rack anyway.

I will take the FCR out in winter, if I am doing a longer ride, but generally I'd rather the winter bike got gunked up.

There's no reason you HAVE to have 2, if you take care of the one. But the more the merrier!

 

[fossyant]

I have three, a commuted up mtb for commuting of course, a training/winter bike and a racing/summer bling machine that was custom built for me 16 years ago. The bling doesn't come out in the rain

 

[Maz]

My wife'd kill me if I got another bike... "a complete waste of money bla bla bla...when are you going to spend some money getting the house extension done bla bla bla..."
It'd end up being yet another 'stick' for her to beat me up with.

You 2plus'ers are lucky, man.

Best look after the one I've got (bike, that is).

 

[Arch]

My wife'd kill me if I got another bike... "a complete waste of money bla bla bla...when are you going to spend some money getting the house extension done bla bla bla..."
It'd end up being yet another 'stick' for her to beat me up with.

You 2plus'ers are lucky, man.

Best look after the one I've got (bike, that is).

Ask her how many pairs of shoes she has, and whether she really needs them...

 

[buggi]

Ask her how many pairs of shoes she has, and whether she really needs them...

Arch, aren't we supposed to be on her side? i bet their house is derelict and they're living in a tent in the overgrown garden, and he has his eye on a gleaming carbon bike

 

[Tim Bennet.]

I'd settle for shoes any day.

With Mrs TB it's constantly 'I neeeeeeed another bike / new wheels / lighter bits, etc, etc'.

I'm looking for some sort of secret website blocking software I can install on her computer unnoticed, that would stop her access to 'Weightweenies'. That bloody site is going to bankrupt us.

 

[cupoftea]

Maz there is a way of getting the wife to agree.

I already have two bikes, one that I commute all year round with mudguards and lights etc, and another "best bike" that was saved for MTB racing, not that I done much in the last 7 years, but back to the point

This year I decided to do a Triathlon, and so I put skinny tires on the race bike and started using it to commute. On my normal bike I’d get home in 50 / 60 minutes, with the race bike that dropped to 40 /45 minutes.

The wife has now suggested that I get a summer bike so I can get home sooner!

 

[BentMikey]

The wife has now suggested that I get a summer bike so I can get home sooner!

Ooooh eerrrrrr!