When do you winterise?

[SuperHans123]

I only have one bike (Kona Dew Hybrid) and leave the mudguards on all year round as they keep a lot of crud off the bike, not just water.
No changes planned apart from putting the lights back on.

 

[Diggs]

I've given the Winter bike a bit of a going over today, just in case

Super-Claris-fragilis-Trek-EightSpeed-Alu-docious

 

[User6179]

First day with bib tights and gilet and full fingered gloves , got half a mile from the house and was sweating buckets , back to the summer gear for tomorrow.

 

[snorri]

A lot of comments, if I could only just Summerise ...

No no, the trick is not to summerise in the spring thus saving yourself the effort of winterising in the back end

 

[simon the viking]

This thread has encouraged me to put the mudguards back on...... I even contemplated taking the slightly fatter 28c s of my scruffy nerf herder bike I use on trails with little un ...... I didn't take the 25c tyres off my Defy wheels before checking the nerfs wheels with the 28c tyres (original wheels off the Defy) on the Defy with the mudguards..... Honest...... Because that would have been silly.....

 

[andrew_s]

Dynamo lights and mudguards are permanent fixtures, so the only change is to the tyres, when I think iciness is likely (Conti Top Contact Winter are expensive, so I use the £6.50 Voyager Hyper as long as is safe).

 

[Chris1983]

Good to read that I'm not the only one that doesnt alter there bike between seasons.

Carbon fibre doesn't rust ;-) the only difference between summer and winter is that I wash the bike down after every ride in the winter. Get all the crap off it and re lub the drive train.

As long as you keep on top of cleaning and maintenance I see no reason not to use your best bike all year round :-)

 

[nickyboy]

Good to read that I'm not the only one that doesnt alter there bike between seasons.

Carbon fibre doesn't rust ;-) the only difference between summer and winter is that I wash the bike down after every ride in the winter. Get all the crap off it and re lub the drive train.

As long as you keep on top of cleaning and maintenance I see no reason not to use your best bike all year round :-)

I think you're right. Bikes are meant to be ridden, not stuck in a garage for 6 months of the year. Just keep it clean and maintain the drive train and it'll be fine

I got chatting with another cyclist on my ride today who was out on his "winter bike". September 30....WTF?

 

[phantasmagoriana]

I got my new winter/CX bike back in the summer; it's been on a few rides but I'm still using the summer bike where I can. It'll probably go into hibernation by the end of October, and I'll give it a good strip down, service and replace whatever needs replacing (probably chain, cassette, brake pads) ready for next spring. I won't use the good bike in winter because I'm sick of wearing through rims at an alarming rate!

 

[MontyVeda]

My idea of 'winterising' is putting nobbly tyres on. This happens at the first sign of snow, if we get any... and are removed a few weeks later.

 

[Sandra6]

When I was riding my specialised I never winterised or de-winterised as the case might've been. I left the lights on and it didn't have mudguards but the rear rack kept my bum dry.
I'm riding a different bike all year now, it doesn't have lights -yet, and I took the mudguard off because it kept slipping down and clipping the wheel. I've taken to getting the bus if it's really wet so I might not bother.

 

[GuyBoden]

I'm not looking forward to wearing the winter full fingered gloves, I can't get the wrapper off my chocolates with them on........

 

[raleighnut]

I'm not looking forward to wearing the winter full fingered gloves, I can't get the wrapper off my chocolates with them on........

You need some of these,

They convert into mittens or rather they are mittens that have fingerless gloves inside em.