Winter bike......

[Learnincurve]

I think I may be alone here in being the other way round to you all. All my bikes are "winter" bikes but do different things better. The (only drop bar) Revolution Audux does the roads best, girlie town bike does the shopping/looks best, hybrid set up as a touring bike does the dry gravel trails best and MTB does off road best. If you were to combine all these bikes you would get a cyclocross bike but costing £1000 less than a good one.

 

[Leodis]

I bought a 2nd hand Boardman comp road bike for commuting and winter riding in Feb, its been ok but its not built for the miles imho. I have fitted Crudcatchers to it and it keeps me dry but I am getting rid in Jan and replacing with a Genesis that takes full guards, disc brakes and is steel for a year round and winter training bike. The Ribble has slicks on and I have seen what salt water from the roads does to components, so that will be packed away ready for Spring.

The main reason not to use my "best" bike in winter is that it doesnt take full guards and they are a requirement on club runs and Crud Catcher races are crap and rub.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I feel the same, but I hardly ever hear anyone else say this. My best bike isn't my favourite one, but it was the most expensive one and it's more flexible (see below).

In the scheme of things my best bike wouldn't be considered a very expensive bike by many people, but my pay isn't high and the bike represents a considerable outlay on my part, when I was made redundant a few years ago I managed to get back in work within six months and paid for the bike out of my redundancy payout, with out that I wouldn't have been able to afford it, thats one reason I'm disinclined to subject it to the salt and general muck and rubbish found on winter roads.

 

[pauldavid]

It ain't a bike it's a ruddy scooter!

Now take your fancy one legged propulsion device round to scooterchat and stop bothering us good people who've mastered pedals!!


Where did you buy it by the way??

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

^Steve has had and lost this argument many times

 

[raleighnut]

Mine's a similar story Dave, but the 'best' bike has to put up with the winter conditions - I decided that I bought it to ride it, not to keep it in perfect condition.

A good way to 'Winterise' a bike is to give it a good clean around now remove the wheels and give it a good spraying with WD40 then repeat after a couple of hours, allow to 'dry' a bit then put the wheels back on. Then do not wash it til the spring, it can be 'hosed down' to get the thick off but no detergent/shampoo until its big spring clean/service. Worked for me. and will do again once I'm off the trike (which has been so treated)
EDIT- you can clean/scrub the wheels at any time just take em off to do it.

 

[steveindenmark]

Sorry...it says Kick BIKE,on my frame. So it must be true.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

But scooter in their web address and all over the website

 

[ianrauk]

Big Boy Scooters...

 

[steveindenmark]

I cant be arxes to do it all again. But its not as easy as people think. :0)

 

[jowwy]

This is the definition of a bike


1. A vehicle consisting of a light frame mounted on two wire-spoked wheels one behind the other and having a seat, handlebars for steering, brakes, and two pedals or a small motor by which it is driven.

 

[400bhp]

Dry bike and wet bike works for me.

Dry bike is the "race bike" with close clearances, sharper geometry and more expensive parts. I used it for a couple of seasons through the full year using one form of compromise mudguards but I got tired of faffing with mudguards (either didn't do a proper job-aka raceblades- or they were flimsy-aka cruds) and tired of constantly cleaning the thing.

So, an audax type bike works for me. To be honest I wouldn't have bought the one I have if I had my time again, I'd buy something lighter and slightly more agressive, but it'll do because I'm less bothered about it getting scratched/fdirty/scuffed etc.

 

[jowwy]

[QUOTE 3294670, member: 45"]When did that become the definition? The first bikes didn't have pedals.[/QUOTE]
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle

There you go my friend

 

[steveindenmark]

I am going to print that out and carry it with me as it now means I can ride in pedestrian areas and take it on the train for free. Is that right?

Steve

 

[Drago]

I use all my bikes (apart from my restored Elswick) all year round.