Winter commuting bike

[fossyant]

Depends entirely on the amount of braking and conditions. Clear roads on dry surfaces, no problem. Constant braking in cruddy conditions wore through my Mavic rims in a year. PS - They make a very loud bang under pressure that they can no longer withstand.

I eat rims in a year or slightly more.

 

[cyberknight]

I eat rims in a year or slightly more.

I find them a bit chewy .

 

[Pblakeney]

I eat rims in a year or slightly more.

My (only) summer bike (non-commuting) has had a set of H Plus Son rims fitted since 2018 with @ 34,000 kms.
Still have plenty of wear left. Commuting in the city during winter is very, very different.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Same bike all year round
Nowadays, a Spa Cycles 'Abisque' (replaced a 'first generation'/hi-viz green Ribble CGR, that cracked at the seat-cluster)
28mm Marathons
Full mudguards
Hydraulic disc-brakes
Tiagra 10-speed
'Flite' saddle (early 90s vintage/titanium rails)

Lots of lights
Reflective mudflaps
etc...

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/rebuild-onto-a-new-frame.286752/

 

[fwgx]

When used to commute year round I used my CAADX CX bike with full mud guards. I cleaned it every 1-2 weeks and went through a chain after several years. Nothing else died, broke or needed replacing.

Before the CAADX I used my Felt Z75 rim brake road bike with full mudguards. Similar story and it's still riding well with only a couple of replacement bits.

I put this all down to good full mudguards and a tiny bit of TLC.

Riding in torrential rain through busy streets is what made my mind up I needed a disc brake bike for commuting. There's nothing quite like pulling on the brakes in the dark surrounded by and heading towards traffic and not slowing down at all. Really wakes you up that does!

 

[Dadam]

There is no "constant squeal" from disc brakes.

Mine squeal sometimes when wet, not always even then.

As you say, it is largely about personal preference when riding on roads, but there are a lot of myths about disc brakes, that being one of them.

Agreed. I have 7 bikes, 6 of which have hydraulic disc brakes. I think about half of them tend to give a little squeal when it's wet and haven't been used for a while. If I'm in traffic and using them a fair bit the squeal disappears. I think it's the heat getting rid of the water quickly. It's only in biblical rain or bad spray that the discs remain wet enough for the squeal to persist.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

There's nothing quite like pulling on the brakes in the dark surrounded by and heading towards traffic and not slowing down at all.

I've been commuting all through winter for years on a rim braked bike. This includes a couple of reasonably significant hills (30 mph sort of descents).

Nothing like this has ever happened to me.

I pull the brakes, they work.

 

[Adam4868]

One bike with rim and one with hydraulic disc....no real difference in stopping for me.Maybe I'm just used to each bike and how it brakes/stops ?
Can't really say I favour one over the other...although if I was in the market for buying a bike I'd more than likely go with disc 🙄

 

[geocycle]

One bike with rim and one with hydraulic disc....no real difference in stopping for me.Maybe I'm just used to each bike and how it brakes/stops ?
Can't really say I favour one over the other...although if I was in the market for buying a bike I'd more than likely go with disc 🙄

Same here really. In very wet weather the hydraulic disc is better and if I wanted a new bike I’d go with discs, mainly because of compatibility, tyres width and future proofing rather than braking.

 

[Pblakeney]

Same here really. In very wet weather the hydraulic disc is better and if I wanted a new bike I’d go with discs, mainly because of compatibility, tyres width and future proofing rather than braking.

This, *if* I was buying a new bike.
I’ve gone down a prolonged 10% descent in road turns to river conditions hard on both brakes and maintaining 15kmph.