How wary of ice should I be in London?

[chemswot]

Hi All,

As a cyclist who only learnt to cycle at the height of last summer, I am beginning to get worried as the temperature drops. I am already reading about the first near misses and offs of winter and the changing/buying of tyres... I would like to carry on commuting, but I have no experience of winter riding and I'd rather keep my limbs intact! (I'm an organist...)

To all the Londoners out there - does it get very icy here? Are the gritters sufficient? (And for all...) What precautions should I take apart from taking it easy? Should I change my tyres? Should I take the bus?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

 

[davidg]

I dont do anything....if it looks icy or is forecast to snow, then I will get the tube, but that is pretty rare to be honest....

I have bogstandard specialised road tyres for a hybrid....

best to ride a lot more carefully, so no sudden braking etc...

 

[ianrauk]

It is vary rare for London roads to be icy for a long period of time. Some of the back doubles can be dodgy if there has been not much car movements. But the majority of the main highways are gritted quite early enough. Also London is a pretty warm place with all the residual heat from buildings and cars etc so any ice usually dissipates pretty quickly.

 

[swee'pea99]

Depends what roads you're on, and when. Any road that buses run along (a broad measure of size/busyness) will probably be fine pretty much all the time; backstreets are much more variable, with the hazard also increasing at less busy times (eg 6 am). But for the most part, you should be ok. I don't cycle when it's actually dangerous on account of ice/packed snow, and I probably miss one or two days in the average year.

 

[palinurus]

I'm a bit north of London but I find there is very rarely ice around my way on the main routes. Minor roads sometimes. I follow the bus routes if I think there might be ice.

The other thing is I know my commute and where ice tends to form- this helps but it takes a few winters to get this experience (I should add that I haven't gained this experience by falling off)

 

[fossyant]

Just watch out if it's been raining the evening/night before, then freezes overnight - that's when things get dodgy. Dry and frost isn't too bad, but, as folk say, it's a lot warmer in the city.

 

[patheticshark]

I came off on some London ice the other day but that was on a frosty night, going round a corner on a bit of road cars hardly ever go down, and I had crappy slick tyres on and was going at about 19mph.

So be more sensible than me about it and you should be fine... but change your tyres if you're worried.

 

[fossyant]

I had crappy slick tyres on and was going at about 19mph

Only ICE spikes would help here...........any tyre off.........

 

[Bill Gates]

You are fortunate to have a commute which is mostly unaffected by ice and well lit. I used to commute from Feltham through to Victoria and did full rotating shift pattern so cycling at 11.00pm and 0500 am through the winter. Some times I would arrive at work covered in ice but the roads were always pretty good.

Now I live in West Sussex and didn't venture out until after 11.30 am today due to early frost. It's very dodgy in some of the sheltered lanes around here. I miss being able to get out for a ride regardless.

 

[Stephenite]

Hello swot. Mostly sensible advice from the Londoners, i think , there.

I use these though:

Schwalbe Marathon Winter 700C x 40 (i live in norway)

A good alternative:

700c Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 35mm


To be on the safe side:

Nokian Extreme 294

A lot of sound knowledge can be dissected here http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

But you really have to think how much ice you're gonna be riding on in London before you fork out £40-50 a tyre. If you're like me, on the other hand, and are really into your cycling it could be worth the extra for the added security (erm, ok, bling factor).

Ride safe

 

[threefingerjoe]

I agree with Stephenite. I use the Nokian Hakkapellita (or however you spell it) W 106. I think this is my 4th year. I live in St. Louis, MO, USA, and leave for work at 5:00 am. From what I glean from most London posts, it seems that their biggest problem is blackice from frozen fog. I think this tyre would be excellent for that situation. Everyone's situation is different, but, for me, I'd rather be able to ride a little slower, than not ride at all, or risk injury. This is my 4th season on those tyres, and I have never fallen. Almost did, once, when I did a "split" when I put my foot down and my foot slid out! Now that would be embarrasing! Ride 10 miles over treacherous icy conditions, and then bust your bum right in front of your door!

A suggestion: Locate a cheap set of wheels to mount your studded tyres. You won't need them every day. Then, when you come out in the morning and find that it's icy, you can swap wheels in a couple minutes.

 

[Globalti]

We often ride in snow and ice on winter MTB club night rides. There's no problem - just avoid sheet ice where running water has frozen; you can ride the rest. Keep the bike upright and don't lean too much. Use the front brake carefully. In snow use narrow tyres pumped up really hard so they dig down to find grip. The only problems I've ever had have been frozen gear cables and my SPDs clogging up with ice.

 

[palinurus]

Studded tyres probably wouldn't get much use in London most years. If there was a big freeze they'd be great though.

 

[Globalti]

Dream on!

 

[SoulOnIce]

Where in the UK can one buy Nokian studded tyres?