Ice, does it stop you?

[mcshroom]

A big wall of it would

 

[HLaB]

Makes me think more about my route, I selected one which was flat today when it was -1deg (on the car thermometer, -3deg on the garmin) and a route with minimal turning, I would have liked to taken a more main road too but my only choice is the A1 or a country lane Given the latter if it gets much colder or even the same after a wet day, I wont cycle. With previous city commutes, I'd cycle via bus routes and -6deg would be my cut off point.

 

[Wobblers]

You have an ICE BIKE!

Cool.

What do you use to clean it?

Why, liquid nitrogen of course!

 

[Origamist]

The only thing worse than cycling when it's icy, is cycling 20 miles + on studded ice tyres without a trace of ice on the roads.

Seriously though, even with ice tyres, sometimes it's better not to cycle if there's a prolonged deep freeze in the UK as you can't do much against incautious motorists on country lanes...

 

[EthelF]

Ever since I went down like a sack of potatoes and cracked a rib thanks to a tiny frozen puddle on the nursery run one frosty morning 5 winters ago I have kitted out my reserve bike with studded tyres. For the first two winters, they acted like a lucky charm, keeping away all trace of snow and ice all winter. But then came a winter where they came in useful - and fun too! So I would certainly recommend getting some studded tyres/spare wheels. But as studded tyres are noisy and less grippy on tarmac, I would not recommend keeping them on all winter, save them for days with risk of ice.

 

[Soltydog]

I had a fall on the ice a few years ago & suffered a badly bruised hip/thigh. As about 90% of the roads don't get treated round here, & the 10% that do I wouldn't want to ride on, my bike now stays in when there's any ice about

 

[andyfraser]

Seeing as everyone's doing it, I had a fall on some ice a few years ago and broke my wrist. I was walking though; the bike was at home.

 

[summerdays]

But as studded tyres are noisy and less grippy on tarmac, I would not recommend keeping them on all winter, save them for days with risk of ice.

That's what the spare bike is for! (As yet it hasn't changed into it's winter mode, it usually takes a hard frost to prompt me into getting around to it!

 

[CopperCyclist]

This is an interesting post. I have some studded tyres for my Cyclocross, but as yet I've never used them! I was keeping them for deep snow and haven't had any since getting them. In ice I just tend to do the psi down to 50 (running 35mm semi slicks) and take it easier when turning. Touch wood, all has been good so far.

I thought I'd I ran my studded tyres on concrete roads, they would wear down and be useless very quickly - am I wrong?

 

[Bodhbh]

No, not me - another one with studded tyres. I have a beater MTB with mudguards and 2 x 26" marathon winters (just fitted for this year). If there's deep snow or rutted ice on the road, I swap out the front for a 2.3 x 26" ice spiker which handles that okay and the back end copes well enough at least to follow. Honestly it changes your outlook altogether about icy mornings from dreading them to looking forward.

For black ice I could probably change my route slightly and avoid it mostly, but I'd rather not be second guessing it and just ride on the bloody spikers and instead worry about what I'm having for tea on my ride.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I thought I'd I ran my studded tyres on concrete roads, they would wear down and be useless very quickly - am I wrong?

Having been prompted by this discussion to look at studs (it had never occurred to me before) it would seem you are wrong. The advice on running them in is to do 50 miles on tarmac first so that it beds the spikes in to the tyre before touching mud or sand (which would get between the stud and the tyre and allow it to fall out). Totally not how I'd have approached it from a car/motorbike point of view.

Looks like they last well, I guess it's the lower power output and lighter weight.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Oh, and I managed to fall off on a strip of black ice winter before last, lost the front under braking, dug the pedal in to the tarmac which put all the force of the off, via the saddle, through a spot deep in my right buttock and was unable to walk unaided for a number of weeks because of the very deep, very localised bruising. For a few weeks I lost all ability to use the muscle that would allow my right leg to lift up (I had to physically lift it up with my hands to get it in to the car). Am 1 for 2, as the following year I had a similar slide, but managed a quick dab of the foot to get upright again.

 

[wam68]

Got to the bottom of my driveway this morning before ending up on my back. Bike is now into storage until this weather warms up and my shoulder recovers. NO LIKE WINTER !!!!!!!!!
Although on a more important note though the bike was fine

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

It didn't stop me

But I had a moment of realisation when out in sub-zero temperatures, on my own, around Ladybower, on a road a few miles from "civilisation" that doesn't actually GO anywhere so could go all night without a single vehicle, I slid, and skated flat on my belly all the way down the slope

The thought that I could have knocked myself out, or broken something out of mobile phone signal range, made me realise that finding my frozen corpse a couple of days later wouldn't have been that of a stretch



Mind you, then I had a similar when I went up Kinder Scout in the snow and had a slip which sent me sliding towards a 40+ foot drop onto rocks on the way down Fair Brook, desperately trying to dig the one pole left in my hand into the ground (should have gone with an ice axe for self arrest) until my heels, digging into the snow, managed to locate on a rock

So perhaps the answer should be "no, it doesn't stop me but sometimes it should"

 

[Moodyman]

Got to the bottom of my driveway this morning before ending up on my back. Bike is now into storage until this weather warms up and my shoulder recovers. NO LIKE WINTER !!!!!!!!!
Although on a more important note though the bike was fine

Where was this? most of the UK was well above freezing last night.