Reason for having a "winter bike"?

[simongt]

Often puzzled why folk need a so called 'winter bike'. A colleague at work bought himself a 'winter bike'; much the same as the bike he already as, but just with mudguards & basic lights. He only rides it on the occasional club run at weekends.
I don't have or see the need for a 'winter bike'. My 22 year old GT Outpost is permanently kitted out for all weathers, my Brompton M3 deals with all the local commuting and my Dawes Fox is my summer fun bike - !

 

[yo vanilla]

In Wisconsin, a winter bike falls into two categories:

expensive fat bike

because snow

OR

cheap old bike

because salt. I have one of these, same color, in the basement actually

 

[fossyant]

Always had a race bike and a training bike - the training bike would get mudguards for the winter. Main reasons usually are you aren't wearing the rather expensive best bike's components out.

I also had a work bike - that was my commuter made for guards and a rack.

I'm currently alternating between two MTB's. Anything that involves proper off road, then the full sus is out, and it's been used loads this year (and an expensive whole drive chain replacement - 2 x chainrings, cassette, chain and jockey wheels). If it's not a 'difficult ride', then my old MTB is being used with full mudguards - I just fitted some 2.0 tyres rather than 2,4's - main issue is to ride without getting completely full of mud, not just on the bike, but me too. Drive chain components are cheaper on this one being 8 speed, but it's getting a struggle to get chain rings.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I wouldn't consider a Trek 850 Mountain Track to be just a cheap old bike in one sense: you might have picked it up cheap but they seem to be pretty decent machine not something close to a BSO. I bought two of those a while back for peanuts, one 16 1/2" way too small, the other 18" a bit small - but the mechanicals all look good quality as does the cro-moly frame.

 

[T4tomo]

Often puzzled why folk need a so called 'winter bike'. A colleague at work bought himself a 'winter bike'; much the same as the bike he already as, but just with mudguards & basic lights. He only rides it on the occasional club run at weekends.
I don't have or see the need for a 'winter bike'. My 22 year old GT Outpost is permanently kitted out for all weathers, my Brompton M3 deals with all the local commuting and my Dawes Fox is my summer fun bike - !

Your GT Outpost is your winter bike, you just happen to ride it in summer too.

 

[simongt]

Your GT Outpost is your winter bike, you just happen to ride it in summer too.

Precisely my point - !

 

[yo vanilla]

I wouldn't consider a Trek 850 Mountain Track to be just a cheap old bike in one sense: you might have picked it up cheap but they seem to be pretty decent machine not something close to a BSO. I bought two of those a while back for peanuts, one 16 1/2" way too small, the other 18" a bit small - but the mechanicals all look good quality as does the cro-moly frame.

Well I just grapped a quick pic from a search for an old bike but you get the idea! That one isn't mine; mine is a little rougher and I picked it up for $40.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Well I just grapped a quick pic from a search for an old bike but you get the idea! That one isn't mine; mine is a little rougher and I picked it up for $40.

Mine were definitely a bit tatty but I bought the pair from the same vendor for £15 and I only wanted them for the mechanical bits, which, rusty chains aside, looked to be in fairly good condition. From memory, the seatpost diameter is an odd size on these, not either the standard 1 inch hi-tensile job or the common sizes found on Reynolds frames. I think the headsets are also 1 1/8", again rather uncommon for a quill stem, although I do have a Raleigh MTB with the bigger headset. Trek seemed to size their MTB frames small, rather like Saracen, although the top tube lengths are not that short.

 

[12boy]

Today I went for a 14 mile ride on my 92 'Dale in -6C. The 1.95 studded snow tires were slow but had great traction on the icy bits. Not a long ride but still a workout with those tires. Winter bike good. Mongo like winter bike.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If I recall my model was known as the Pioneer Elite with Reynolds 501 Chromalloy main tubes; the Elite range all had sloping top tubes like mine, I recall a rather lovely model in purple! The Pioneer had a long life over many years but again from memory during the same era as mine they also had a range with steel 18-23 tubes

I must admit I never even thought of the Elite variants. What a fool! Those 501 frames are good, my "best" Pioneer is a horizontal top tube 23" "Trail" model in deep red with a 501 frame. It's my go-to flat bar bike, rides very nicely. I've also got a scruffy hack one for pub use in 18-23 with a two tone paint job. A bit heavier though.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

I must admit I never even thought of the Elite variants. What a fool! Those 501 frames are good, my "best" Pioneer is a horizontal top tube 23" "Trail" model in deep red with a 501 frame. It's my go-to flat bar bike, rides very nicely. I've also got a scruffy hack one for pub use in 18-23 with a two tone paint job. A bit heavier though.

Makes me smile that I can remember trivia from back then yet completely forget I have walked into to kitchen for

 

[NorthernSky]

i have this simple little mudguard
basically stops you getting mucked up your back and can be taken on/off in seconds

https://www.sks-germany.com/en/products/s-blade/

 

[yo vanilla]

That's interesting, I don't know if I've ever seen a mudguard to mount like that!

 

[Gunk]

I don’t have a winter bike, I just have lots of bikes, they don’t need to have designated roles, I just ride the bike I’m in the mood to ride

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Probably similar to others on here I have a cheap knockabout bike for use in inclement conditions rather than it specifically being a winter bike. I'll admit to being a bit precious about my good bikes so the knockabout bike comes out when I need one to lock up in town, do a bit of mud plugging or to use once the roads start to get salted in the winter. It's heavy and slow but strangely likeable to ride and makes me appreciate the better bikes when the spring comes round again.