So the advice I’m getting for cautious ‘elders’ is to put my bike away for Jan/Feb because of frost and that things will ease up from mid-March when I can start again. I currently use it every day to commute around 10 miles into Central London. I haven’t got a garage so it will have to into friends garages for storage (price and security not a concern).
As a lot of you commute into the centre, what are your views on this?
As my commuting is mainly in Central London, I presume roads are pretty well treated and frost shouldn’t be an issue. I also detest the tube so would quite like the bike to be my main commuting mode - and of course would like it here for days like yesterday which was great biking weather for this season.
That said, if it’s very likely that I’ll come off then it would be wise to suffer the tube for 2 months to keep the bike safe.
Just make sure you get decent warm, waterproof gear, keep your bike in shape checking chain and tyre tread depth/pressure, carry spare lamp bulbs, cover it in protectant like ACF50 to prevent some corrosion…
Give yourself more time to make your journey and be cautious at all times, watch the road conditions etc…
It should make you a better rider getting winter riding experience…
Tom started a good thread with lots of good advice on winter riding…
Yep, riding in the winter is fine just take your time like Conrad said. I generally end up doing public transport for a week or two of a year when it snows!
i tried riding today as if conditions were frosty/icy - you know for practice. I thought I had really good self discipline. I don’t.
Do you lot stop filtering altogether in the ice? And the same for overtaking slow moving traffic? That’s the hardest thing to resist. Problem with that is that it’s hard to tell where there’s icy patches. When I filter, the brakes are always covered because I’ve had a car pull out on me before. The thing is if I need to do an emergency stop, I would probably fall if the road was icy. So the only way of keeping enough braking distance is not to filter.
Then there’s also the small pleasures like opening up the throttle as you go through tunnels - for ear candy That I could just about stop doing but if I have to stop filtering it doesn’t make much sense to stay on the bike - and anyway, the urge to filter is going to be hard to resist. It’s only a 5 mile commute (around 15-20 mins riding time) but even now my hands just about last the journey despite wearing cold killer inner gloves.
Wait and see what the weather is like. Although it can often be shite in Jan/Feb that doesn’t mean it always is. Take each day as it is, particularly in these days of Oyster cards, you don’t have to pay for travel up front and then not use it.
Heated grips or heated gloves, or handlebar muffs, keep the hands warm.
Be careful, as said before just give yourself more time… You might not be able to make all the overtakes or filtering you normally do in good conditions…
Jet, the thing is that I can either leave the bike in a friend’s (nice, relatively-warm) garage until end of Feb or have it out in the cold/frost. Even though it’s covered, leaving it out is unlikely to do much good.
My bike’s a Ninja250 (first bike, too young to do DAS at the time of test). I guess the problem is that it’s tempting to overtake when the road looks fine - and 95% of the time nothing will happen. But just worried for the 5% of the time when it is icy…
As for heated grips, I have the removal type. Do you leave them on the bike when you park in London? I’m too worried that someone will nick them…
IF you don’t care about looks, buy the Tucano Urbano muffs. I’ve had heated grips and the muffs and the muffs are easily the better product. Your hands are dry and warm. Up to now with my spada enforcers, not once have I even felt a bit chilly. I used to have both heated grips and the muffs and I rode last year in summer, perforated leather gloves all year round. The muffs were what made this possible, not the grips.
Ultimately, you will get a few brown pants moments and you might even drop the bike but you’ll definitely learn a few things about riding if you do it in the winter. Just go slow and ride within your comfort zone
There was a thread a few weeks ago on winter riding tips somewhere. Can’t seem to find it but it had loads of good advice on winter riding
Up to you. You’ll quickly learn what your comfort levels are, but yes you have a great advantage being within the city as the roads don’t really get much chance to freeze other than around parked cars and wide junctions. If you don’t already, it will also force you to look further ahead as you’ll want to be anticipating the actions of other vehicles to minimise your time on the brakes.
Although Jan/Feb are normally the worst months for weather/cold. It doesn’t necassarily mean it will be throughout. You will no doubt get some nice mildish days that you’d want to take the bike out. Hang on to it, get a good cover, keep it secure and enjoy a nice sunny crisp day on the bike. Wrap up warm
Ice & snow are pretty rare on roads in central London, especially on busy routes.
In 8 years commuting I’ve only had to leave the bike at home a handfull of times because of cold weather. remember to check the forecast in the morning though - you don’t want to get caught out by a mid afternoon snowfall stranding you at work.
I had that displeasure once, fine until 3pm then it snowed like fook! I got from Ealing to Brixton before giving up once I saw a bus drifting on the road camber. Parked the bike up down a side street and walked the last 2 miles
Collected it the next day with my mate following me home in his 4x4 lol
That I could just about stop doing but if I have to stop filtering it doesn’t make much sense to stay on the bike - and anyway, the urge to filter is going to be hard to resist. It’s only a 5 mile commute (around 15-20 mins riding time) but even now my hands just about last the journey despite wearing cold killer inner gloves.