Winter Commuting Questions?

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121611700#Comment_121611700

What combo did you go with, out of interest?

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617354#Comment_121617354

Came with the new bike : https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Components/Guards/FEND-OFF

I have SKS raceblades on my racier bikes, and they help but the flaps make a big difference

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121620311#Comment_121620311

Yeah, I've the raceblades too. I was looking at a UK company last year that make proper mudflaps compatible with the SKS raceblades. Must see if I can find them again.

EDIT: Wait!!! What am I like?! You're clearly saying I need a new bike. Makes sense as the obvious solution...

Plastik

https://rawmudflap.uk/sizes/

These would suit. I've some from "buddy flaps", seems like they're no longer around https://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/buddy-flaps-review/

bilbot79

I got 25mm Continental Gp5000 All Season. Both fast and grippy and good deals on Bergfreunde

07Lapierre

Toptip: if buying shoes, wear some ski socks to the shop and buy shoes that are bit wider that you wear in summer. This allows you to wear ski socks without restricting blood flow to your toes! Really helps keep your feet warm especially on days like today.

Gerry

I'm going with 2 pairs of socks tomorrow

ardcat

Winter Commuting

Waterproof backpack or small pannier on traffic side. Dry clothes and everything else is essential.

Bring weeks change of office clothing on a Monday and home on a Friday.

2 sets of rear lights, 1 on the bike and the other on helmet. Drivers frequently can’t see your bike lights as they are hidden by other traffic. Bright rear on bike pointed at road behind you not directly at driver. Road is lit up particularly in the wet

Reflective band on ankle or on overshoes gives a constantly changing reflection to drivers.

Tyres Schwalbe Marathon or Pirelli Cinturarto Velo TLR for tubeless. Pirellis are particularly bullet proof and not as draggy as the Marathons. Muc Off sealant 60ml in each tyre.

Fixed wheel (with brakes) when you are confident enough to ride it. Less sliding on wet surfaces. Cheap bike if it gets nicked.

Kinesis Fendoff mudguards.

Dont ride east until ice is off the windscreen 20 minutes. Don’t ride West or South until later in the day.

Winter boots are luxury compared to overshoes. Your feet will be warm and dry almost every day. Not the case with overshoes. You’ll get years out of a pair of winter boots. I still have a road (Gaerne) and MTB (Specialized) pair both over 10 yaers old and still perfect.

13 years commuting from Leixlip to South Docks. Retired now.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121632220#Comment_121632220

Do you not find that the rain/ wet still finds its way into you feet with winter boots? I have fizik's road winter boots and found that water still got when seeping down bib tights to socks/ feet in bad weather. That said, they are extremely cosy and will keep feet warm on even the coldest day in Ireland. Which is my No. 1 priority, ahead of staying dry. Can't remember if the cleats also let water through in the usual fashion or if the winter boot versions have a way of stopping that.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121632220#Comment_121632220

A alternative option to bringing clothes in and out is just to keep your work clothes at work, and send them out for laundry or dry cleaning from there. You'll need access to a locker and maybe a coat stand for shirts on hangers. I have more shirts in work than at home.

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121632903#Comment_121632903

Try a set of these.

https://www.gripgrab.com/products/cyclingaiter-shoe-cover-cuffs

Eiregt

I commend anyone who commutes daily by bike, it's tough going to maintain year round.

I tried doing a 35km commute each way for a while after moving house. I lasted a few weeks at it but the thing that broke me was the fact that there was only one road, the N17 into Galway, and most of the year the prevailing wind is from the SW. So basically a block headwind every morning of about 20kph+ a lot of the time.

I found I was digging myself deeper into a hole through the week, being on the road by 5.30am and trying to get in for a 7am start and was wiped out by dinner time, nevermind the next morning.

It started to erode any love I had for riding my bike, especially with the shorter days as all of my mileage was in the dark and by the weekend I didn't even want to look at the bike.

My bike setup didn't really change from my other bikes.

• Alu Giant TCX with full length mudguards and 25mm Schwalbe Pro One setup tubeless.
• Two back lights for visibility.
• 1 or 2 Panniers depending on the day (Ortlieb quick racks are cool too if you've only one bike that you enjoy using on the weekend but don't want to be lugging it around all the time).
• Proviz pannier cover.
• Proviz gilet.
• Fizik R5 Tempo shoes that were of a similar reflective material as the Proviz stuff.
• Garmin Varia RTL515 with a second Lezyne strip150 rear light as backup.
• Ravemen PR1600 is a very good front light, has high and low beam. The low beam has a cut lens with about 800 lumens but very good visibility, the high beam enables the second spot light on the front for a wider spread of light in darker conditions. Often didn't need to full but left it on pulse for visibility. The battery could usually do a few days but I'd charge it every day or two just to be sure.
• I also carried a second CR700 front light as a backup in the bag.
• Carry a good selection of tools with some tubes and latex/vinyl glove to keep clean. The latex gloves are also handy if it's really wet and cold to put under regular cycling gloves for added warmth

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121634161#Comment_121634161

Had something similar - thin rubber yokes. Found they tore quite easily. Does the water still not just soak through the bib tights down to the ankles and ultimately socks?? i.e. not so much a case of rain running down tights/ legs (which those gaiters would prevent) but pure sponge-like soakage?

Happy to be wrong!

Plastik

Yep, like that, found the gripgrap gaitors fairly useless with winter boots tbh. Next on my list of expensive commute paraphernalia is probably some spatz overshoes.

I generally only use winter boots in cold and reasonably dry conditions. If it's heavy rain I'd much prefer to be with a good overshoe.

beggars_bush

Fair play to anyone commuting by bike this week.

Liam O

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636214#Comment_121636214

Wiped out on Monday so that put a stop to it for myself 😅

Gerry

lots of good advice on this thread, I'd propose it be stickied?

had a good long think about commuting today, went for it in the end but it was crazy cold. apart from freezing feet the legs were cold and didnt work. I've been determined to commute right through winter this year and its been rewarding, probably more a mental strength test than physical. hoping it reduces the usual dip in fitness over the winter. So far evidence is that it has.

ipodrocker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121626076#Comment_121626076

brilliant tip!

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636214#Comment_121636214

Every day, it has been, testing. Struggling to get the clothing right as I am actually warm but some days I wear the right amount and other days it is too much but it is too early and too cold to stop so I arrive drenched. Covering about 48km a day. It is certainly more tiring in the cold.

JMcL

All good advice, while I'm commuting less full stop these days I'll throw in my 2c as, until the sky fell in in 2020, I was doing so year round on unlit roads and in all weathers (28km round trip)

Tires: I've never used Marathons or Duranos but did use Specialized Armadillos back in the day. These were bulletproof, but felt like cycling towing a concrete block and weren't stellar in the wet. I eventually settled on Conti GP 4 Seasons 25mm as a year round tire and rarely had punctures. That said, I doubt I'd have anything like the crud the OP will have on the route they've outlined

Lights: All been said above. I need a new set myself as the Lezyne Power Drive 1100 which was excellent now has a battery (non replaceable of course) that won't charge

Mudgards: OP said they've a rear mudguard, should look at a set of raceblades as a long spin on a wet night gets even more miserable

Peaked cap: As somebody else mentioned above, this is probably one of my top bits of year-round cycling gear. In winter it keeps the head warm, and can help shield your eyes from headlights, in summer, it wicks away the worst of the sweat that invariably ran into my eyes and helps shade your eyes from the sun.

Rack and panniers: Well worth it if you can - easier to carry stuff and you don't end up with a sweaty back from a backpack

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636214#Comment_121636214

I'm find the weather itself ok (got to bring my daughter to school, and cargo bike is the easiest way in the morning), but my rear tyre is shot. Two punctures today, one yesterday, one the day before.one or two last week, two in the last week we were commuting before Christmas break.

I've ordered a replacement,but I can't go on another week. Anyone know a bricks-and-mortar store in Dublin that sells 26"x1.75 (47-559)? Greenaer and 360 Cycles seem to have 26" x 2.something. I think 26" x 2 would work fine.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639903#Comment_121639903

Check the clearance but I would be surprised if it didn't fit, the frame rather than the wheel is the most likely issue in regards clearance.

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121640011#Comment_121640011

Thanks! Yeah, I had to leave the bike near work because of the puncture and a deadline I had so can't check now, but I might go over to Greenaer before it closes and get one of the tyres they mentioned anyway. I do think there's enough clearance between the stays and below the mudguard.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636214#Comment_121636214

It was grand this week. Main roads were gritted. It's all about dressing for the weather. A good buff and gloves is a must in this weather.

ardcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121632903#Comment_121632903

I normally wore 3/4 bibs and Defeet Wooly Bully socks but did use Sealskin socks when it was lashing before I left. Leg warmers or tights tend to wick the water into the shoes. There was a rad that I could dry the shoes and socks. I also had duplicate extreme weather gear in my locker. Dry Sealskins work fine in wet or damp boots. I bought 2 Pearl Izumi rain jackets on special with pit zips to stop overheating but keep most rain out.

365 day commuting requires an investment in a solid reliable bike and most importantly redundancy with your gear. Always having something to fall back on if something is still sodden. I toured once in Donegal in torrential rain and changed my kit at the first coffee stop and then lunch so I was able to sit in dry clothes. I also learned the trick of using a hand dryer to dry your jacket. Zip up the jacket and hold it over the body of the dryer. The heated air will rush out the collar and the sleeves drying it pretty quickly.

BTW I still have the Wooly Bully socks after 20 odd years and wear them with Gaerne winter boots. A bit of darning repair along the way but always toasty feet.

CramCycle

Bring back the cold and dry weather, can't be dealing with that rain.

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121640053#Comment_121640053

Got a 26"x2.4 tyre, but it does seem a tight fit at a glance. Haven't tried installing (cargo bike; can't do it inside house; weather bad), but got out the callipers, and frame is 7cm wide at narrowest point inside rear triangle, and tyre is officially 6.2cm wide. I'd be concerned if the wheel goes even slightly out of true it'll rub.

There is a 26x1.75 (47-559) in the post, but it won't be here for about a week. I could return this 26x2.4 (it's still in its cardboard) and get up earlier and Luas/walk for a week.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121644584#Comment_121644584

I thought you had a 26x2.0 from Greanaer or similar? the 2.4 sounds like its cutting it a bit close (maybe .5cm each side), and would be dependent on the tyre being accurately sized and your rim internal width. Google the tyre and see if anyone has actually measured it.

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121649439#Comment_121649439

Yeah, "2.something" was all I could remember; I couldn't write it down when they said it to me earlier in the day on the phone, and I thought they had said 2.4 and also a slightly narrower one, but 2.4 was the narrowest they had when I went there. I'm sure I just got mixed up, because I always do when people give me answers in Imperial.

Think it's going to be as low as 4mm clearance either side if I try to install, and city bikes are apparently supposed to have a min of 6mm.

Tyre still in its cardboard, so I imagine they'll at least give me store credit, and I'll have the narrower one coming from the Netherlands in a few days.

Thanks for the help, Cram.

caviardreams

Saw somebody recommend galbier gloves - which ones?

https://www.galibier.cc/category/cycling-gloves-mitts/

My hands get desperately cold due to raynauds but I still like to grip and feeling for the brakes etc as I am a bit of a nervous cyclist