The first few days of snowy commuting.

Snow afternoon. Like many people in Boston on Friday we were told to go home early due to the impending snow storm that dumped as much as an inch of snow an hour on New England.

I headed home feeling confident that the Schwalbe Marathon Winter (26x1.75) studded tires I had put on my bike would keep me upright despite the less-than-stellar road conditions. I was soon deprived of this delusional thought and although I did remain upright I also discovered the limitations of a wide road tire on compressed snow. Tire tracks made by cars in fresh snow create a rather slippery mess for biking. I now know what people mean when they say that a skinny road tire can often be better than a mountain bike tire at handling snow. The thought being that a skinny tire can cut through the snow to the asphalt beneath. Bike paths were especially fun as the snow on them was virtually untouched and made for some steady, stable, quicker then you would think, and quiet riding. That being said I found that on virgin snow, ice, slush, or really anything other than the compressed snow left by cars the tires hooked up fine and have kept me commuting in weather I wouldn't have dared ride in last year.

I'm beginning to think that a more aggressive knobby studded tire would be good for that first fresh snow, but of course these would be less than ideal for the day to day commute. Which makes me think that a cyclocross or similar type of bike with narrower 700c studded tires would be better suited to commuting in New England with it's unpredictable weather. The narrower 700c tire might cut through that compacted snow a bit better and would likely perform better on slushy, wet or even cold dry days. Research to follow!

Recent acquisitions.

A Bike Friday Season Tikit. This thing is pretty damn cool. Here's a nifty video:



Now I don't have the super super fast folding style like that one as it was a $250 option that increased the complexity of an already complex little piece of machinery. So I opted for the so much slower 15-20 second fold *cry* But it's still damn cool.

Has an 8 speed internally geared hub (minimal maintenance) and I can take it on the T or Commuter rail at any time or throw it into even the smallest of trunks. Bad ass for such a dorky looking thing. It's fun, I like it, kind of a lot.


Winter Commuter

So I've had this thing for quite a while now picked it up sometime around last winter but never quite got around to setting it up. I have finally gotten the parts together and finished putting it together last night. None to soon as we got our first, rai... sn... sle... crap storm last night/today in Boston.

I've a 2006 Specialized Rockhopper with disc brakes (discs are key for ucky weather for a variety of reasons) a set of Schwalbe (I like saying Schwalbe) Marathon Winter studded tires, and a pair of basic plastic Planet Bike fenders. I decided to change out the suspension fork for a rigid fork and lucked out in that Bikes Not Bombs had a disc brake compatible, suspension corrected fork with rack mounts (which ended up being key as the disc brake caliper got in the way of the fender stays.) I rode it in to work today it was way fun and way confidence inspiring. I'm hoping I still feel this way on longer commutes.

In other news...

I'm moving, soonish. Of course since this is new construction this means that I've been three weeks away from moving since mid-August.

In preparation I've acquired a couple of fun toys. Namely a longer distance winter commuter. I scoured craigslist and ebay until I found something really suitable. Granted I spent a bit more than maybe I should have but I picked up a 2006 Specialized Rockhopper disc. It's a solid bike and after a few modifications it should be an excellent winter bike. I really wanted the disc brakes for their better wet and icy weather performance I also would like to avoid chewing through about a set of rims a season via New England road grit.

I've taken off the suspension fork and replaced it with a rigid fork, installed some Schwalbe Marathon winter tires (seemed like the best option for Boston commuting tires) and a set of basic planet bike fenders. The fenders required some modification, mainly some scalloping to allow the fender to fit up between the fork blades enough to allow the hardware to reach the mounting hole in the fork crown. And of course this weakened the fender enough that I needed to re-inforce it with a piece of metal.

Also there was some creative bending needed on the fender stays to route them around the disc brake calipers. I tried to do this as elegantly as possible. Photos forthcoming!

Reminder to self...

do not place your face in the path of potentially fast moving pliers.

No big harm done, just a small cut below my right eye and a slight bruise. Looks like I took a not too hard shot to the face.