Do you feel that since the weather has changed to cold here in the northern hemisphere and that the nights are longer that you have to put your bike away? Don't let that be the case - get some lights and get out there and take in some of the best riding you may experience all season.
We turned Munich, Germany into our own private play ground recently and you could do the same in your town!
I'm the opposite to you. I love riding at night, everything feels so fast on a trail when you can only see as far as your lights extend. Riding in snow on the other hand, I feel out of control and like I am just holding on and hoping for the best. On the other hand, even an easy trail can be a challenge in the snow.
riding at night is awsome!! sometimes when i couldnt sleep i would go out in the early hours of the morning and have the town to myself, not having to care about people or cars getting in the way when blasting about!
Night riding in the summer is cool. Bike riding in the cold, scrooge says nope. If you want to sell it, show me someone ripping a border-x track with spiked tires or something.
Night riding definitely adds another, very exciting aspect to mountain biking! Great video mate! It's a shame that so few mtb'ers take part in it. It does get cold, but you just add another layer or two, and then you crank up the lighting and get riding. It does undoubtedly make you feel faster as well - and it's a great thing to do one evening after work, when you otherwise wouldn't be able to ride!
love the main road though the village when its snowy/icey, theres like no traffic on a good day and absolutly dead on snowy days ... take the downhill rid out, get some drifts into my street going and 180 skids... good fun
I ride in the winters here in Utah, and my suspension is always crap, but its still fun! I just always worry about ruining my Suspension...... is that possible? Can cold weather riding ruin your forks and shock? I ride a coil shock and Coil DH Forks....
The only reason I dont like riding at night is because I dont want to run into any animals like a fox or badger. I've ran into a family of badgers in the day time once and it wasn't fun.... Also, pushing back up some of the steeper trails would just be plain scary!
you got it PublicOnion , in the summer is very fuun riding at nigth and i dont know you guys but i ride for hours and dont feel liek it go ride a 7 pm finish like 10 ore later , any way rigth now in the winter man i gust keer thinking if a go ore not to go
be cuz off the cold rigth here in the pacific is cold like -3 for me is cold
cherss peep
Studded tires are the ultimate for winter riding. Our xc trails in the summer turn into snowshoe trails in the winter. When the conditions are right it is super fun to shred snowy singletrack, and u can rail as fast as if on dirt.... feels that way anyway. It does suck when you stray off the packed trail and get axle deep in the soft stuff though.... but it's usually a soft landing.
your bike will be fine, until about -35c, at that point there the lube thing does make a difference.
as i found out the hard way when the pauls in my freewheel started to slow down while returning.
and the ice is a great balance trainer with stock tires.
winter riding is by far the best training method in the off season. your only cold for the first 10mins then everything regulates
try it at least once in the cold and the dark, you will not regret it
All the stunts and jumps I've ever done have been in the winter. I don't dare leave the ground unless I'm landing in snow. Plus the snow makes your lights go so much farther.
Here in my hometown,We rarely can see the snow.I think it would be a really great fun to ride a bike on the snow while silence reigns,and you could hear the squeaking sound of the snow.Cheers!Really good video~
Living in a 22 million people city riding late late at nite is just great, like a comment before from the scotish guy, its all empty for yourself and the ammount of places tu jump-off and ride over is endless.
cheers
Actualy, once moving your suspension warms up and works just fine, and tires are fine in the cold once they get moving too (you know, cars have rubber tires too!). The only thing you really have to look into is the air volume in shocks, and using the right lubes. Try it out, it's got a similar feeling to riding in mud, so it makes for great off season wet weather training.
I wasnt always so sure about it either.........but I finally broke down and bought a light kit this year and It kicks ass. Night riding is really quite the experiance, not to mention the cold air, frozen ground.......ideal?? No. But neither is sitting on my couch wishing I could ride. Its all about the right clothing as far as the cold goes....no cotton, and dont overdress- about 10 min of pedaling and you will be sweating I promise. As far as the other hurdles....hard ground, hard tires, darkness, brakes wont warm up, shock wont warm up..........its all part of the challenge, should sharpen your skills
I actually run a coil fork and shock. The issue is the oil inside is very cold, and riding xc type trails does not really warm it up. I suppose running a lighter weight oil might help, but I dont feel its enough of an issue to warrant that.
We ride the shore in the snow and everything operates fine (we just drop our tire pressure)... although the snow has disappeared and it has been pissing rain for the past 3 weeks...
Personally in temps below 30 my fork and shock start to get slow on the rebound due to cold oil. Its not really that they dont work, but it feels weird and makes it so that I reed to back off on the rebound a few clicks.
I just took a sweet snow ride yesterday, felt so good to be back on the steed after two weeks of boredom! Snow is just great training and ice, man that's the best stuff!
winter riding is awesome , i ride at night with my local shop alot , its brilliant ( only if you have decent lights or you wont get very far without crashing into a tree
the only bad thing that ever happened to me in -15 celsius is that water in my fork seals froze and they started leaking... nothing a hairdryer couldn't fix
Loved your video and this defently inspired me to go and ride in my local town!!! Nice job!
Funny, I ride multiple times per week in temps below -10c and everything works just fine.
www.pinkbike.com/video/67697