Video: How to Survive Winter Mountain Bike Rides
Heated insoles, suspension set up, line choice and more. Christina Chappetta breaks it all down so you can have a better time on your winter mountain bike rides.
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It's been way too cold in AZ. Been in the 60s for weeks! Best to just avoid it.
I have second "winter" bike built from many spare parts and low price and quality components good enough to ride in poor conditions. Best thing is that I clean this bike once a year????
in some places we call it summer
Regarding the weather and trail conditions where there is snow, either its:
1. Unbelievably cold so you can't ride more than 10 min before you sweat and then freeze to death because of soggy gear, on top of that trails are icy (see point 2 which happened 2 days before point 1) and you get no traction even with 250$ studded tires
2. Its too warm, you dig in the snow in every corner and you finish with half your clothes wrapped around your waist.
3. Snow is too fresh, we just got 15 cm and the heroes who create the flow trails you are referring to have not yet had the chance to do them.
Whenever 1, 2 or 3 is not happening, I'm at work, or or i'm checking out videos of people shredding on actual DIRT.
In the end.. I just want to ride DIRT!
Cheers!
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And that air springs sometimes fail at -40???
The idea is to not sweat too much, but getting the right combination of breathable insulation can be tricky.
Love the lightweight merino next to skin. For really cold rides I alternate wool/silk/wool, then shell.
I have one as well and is been a phenomenal investment, i wear it with a wool (on the thick side) long sleeve t-shirt and i have been comfortable in about 20 F or -6 C . I have even used it to run and is been great, is been very tough also. So far a couple of big crashes and still looks new.
V-neck zipper on merino base layer top is important to staying cool on climbs and is another way to minimize sweat.
Go skiing.
The best thing that I have found for keeping warm in winter riding is the micro-fleece compression thermals. Even though it still holds moisture, it works like a wetsuit and stays warm.
One thing before you go straight plastic-bag though, is getting some Goretex socks
Also, now that you're a PB employee, shouldn't they give you a complimentary, super-sweet PLUS account?
One tip for the barehand folks: try wrist gaiters! I just got a pair and I'm amazed at how much more cold my fingers are able to tolerate just because the blood flow is kept up through warm wrists. I wear them as intended during ascending and transfers and roll them up a bit (getting the thumb out) to get full contact between the palms and the grips when dropping in to a descend. Well worth a try.
PS- which inserts are you running? Always fun to hear what the actual fast guys use, not just us fast typers.
I wear real winter gloves (oakley or dakine when -15C and colder) and before sweating, I change them for the Briskers! Perfect for 0 to -10°C with this method. When only -5C, I can even start with these! I'm talking when doing a big effort, not only going down... singletrack fatbiking (not on a lake) or running for example. You have to be cold when starting otherwise you'll be sweating as f*ck and be freezing after!
Good gloves for fall riding but after a while (couple of weeks) we get used to cold temperatures and can use them in winter. I guess it also depends where you are from.
I rarely winter ride and to be honest have only ever done it on a full rigid. However, I'm a fan of acclimating the bike to the ambient temp. Sometimes that's enough to lower the tire pressure naturally and just the right amount, or, allow you to actually add a couple more if it's super-mega-frozen. I would assume the same with fork/shock pressures.
As a non-engineer, I'm also thinking that actually speeding up the rebound a touch would help as the shock/fork will naturally slow down as the oil becomes more viscous. Of course, I could probably test this right quick on a trail if I were not winter-lazy. Oops, got an aft ice time, hafta smash some pucks.
The stanchion is NOT entirely covered, just the rear side is protected from mud and stones/gravels projections, the rest is at open air, and it`s actually enough and super efficient like that.
The system makes the stanchion accessible to check it, wipe it, and grease it sometimes by unscrewing the seal ring - I use 2 KS Lev 125 on my 2 bikes.
Aesthetically, I don`t like a whole piece of tube system, nor the Lizard Skin`s stanchions protectors, and as said freerider11, it would probably accumulate dirt and damage your stanchion at term.
Also, for goodness' sake, can all you northern hemisphere people just go skiing already and stop bloody whinging?