Winter Riding
By Eric Snider

Given Will McLaughlin’s thoughts on riding , I add my two cents. Mine will be on how to make winter riding a bit more bearable and fruitful. My two cents: equipment and riding.

Equipment

It is hard to beat a single speed bike for winter riding. How does one justify another bike to oneself, or more significantly to one’s significant other? Do it on the cheap, and part of the reason why will come in the next section on riding.

Find a free older road bike that is near enough to your size (close enough adjustments can be made by replacing seatpost & saddle, stem & handlebar). Two main foci in looking for a suitable bike: a properly adjusted headset, and a bottom bracket that is not sloppy. If either of those need more service than a simple adjustment, keep looking. A couple of years ago I picked up a Nishiki that someone had set out for the trash. You might find a suitable bike in the back of someone’s garage, happy to get rid of it. Many parts will be rusted too badly to use. That will not matter since you do not need those parts anyway. Here is what I did; use your imagination and adapt it to your own situation.

I stripped the components off the bike, degreasing and cleaning everything that I wanted to save. The brakes were salvageable with some degreasing, cleaning, and lubing. I replaced the suicide levers with some old Shimano brake levers, and installed new cables ($10). I threw out the derailleurs, cables, and shift levers, as I would not need them. Took off the outer chain ring, and got some Sugino singlespeed chainring bolts ($9) for bolting the inner chainring. Threw out the chain, and replaced it with a very basic (i.e. cheap, $10) chain. The wheels were rideable, but I had an older Campy 6-speed wheelset hanging around and put them on. I set the gearing at 40x16, which gives me about 18 mph at 90 rpm pedal cadence, about 20 mph at 100 rpm cadence. Having the 6-speed freewheel on allows me to have three usable gears. I replaced the pedals with cheap SPD style pedals ($50) in order to use my MTB shoes, which are easier to walk in. To reduce risk of flatting, I got some 28c Continentals ($50). For winter novelty I put on 30c Ritchey cyclocross tires. To make the ride a bit more comfortable, fenders ($30) keep the slop down. To match the fit of my training and racing bikes, I got a used stem ($7) of the correct length, and replaced the handelbar ($20) with a basic model of the right width. For bum comfort, I replaced the saddle with one of my used ones that exhibited a bit of road rash, mounting it atop a new basic seatpost ($20). Finishing touches included cheap bottle cages ($5 each) and a basic (but wireless) cyclocomputer ($30).

My total investment was about $240. Of that, I did not absolutely need the chainring bolts, new tires (I had plenty of rideable used ones around), fenders, handlebar and stem, post and seat, or cyclocomputer. That would have cut my investment to $70 (mostly the pedals). The stem and bar made for a much better fit. The seat and post added comfort. The fenders make wet road rides much more bearable. Better wider tires make for a more comfortable ride and, more importantly for winter riding, better flat protection. Cyclocomputer adds precision.

Why single-speed? For me the main reason is ease of maintenance. There is so little to keep clean and lubed. If you ride on wet roads, after the ride just wipe down the chain well and re-lube. Derailleurs would add so much to maintenance time. Furthermore, fenders not only keep you drier; they also keep the brakes cleaner.

Riding

Bike riding from mid-November through March is, for many of us, part of training for races in April through September. Still, the sort of training involved should not be the sort of training that will leave you burnt out by mid-July. There is no need for high speeds. Winter riding might focus on two aspects of training: base conditioning and proper form.

For base conditioning, in my case, getting out for 45-75 minutes at 18-20 mph is just about right. That is the speed I would be going in a 40x16 with 90-100 rpm cadence. With the cyclocross tires, my speed might be a touch lower. With wind-chill factors, slower speeds at equivalent efforts keep you warmer. As a part of base conditioning, one day a week I will put in several 1-2 minute efforts at a moderate intensity; for me that might mean 105-110 rpm. You can ride the single speed for group rides. If the road is wet, your riding partners will fight for your wheel if you are the only one with fenders. The group ride will be fine as long as it does not turn into a hammer fest. If it does, you can probably hang on for a short time: 120 rpm in a 40x16 is just over 24 mph.

For form, I like to do two different things on my single speed. One is isolated leg pedaling. After 10 minutes or more of riding to warm up, I clip one foot out and rest it on the rear quick release, while pedaling with the other foot for 1-2 minutes. Then switch feet for the same duration. Then pedal with both feet for 6-8 minutes. Repeat 4-6 times. Pedaling with one foot, I can manage about 15-16 mph on a flat road without a headwind. Work on pedaling as smoothly as possible all the way around. After a few weeks of that, do it with a tailwind or on a slight downhill to spin a higher cadence. This workout is supposed to train a smoother and more efficient pedal stroke. Again, the lower speed for an equivalent effort keeps you warmer. The other activity for form is high cadence pedaling. In a single speed, this means finding a gentle hill to descend several times, or repeating some downwind efforts. Again, warm up for at least 10 minutes. Then spin for 1-2 minutes, ride at a normal cadence for 8-9 minutes, repeating the effort several times. Ideally you should aim to spin 120 rpm or higher for 1-2 minutes. If you do not have a gentle long downhill, or a suitable tailwind, spinning will be too difficult to do on a single speed. You might have to save this work for the indoor vomitron where you can shift into an easy gear.

Finally, when winter riding, wear bright clothing. Too many drivers do not notice bicyclists even in the summer. In winter they just are not expecting bicyclists at all. It may feel too gaudy to wear a fluorescent yellow or hunter orange top. It might be better to feel gaudy than to have your final meeting with God.

Enjoy!

Eric Snider
16 January 2006

Last Updated 03/19/08