Get Your Bike Ready For Winter
There’s no reason why you can’t ride your bike all through the winter. Although winter riding isn’t as enjoyable as riding in the warmer months, with the right preparations you can make it more comfortable and minimise wear on your bicycle and its parts.
Tyres for winter riding
It’s worth considering fitting your bike with different tyres for the winter. Generally speaking, a thicker tyre with enhanced puncture protection and some tread will offer better winter performance. For extremely harsh weather, studded tyres are available, although in our opinion studded tyres are only necessary if you live somewhere that gets a lot of snowfall and is very icy, for example, Scandinavia. It’s unlikely that you’ll need such tyres in the UK, especially if your riding mostly takes you over paved surfaces. However, if your riding takes you off-road or on gravel through icy or snowy forests, it might be worth looking into studded tyres. Studded tyres work best on hard pack snow, as fresh snow without tracks can be very difficult to ride on even with studded tyres. The wider the tyres, the more grip and stability they offer. Tyres with more tread are great for surfaces that have been cleared of snow and ice, but are still slippery from rain, road salt and general debris. Tyres used for winter should be tougher, grippier, less supple and stronger. They should also have enhanced puncture protection to protect against the extra road debris that comes with winter weather. A tyre with a deep thread will provide extra grip on winter roads. Names such as ‘4 season’ or ‘all conditions’ indicate that these tyres are suitable for winter duties.
If your winters are not very cold or snowy, you can use your summer tyres, but make sure you check that they are not too worn down and that they still have grip left. If you're riding a road bike or commuter bike with 700c wheels, a pair of gravel tyres are a great option for extra grip and stability on wet roads, provided your bike has the required tyre clearance at the fork and chainstays. If you're riding a mountain bike, it could be good to change from semi-slick tyres to tyres with more tread for some extra grip both on and off road. If you ride a touring bike year-round, it’s very likely that the original tyres are sufficient for winter use, especially if you stick to roads and cycle paths. As a rule of thumb, sizing up to a wider tyre for winter use is always a good idea. Heavier, thicker inner tubes are also available to ensure better puncture protection.
Mudguards
Whilst touring and city bikes often come with mudguards, they’re not standard for many other bikes such as road bikes, gravel bikes and mountain bikes. If you want to ride all year round in both rain and snow, it’s wise to mount a pair on your bike to avoid spray from the road. Depending on which bike you have, and your preference, you can mount clip-on mudguards, bolted-on mudguards or removable mudguards. Mudguards keep your feet, backside and legs dry and prevent a lot of water and dirt from getting onto your bicycle’s drive train. For all-weather commuting, they are (in our humble opinion) an absolute must!
Clip-on mudguards from SKS
MTB-style clip-on mudguards
Full-length fixed mudguards
Lights & Reflectors
When the days get shorter and darker you need to ensure that you’re visible in traffic. It’s vital to have good front and back lights as well as some reflective elements on your bike and clothing. According to British law, you need to have lights and reflectors on your bike – a white light and white spoke reflector at the front, a red light and reflector at the back and reflectors on the side of the bike, preferably on the pedals. In our range you’ll find lights of different strengths for mounting on both handlebars and helmets. The strength of the light varies between brands. If you’re on a proper off-road adventure in the forest, you need very powerful lights to illuminate as much of the trail as possible.
If you leave your bike outside during the day (or night), it’s wise to remove your clip-on lights so that they are not left out in the cold; this reduces battery life and can damage the wiring. Detachable bike lights are also extremely desirable for thieves, so make sure you bring them inside! If you choose to install a permanent lighting system instead of clip-ons, we recommend using a dynamo hub instead of the older dynamo version that runs against the sidewall of the tyre. Wearing a high-visibility jacket or vest is also a very good way of making yourself more visible. Car drivers in the UK are notoriously bad at noticing cyclists and you need all the help you can get to be seen. Search ‘hi viz’ in our web shop for a range of vests, jackets and gloves to help you stay visible when on the road.
Cleaning & Maintenance
Riding on wet, muddy and snowy roads full of wet leaves and road salt result soon takes its toll on the bike. It’s not just the aesthetic effects that you need to worry about - water, mud and salt seep into bearings and easily rust the chain and cassette if not probably washed and maintained. If you ride in pouring rain, try to dry the bike and bring it indoors; the worst thing you can do is leave the bike wet in a damp cellar, as this can quickly destroy the chain. If you have the possibility, keep your bike indoors, as the cold and rain affect your braking power and gear shifting. The cold also increases wear and tear on other parts and the frame. It’s important to wash your bike, degrease and then re-grease its chain and drivetrain regularly. Check your tyres to make sure there isn’t glass or flints lodged in the grooves that might cause punctures. Also, check your brake pads to make sure they are not worn down or have glass or dirt lodged in them: in effect turning the brake pads into little slabs of sandpaper and destroying the rims . Disc brakes are generally better for winter riding as they work better than rim brakes in in harsher environments without the risk of damaging your rims. After a long winter of riding, it's recommended to treat your bike to a full service either in a bike shop or at home.
Extra tips for protecting your bike:
[unordered_list style="circle" animate="no"]- If you want to be really meticulous, apply waterproof grease to your bearings: the headset and the inside of the head tube as well as the bottom bracket bearings and even on the brake cables. This will help your brakes function better and moving parts turn without issues.
- Remove your seat post, spray ‘frame saver’ inside it to coat the seat tube and prevent corrosion, then grease your seat post. There is nothing worse than a bonded seat post in a lovely frame because of rust.
- Use a wet lubricant instead of dry one: this will stop your chain picking up all kinds of muck on wet rides.