Grease Rag Ride & Wrench

Carly gave a great demonstration where she "dressed" herself in layers, gave us recommendations about how to stay warm and comfortable with layers.  Carly encourages thrifting and finding cheap ways to key pieces for winter riding.  I appreciated that she opened up the floor to the winter bikers in the room so we could share what works for us.  Read her recap below, and add your knowledge to the comments section.

FEET - Keeping you extremities warm is a big deal. Numb toes is common when cycling, even in summer, so your feet especially will need good insulation.
Socks - Thick wool or warm tech fibers are preferred.
Boots - Look for waterproof, insulated footwear. Most cyclist prefer wide, grippy soles if they're not clipped in. If they ride with cleats, they will use a winter pair, or at the very least cover their summer shoes with the neoprene booties.

HANDS- Windproofing, insulating & retaining function of your hands is important. Usually, basic mittens or gloves will do, but there are some special considerations.
Liners- Are useful for that extra warmth. You can also carry an extra pair if yours get wet.
Lobster Gloves- Are better than mittens when it comes to dexterity, but sacrifice some warmth. They also usually have reflective bits which are a plus when riding in traffic.
Handlebar Gauntlets - Use these when you're going for the EXTREME biker look.

Good morning! I wrote a piece on winter biking a few years ago – for a zine called “Dames on Frames.” Here is a slightly modified version of that piece. Enjoy and keep the rubber side down!

I follow Bike Shop Girl, Arleigh, because she's a WTF that's been in the cycling world a long time, she's smart, capable, and passionate.  One of her goals is to get all women riding bikes- that's something I can really get behind!  She is great to read.

Arleigh got hit by a car a few months ago, and now her body is recovering but her heart won't let her ride on the street, even though she is strong enough to hit the trails with her mountain bike.  (I was hit by a car and practically had a nervous breakdown every time I had to cross the street.  This went on for months, and I wasn't even injured in my collision.)

Arleigh posted about having The Fear and needing support from the community to get back on her bike.  Bike to Work Barb (I've never read her blog before this) responded with a post that reminded me that we are a powerful community.  I wanted to share Barb's post with you in the hopes you'll take a ride in Arleigh's honor, or at least to remind you that together, we are stronger than The Fear!

Hugs to all bike lovers,
Low

An excerpt from Bike to Work Barb's post:

A few days ago she wrote a blog post asking us to help her get back on the road. Here's my idea--and I know it's cruddy biking weather in Spokane so I'm reaching out to bike folks through Twitter, Facebook and comments on other blogs--

1) Take a bike ride in honor of Bike Shop Girl.
2) Post a comment on her blog telling her you did a ride in her honor to encourage her to start riding again, along with whatever words of encouragement you can share.
3) If you're on Twitter, post a tweet with @BikeShopGirlcom #youcanride in the body.
4) If you're on Facebook write a comment on her wall telling her you rode in her honor to help her get started again.

Let's get Bike Shop Girl back on two wheels!

The word has gotten back to Arleigh, and she's thankful for all of the support.  I can't wait until she can get back out there and ride!

At Grease Rag's 2nd Annual Winter Maintenance Skill-Share, Kat explained the difference between tires and the importance of fenders.  Here are her thoughts .  Add your own knowledge in the comments section!

Everyone has preferences for the equipment they use.  Simply ride what you feel comfortable with.  During the winter, each tire category has strengths and weaknesses.  Give them a try and see what works for you and your bike.

Via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_lahey/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Studded Tires:  32mm- 2.5 inches with metal studs.

Studded Tires are my number one recommendation for winter riding.  They are essentially a knobby tire with metal studs, which grab the ice and give superior traction and control in a variety of conditions.   They tend to run a bit more expensive compared to normal tires, but they are worth the investment because they perform brilliantly in the snow and on ice.  You will be surprised at the conditions you can ride in with studded tires.

Via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curt/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Knobby Tires:  32mm-2.5 inches, knobby tires.

If you don’t want to invest in studded tires, your next best bet is knobby mountain bike tires.  These have a thick tread, which is ideal for plowing through snow.  The shape of the tread is designed to deflect snow away from the tire, thus giving a smoother ride.  Wider tires give you more contact with the road, and the lower air pressure makes them less slick on ice.  Go with tires as wide as your bike frame will allow for.  Make sure to check the rotation direction on the tire before mounting them to the wheel.

Skinny Slicks:  22-28mm, smooth tires.

Some people like these because they can cut through slush and snow with little resistance.  However, because they are so thin, they need a higher air pressure in the tire, which results in a smaller contact surface with the pavement.  Slicks also have very little traction and are not good for riding over ice.

Fenders

A full set of fenders on a winter bike is essential.  It will keep the snow and slush off your clothes and your bike.  A set costs around $40, which is totally worth it.  You can use them the rest of the year for when it rains.

Many of the standard fender sets require eyelets on the bicycle to mount on.  If your bike doesn’t have the eyelets, you can go with a clip on fender, or make your own.

I used to use a piece of coro-plast (what lawn signs are made of), cut about 4 inches wide.  It was zip-tied to the downtube.  Simple.

Shayne, resident WTF mechanic at Sunrise Cyclery and all around awesome person, showed us all how to care for our bikes throughout the winter season.  If you need any hands-on instruction or advice, please come down to Sunrise (Preferably on a first/ third Thursday for Grease Rag!) and ask us.

Shayne wrote a really good recap of her cleaning and maintenance advice from last year's skill-share. It covers what to do daily/ every few days, weekly, and at the end of the season.  Check it out here.

One thing that we neglected to mention at the skill-share were the multitudes of online resources out there for winter bikers.  This is a link to Free Online Resources that we posted last year- feel free to add your own!