Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site cfa.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!teddy!panda!talcott!wjh12!cfa!mink From: mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink) Newsgroups: net.bicycle Subject: Re: Snow Traction Message-ID: <120@cfa.UUCP> Date: Wed, 9-Jan-85 12:21:08 EST Article-I.D.: cfa.120 Posted: Wed Jan 9 12:21:08 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 12-Jan-85 06:38:21 EST References: <16200081@uiucdcsb.UUCP> Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Lines: 27 > Speaking of cold weather riding, does anyone have a solution to the snow > traction problem ? This subject has been the subject of numerous discussions in these parts with no firm conclusion. For the past 5 winters I've had a three-mile commute which I've ridden every day all winter on a Raleigh Grand Prix with 27x1-1/4 Specialized Touring tires, and there have been very few times when I've had real traction problems. I do remember one day last winter when there were six inches of rapidly-packed wet snow which made me long for wider tires, but usually thin tires will cut their own tracks. 2.125-inch mountain bike tires tend to ride up on slush and slide around when the treads clog, but I've heard good things about 1.75 tires on mountain bikes in snow. It's not that hard, with a bit of practice, to ride on rough ice, if you keep up your forward momentum. In traffic, though, I stay in the clearest part of the road, usually moving as fast as traffic. Teflon-lined cables fill their housings well enough that snow-clogging of brakes shouldn't be a problem. I test mine continually while riding through snow to keep them available; the amount of momentum a bike and rider have in traffic is more than can be stopped easily with just feet. As to wires, I expect that they would act as little sled runners when you hit ice, skidding the bicycle diagonally, besides causing loss of rear braking which is the safest way to slow down on a slippery surface. -Doug Mink Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astropysics {harvard|genrad|allegra|ihnp4}!wjh12!cfa!mink