I've never done it before, and my plan is just to go slower and brake sooner than I usually do. In my environment, we freeze and thaw. There is sometimes ice, there is more often snow, and still more often slush and water. I might replace my tire tread with a more aggressive tread. I also have fairly thick tires, I wanna say about two inches thick.
We sometimes drop down to about -30°C for about a week, and if that happens, I will not be riding. But I'd say -20 or above, I will.
How do you ride on snow, slush, in water, and on ice?
by MrLovesCoffee
4 Comments
How would you recommend dressing?
And I think I’ve got chain lube sorted, I see Muc-Off -50° wet chain lube
On bikes, aggressive tire tread doesn’t do much on asphalt other than make worse contact with the ground. There’s no risk of hydroplaning, so tread pattern in general doesn’t matter much unless you’re riding off-road. Studded tires are what you want for ice.
Warm clothes, studded tires, and good lights are all a requirement if you ask me. Even with studs you will have less grip on winter roads than on wet roads during the summer months, so reducing your speed in corners and hills is a good idea if you want to stay upright. Riding in snow is very hard work and I always give myself more time on my winter commutes (10-20% slower on average in the winter vs summer).
I would definitely check out [Shifter](https://youtube.com/@shifter_cycling?si=6rfa_WYe53DxVBDp) on YouTube for all things winter commuter cycling.