How to Get Your Bike Ready for Safe Winter Cycling

It is possible to continue to enjoy safe cycling in the winter, provided you make sure you have the right bike, and you get it ready for colder days. In fact, some of the best bike rides of my life have been cycling to work in the near freezing pre-dawn. Here is a complete guide to help you get your bike ready for winter.

Choose the Right Bike for Safe Winter Cycling

If possible, choose the right bike. Don’t use an expensive road bike that you plan to use in criteriums or races. It will just be destroyed. Steel bikes are especially vulnerable to damage from wet conditions. An old bike that you only use in the winter may be a good choice.

The following features are ideal for a winter bike:

• Eyelets for full mudguards;
• Wider tire clearance;
• Anything other than a steel frame;
• The right accessories (see further below in this post).

It is ideal to use an older bike. Fat bikes are also an excellent choice, thanks to their chunky tires and wheels – as you can see in this video. More about tires for fat bikes further on in this post.

Video Showing Winter Cycling with a Fat Bike

Bike Maintenance for Safe Winter Cycling

Service Your Bike

First, be sure to service your bike to make sure it is in perfect shape before you venture out to cycle in the winter. Do it yourself if you can; if not, take it into a bike store. It should cost less than $100, and it might be the best money you spend this winter!

Extras When Servicing Your Bike for Winter Cycling

Consider doing all of the following:

• Repack the wheel and headset bearings.

• Grease your bottom bracket.

• Possibly switch to a full-length housing for your rear brake and derailleurs. Zip ties can be used to attach the housing to the frame. It won’t look great, but it will make for smoother braking and shifting.

Wax Your Bike

Truly dedicated cyclists might want to wax the underside of their bike frame with car wax to resist mud, snow and slush build-up. It sounds extreme, but it only takes a few minutes and is well worth the effort. And bike wax is CHEAP!

Use Aerosol Lube

Also, once a week, take a rust-resistant aerosol lube and spray all drainage holes and the seat post hole. This will prevent water from freezing inside your frame, which will prevent the parts from seizing or starting to rust. Give most of your bike’s moving parts a blast of the same lube. In my experience, a good one is Sunlite Lube.

Keep Your Bike Clean in Winter

At least once a week (but preferably after each ride), give your bike a rinse and wipe-down to remove dirt, salt, and grit. Pay special attention to the chain, gears, brakes, and wheel rims. Then dry it all off carefully. Paper towels work well for this.

Related: How to Clean Your Bike

Keep your Chain and Cassette Clean and Lubed

Keeping your chain and cassette clean and lubed is always essential, but especially in the winter. You will need a good lube to do this. And it’s important to choose the right lube for the weather conditions.

Using Wet Lube in Winter

Wet lubes can be used in all weather conditions, but are really ideal for winter cycling because they are water resistant. This means they will not be washed off when ride through a puddle or a rainstorm. They will also resist corrosion from salt. A single application of wet lube should keep you riding for a hundred miles.

The Downside to Wet Lubes

BUT … be aware that there is a downside to wet lubes. The downside is that they are sticky, so dirt can stick to them. If you don’t do regular maintenance, the oil can turn into a gritty paste that will grind down your chain and cassette. Also, if you really let it go, wet lube can oxidize and end up as thick black gunk.

The solution is easy – regular, light maintenance. You can read all about that in our post that explains the easy way to keep your bike chain degreased and lubed.

Use a Dry Lube If …

Use a dry lube if your weather conditions are cold but very dry.

Dry lubes are wax-based. They are much cleaner because they attract less dirt build-up. This makes them ideal in dry conditions, especially off-road or on gravel. But do be aware that even light rain will wash it off. Also, it does not last as long as wet lube. Expect to get 80 miles or less with a single application.

Of course, cycling in extreme conditions leads to a lot of maintenance work to clean all the moving parts of your bike. A single speed might be a good choice, if your commute does not have serious hills, as there are fewer moving parts to get clogged with mud and snow. Alternatively, consider getting an internal geared hub.

Internal Geared Hubs

If you can afford one, internal geared hubs are great for safe winter cycling. The moving parts of the gears are inside the hub, so they are not impacted by winter’s harsh elements – keeping you safer and saving a lot of back-breaking maintenance. Unless you are super handy, your best bet is usually to consult with your local bike shop about your options.

Whatever bike you use, it is essential that it be properly equipped with appropriate fenders, lights, tires, brakes and pedals.

Bike Lights for Safe Winter Cycling

This should go without saying, but we can’t leave it out … it is absolutely essential to have excellent bike lights in winter! You need a great front light that enables you to see where you are going, and a great rear light. And remember that cold weather is tough on batteries, so either carry spare batteries, or carry a spare light, with batteries.

Our Top Picks for Bike Lights for Winter Cycling Safety

Related Posts:

Complete Guide to Bike Lights

When to Use Flashing Bike Lights

MonkeyLectric Monkey Lights Review – Best Bike Lights for Cycling Safety

Other Important Parts of Your Bike for Safe Winter Cycling

Brakes

It is essential to have good brakes for winter cycling. Of course, check your brake pads, and consider using winter-specific brake pads. Remember that gritty conditions will wear your brakes out faster in winter.

If you have cantilever or V-brakes, then curved winter-specific pads will improve braking and mud-shedding in wet and muddy weather.

Disk Brakes

Disc brakes are ideal for winter cycling. Choose sintered pads over organic ones, as these will give better performance and durability in wet weather.

Sintered brakes pads are also called metallic brake pads. They are made with a very high proportion of metallic fillers such as copper, steel, and iron. They are designed for use in extreme conditions.

Bottom line though is to have good brakes and maintain them well.

Fenders

Fenders are essential for winter cycling – no one wants water or ice squirting up their back! Fenders keep slushy road spray off both you and your bike. More importantly, it will keep spray off the cyclists behind you. Ideally they should be full wraparound. However, they should not be too close-fitting, as they can clog up with mud, slush, ice, and snow.

Clip-on Fenders

Did you know you can get clip-on fenders? Clip-on fenders attach to your downtube or seat post. They are a better option for riding in heavy snow. This is because snow and slush can get clogged in close-fitting fenders

Platform Pedals

Because boots are best for  winter cycling, get some platform pedals with aggressive treads for good grip in all conditions. A solid connection between your boots and pedals will go a long way towards keeping you safe as you cycle in winter.

Use the Right Tires for Winter Cycling

Punctures are more likely in winter because debris can be washed onto wet roads. Plus, tires are more likely to slip in rainy or snowy conditions. For those reasons, it is important to think about your tires for winter cycling.

In general, inflate your tires a less than you would in summer to improve traction. Fit the widest tires you can on your bike. And switch to tires with a heavier tread, or else choose studs.

Winter Specific Bike Tires

Winter-specific bike tires are usually heavier and have a higher rolling resistance. This makes them more durable and less likely to puncture. The best ones we have ever used at the Michigan Power All Season tires.

Winter Tires for Mountain Bikes

In moderate conditions, use regular knobby tires and inflate them to a lower PSI to provide good traction. In snowy or icy conditions, choose studded winter tires and a wide tread pattern to increase grip.

Winter Tires for Cyclocross and Hybrid Bikes

These bikes are great for winter cycling. Because they have plenty of tire clearance, you can use big 700C tires and fenders.

In moderate conditions , a large volume treaded 700C tire (700 x 30+) at a lower pressure provides good grip.

Choose studded 700C tires for snowy or icy cycling conditions.

Winter Tires for Road Bikes

First, let’s be clear that these are not the first choice for winter cycling, especially in more severe weather that includes snow or ice. The tires will be too slick for adequate traction.

You can probably keep using your road bike in winter if your weather conditions are not much worse than rain with occasional frost. Even then, get as wide a tire as you can possibly fit (700 x 30 or more).

If you are using a road bike for any kind of winter cycling, at the very least get high-performance winter tires.

Winter Tires for Fat Bikes

These are ideal for winter cycling. They have a lot of tire clearance, and are somewhat like a mountain bike wearing snowshoes. They are designed to accommodate 4 to 5-inch tires and 100mm+ rims, which makes them perfect for riding in snowy and icy conditions. The generous tire size provides plenty of traction, so you can roll at a very low tire pressure.

Fat bikes often have hydraulic disc brakes, front suspension, and XC geometry. If you add studded tires to a fat bike like this, you will be set for a stable bike ride even in extreme conditions.

Studs

Consider investing in carbide-studded tires. On the one hand, no matter what you do, you will still be on skinny tires compared to cars. But some cyclists swear by studded tires. Studded tires may have between 100 and 300 studs, depending on price.

If you can only afford one studded tire, make it the FRONT one, as this one is the key to staying upright in slippery conditions. You can also consider low-pressure knobby tires. Some seasoned winter riders use hardened steel spikes and a wide tread pattern.

Tire Rims

Aluminum rims are better, as steel rims ice-up more quickly and don’t brake as well as aluminum.

We hope this post will help you to cycle safely and comfortably all through winter. Ride safely and stay warm!

Get more tips for winter cycling by choosing a post from the slide show below

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