Snowmageddon. Snowpacolypse. Call it what you will, but this predicted snowstorm in Seattle is turning out to be the real thing, not SnowHyperbole.
I've ridden in the snow here in the past. It's nice. I threw the knobbies on my Rockhopper and went for a spin. No traffic. Really quiet. [No riding today, though. Wife's working from home and my daughter is home from school, so I'm minding the store, so to speak.]
Traction is an issue in the snow, even with the knobbies. I've gone down and lost grip with my rear wheel many times.
Short of buying a Surly Pugsly or other specially designed snow bike, here are a couple of ways to make your current ride more snow-friendly. Check out The World of Fat & Snow Bikes. Warning: these both seem a little bizarre but apparently work.
Zip it
One is to wrap your tires in zip ties (right, photo from Dutch Bike Co.). Take a bag of zip ties and wrap them around the rim at every spoke. If you're particularly adroit, alternate the position of the tie heads so they grab the snow, or slush or ice when you turn.
Don't get excited about this if you have rim brakes, however. Rim brakes and zip ties don't mix. You'd need disc brakes or a fixie.
There's a detailed piece, with photos, about this at theDutch Bike Co. website, “Seattle Snowpocalypse.”
Screw 'em
The secondly idea is to screw up your knobby tires by driving short wood screws through them at frequent intervals, say at every spoke.
Not that I would try this myself, but I've read that you drill a tiny hole in the knobs on the tires, drive 1/2-inch flat-head screws through there, and tape the inside with a couple of layers of duct tape to protect the tube. (The screws look like this.)
If you don't have time for both tires — this does sound time consuming — just do the front to assist in turning. And don't get these homemade tires anywhere near your legs; they'd cut you up real smart.
Buy them
Or you can purchase studded tires for bicycles. At first it sounds a little extravagant, but if you need your bicycle to commute everyday, rain or shine, it makes perfect sense.
Peter White Bicycles has a knowledgeable piece about studded bicycle tires and touts a couple of brands. You can find studded tires online or even at some local bike shops.
Now that you've gone to this trouble, don't be surprised to find your bike lanes covered by plowed snow, unless you live in Chicago, which boasts a bike lane snow truck in its snow-fighting arsenal. Other cities, such as Boulder, remove snow from paths and trails as well.
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