I've been cycling around on spiky tyres for weeks now in very mild temperatures indeed, sounding like a giant bowl of rice krispies, and feeling a bit silly. It'll all be worth it though if it saves me from smashing down sideways again.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Ice?
(225 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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You ae supposed to wear these ice tyres in. Mine have been on the bike since before Xmas but I have been off the bike so may manage back on this Monday without having worn inthe tyres. will be taking it easy on schlep over to craigmillar
Posted 11 years ago # -
I was going to ask how important that wearing in process was ... what happens if you don't manage it?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Will let you know.
Been up and down street only. Crackle crackle crackle, lets hope no snap or pop
Posted 11 years ago # -
Frost on my bin already in EH6...
Posted 11 years ago # -
I think the wear-in period is 30km. I've had them on 3 commutes, one with some frost, one with some rain, and one with some slush. That should just about do it. Ready for action!
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Sally: I believe the wear-in time doesn't increase their grip - it's intended to stop you from yanking all your studs out by riding too hard before they get shoved down into the rubber. If you don't ride hard in the first place that means the wear-in is irrelevant.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I've done about 300 miles on the Rice Krispies so far. The inner rows of studs are now much less proud of the tyre surface than they were to begin with. The outer rows are largely as new. It's not that the inner studs have worn down, rather that they seem to become pressed further into the rubber. I'll let you know if they feel any less effective when the ice returns...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Snow! Slow snow but definitely snow, in EH6.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Do spiky tyres really make a difference ? What are their limits ?
Posted 11 years ago # -
I can't see where EH6 is (or The Pentlands).
Can't tell how much more snow will be coming out of the lowish cloud.
Met Office says heavy snow before 12 and sleet after and not freezing until Tuesday.
Local conditions may vary...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Its been snowing in Colinton for a while now.
Posted 11 years ago # -
No Sunday walkers on Blackford Hill (unusual).
Posted 11 years ago # -
Snowing pretty heavily in Gorgie now.
Posted 11 years ago # -
My Met Office psge said sunny and 2 degrees......until I realised it had reset to City of London
Posted 11 years ago # -
Android's weather widget says 1ºC and 'flurries', but my outside thermometer says it's 1.8ºC. Snow is lying on the grass at the summit of Edinburgh, but not on the roads.
Android reckons on lows of -1ºC on Monday night, dipping to -4ºC mid-week.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Been outside for the past 90 minutes. The snow that has fallen in the city has largely disappeared from the roads. However, I'm now slightly worried that the remaining water will freeze over tonight. Time will tell.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Didn't manage to freeze last night, which I'm surprised by as it seemed quite cold. Snow not lying except on the hills: Arthur's Seat has a light dusting. Probably we'll get the ice later in the week?
Posted 11 years ago # -
We went for a nice 60km ride round Fife this morning. As we climbed up to Dunfermline the snow got thicker and was lying around half an inch thick on the cycle path from Dunfermline to Clackmannan. From Clack to Kincardine it had stopped and was slushy and generally wet. Cold and wet along the forth. Just a light faint covering here in the bay. Going to commute by bike tomorrow to see what the weather can throw at me. :-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
KB says it's shot up to 3
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/Weathercam/station/24hours.html
Posted 11 years ago # -
Worth noting that there is a new alternative to tyre chains for motor vehicles, which replicates the properties of moleskins, on cross country skis.
It is the thin film of water on the surface of ice which makes it slippery. Ice itself, when 'dry' has a moderate coefficient of friction BUT the weight of the tyre on the surface melts the ice and provides the film that you slide on. In some ways a narrow slick tyre with a 'grippy' softer tread compound is better than a chunky block tread on icy/snowy surfaces, as it gets through the water and grips on the ice surface. (Just thought that a clear demonstration of this is a hoare frost on the car windscreens and roofs, as it is coarse and not slippery at all until you start to rub it..)
I'd like to see if the synthetic version of the moleskin boot now being offered for motor vehicle tyres could be fitted to cycle tyres. The boots can be kept on the tyres for a distance of driving on clear roads, as unlike chains they don't damage the road or tyres.
The efficacy of moleskins was clearly shown to me when skiing up Cairngorm, some years ago - I had just wax and conventional steel edges, and my colleague had moleskins, so that for every single traverse he made, I had to make 3 or 4 to climb the same amount.
Now fitting a moleskin 'boot' to a cycle wheel might limit its use to hub brakes and fixed wheel.
Speaking of fixed wheel this is also a preferred way to ride in snow and ice, as you get a very positive feel of the traction available, and a direct control of deceleration, far less likely to lock the rear wheel than a brake on rim or hub (reminds me to grease my rear brake as it is starting to squeal and snatch and likely to make braking on snow & ice a bit tricky)
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Charterhall, yes they make a huge difference, I don't know their limits as I'm old and cautious(!) however a couple of weeks ago I came out Falkirk tnnel on the canal towpath and with inadequate lights in the dark found I was crossing large frozen and semi-frozen puddles, apart from some twitchiness over the prospect of a bath in a freezing canal it was fine, in fact the sheets of properly frozen ice felt safer than the mud and broken ice!
That was on 26" Schwalbe winters, the ones with two central rows of spikes and two outers, they're on their second winter now.Posted 11 years ago # -
KB is hovering above zero, so bound to be freezing in some parts -
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/Weathercam/station/24hours.html
Posted 11 years ago # -
Met office back t sayng below 0 and snow; had been on warm and rain. Love the met office app.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I feel the winter fleecy biblongs are getting an outing tomorrow.
The questions are - how many upper layers? And which gloves, given I am a renowned softie in the finger department????
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Smudge I now have some marathon winters on order. Besides your own recommendation I also asked on the Audax Ecosse facebook page and received equally positive reports.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Tulyar +1 for fixed gear in icy conditions. Mine's running with studs and in what is a slightly too high gear.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Not snowing yet, but studs it is tomorrow as it's cold enough to be slippy.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Clear in the Glasgow area.
Posted 11 years ago #
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