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Advice on a winter commuter (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by ashenone@lemmy.ml to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca

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I recently landed in a small town that gets a decent amount of snow in the winter, and commute on my bike with thin road tires. I'm thinking I want a fat bike with some nice thick tires to deal with the snow days, but local used options are limited and new bikes are fairly pricey. I have a bit more options in the used departed if I can go with more standard mountain bike. Are regular mountain bikes a viable option for commuting in snow? We had a very weak winter this last year with 7 inches all season but from some locals I've spoken too they said it can get up to 6 or 7 inches a month and only main thoroughfars are plowed, if amount of snow makes a difference in what sort of bike would be most suitable.

Appreciate any advice from those of you who ride in the snow regularly.

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[–] nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

For the snow get as wide as tires your frame allows and then ride with a bit lower air pressure than normal so you have more surface area on ice. Studded tires can also help but i just used all-seasons year-round and only fell over a few times ;)

Personally i would avoid getting a new bike unless you can bring the bike into work+home with you to keep eyes on it. I just don't see the point in spending more money just to make your bike a more attractive target to opportunists. Also could always just wait and see if a new bike is really warranted

[–] ashenone@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

I'm on 25c now and don't think I can go much wider, which is why I'm leaning towards a mountain bike with snow appropriate tires. Bike is stored inside both at home and at work, but I'll still probably go used for better value. Thanks for the advice.