Snow Newbie...

[MadIrishman]

Hi all,

I have never ridden in the winter before, and I may give it a try. I see in the forum people talking about changing their tires, gear ratios, tire size and such. Without getting too technical, can a guy hit the trail with a stock bike? ('07 rockhopper pro).

Gimme some confidence to hit the trail!!

thanks!

[wokerhopper]

Check out the trail condition threads, they usually have info on how the ride is with what size tires. You can definately get by with the stock 2.1 tires on the rockhopper, but you will have more success with the wider ones. If you do run the 2.1's, run the air pressure down to 30psi or so, you will get more traction and have a wider footprint in the snow. Good luck!

[MadIrishman]

cool, I'll give it a try, thanks!

[gopherhockey]

Wider is almost always better - not just for your ride, but for the trail and for other riders.

However, there are times when conditions are good enough for just about anyone. Today is such a day..

Of course cold weather can be harsh on a bike, especially things like a rear shock... I wouldn't bring a good bike out in below freezing unless I was willing to replace damaged parts. Winter is a good time to bring out the junker bike or something without suspension.

Enjoy!!!

[ninjanick]

Yup, I ride a hard tail with 2.1's. I hit all of leb yesterday, pretty manegable. I ran my tires at 25. Obvioulsy you have to take things a little slower, and on the climbs you have to get your weight back and put the power down very smoothly to try and prevent spinnning. The name of the game is staying in the grrove, if you wander of track you get sucked in and all out of shape. Have fun.

[lostboy]

rode today in the snow for the first time. 2.1's ran just fine and it was a great ride. I had them at 28 psi in my garage but it was like 50 in there so I am sure I lost some once I got out on the trail.

I noticed my front suspension wasn't responding well. It's my summer bike and the only mtb I have so I just rolled with what I got.

[BG128]

haven't rode in the winter yet but same as you I'm trying to get up the courage to do it. pm me if you want to set up a time I live in Lakeville Apple Valley, Farmington area

[batjerk]

For me, regarding clothes, in this high teens to twenties weather, a base layer, a short-sleeved jersey and wind breaker with thermal tights, a pair of wool socks and winter shoes has been just about perfect. A little on the cool side at the start of the ride to opening the wind breaker for a little vetilation after a couple miles. Riding in the snow is definitely high output riding. You'll get hot in a real short order.

[RichZilla]

If you can make it up to Elk River and hit the 7 mile loop up there, it will be well worth the drive. Today someone raced on 1.95" tires and said it was great. They said it was the best winter trail anywhere. Many people were able to run 40 psi and still ride the entire loop, including the climbs.

As far as air pressure, try 15-20 psi. You'll double your traction. I did some extensive testing and every 5 psi lower, will give you approxiamately 25% better traction from your previous setting. It's a sliding scale depending on which end of the range you're on. The lower you go, the more change you will notice.

[Disaster on Wheels]

haven't rode in the winter yet but same as you I'm trying to get up the courage to do it. pm me if you want to set up a time I live in Lakeville Apple Valley, Farmington area

Hi all,

I have never ridden in the winter before, and I may give it a try. I see in the forum people talking about changing their tires, gear ratios, tire size and such. Without getting too technical, can a guy hit the trail with a stock bike? ('07 rockhopper pro).

Gimme some confidence to hit the trail!!

thanks!

I have been avoiding winter riding because I thought I would kill myself. I went today and it was a great time- so if I can do it, anybody can.

I ran my 2.6 Kenda Stickee's today and they worked great, but they are kind of heavy. The people ridding 2.1's seemed to have no problem. ALso, once we started riding I was almost too warm and I had minimal layers on. Even though I fell about 50 times and was covered with snow, I was pretty warm as long as I kept moving. Even my hands and feet (I do have neoprene shoe covers).

I live in AV too, so PM me if you ever want to get together for a ride.

[Cars-R-Coffins]

I also havent rode in the winter.I xc ski,but it's not my favorite thing to do.
An why are the factory studded tires like 1.9-2.0, isnt wider better.

[batjerk]

I also havent rode in the winter.I xc ski,but it's not my favorite thing to do.
An why are the factory studded tires like 1.9-2.0, isnt wider better.
This, I suspect, is so there aren't many bikes the tires won't fit on.

There are two schools of thought regarding tires and snow/mud/sand. Both in the automotive world and among icebikers. There is the school of wider is better: you float on the snow/mud/sand. And there is the school of narrower is better: you cut through the snow/mud/sand and gain traction. Also, a narrower tire will "push" less snow/mud/sand. There is always a small pile of loose debris in front of a tire. Obviously, the pile will be smaller in front of a narrower tire. This is most obvious when watching trucks play in the mud, but holds true for all tires in loose conditions.

I'm divided between the schools of thought. For looser snow on unpaved, unplowed surfaces, wider is better. It is much easier to push the little snow in front of the tire than it is to cut down and push a lot. (You're always climbing if you cut through.) On paved or plowed surfaces, narrower is better because you can cut through the slush/snow down to the road surface and have traction, plus you'll be pushing less snow than a wider tire would. Not to mention, less tire. Big difference when you're the engine.;)

As to the more current trail conditions, I'd guess a medium tire would be best. You want the width to float over the harder base snow, but narrower to cut through the powder on top to allow your treads/studs to bite into the base snow or ice layer. Rubber for snow, metal for ice. The wider tire, I believe, in this case may be detrimental to the rider in that the tire will be pushing more loose snow, but worse, it may not be cutting through the loose, powdery top-coating, preventing the tire from biting into the base layer, which will have a much, much higher shear resistance than the powdery top-coat resulting in lost traction.

Of course, as with all things bike-related, especially icebiking: YMMV; do what works for you.

[dave t]

I think the factory stud tires are intended more for traction on bare ice patches on streets etc. rather than trail riding on hardpacked snow. Homebrews are the only thing that will chew through any loose powder to find traction on ice beneath. The thing to realize is that studs of any type really don't help unless there is ICE not just crusty hardpack.

The whole thin vs. fat thing will change daily with conditions but in general, you need wide enough tires to stay up on the packed base because nothing really floats on the loose fluff and you really can't get traction or drive to cut through the hardpack with thin tires and make any progress.

Go as wide as you can fit if your goal is to get out as much as you can because there are definately times when the packing is marginal and float is key. Until now, that has been the case this year. Once we get some bare ice, stud up or be prepared to take some falls.

[gopherhockey]

On a trail like Leb there is rarely anything to cut through too with thin tires. We definitely don't want people cutting down to the dirt layer. If you are cutting through anything it probably means you are leaving ruts, which is not nice.

I think last year the most damage we had on the trail was by keeping Leb open too late into the spring when things were getting really slushy. I think someone with thin tires rode during that last week when water was standing on the trail and they cut through and into the top layer of soil.

This year we'll close the trail much earlier to avoid that.... but each year is different. Still too early to be thinking about that though - its COOOLLLDDD again! :banana:

[Cars-R-Coffins]

What is a good PSI for a 2.35 rear tire an a 2.1 front? I have them at 10 PSI, Is that good for winter riding.:confused:

[dave t]

What is a good PSI for a 2.35 rear tire an a 2.1 front? I have them at 10 PSI, Is that good for winter riding.:confused:

10 sounds really soft for something that size. You don't want them to flex to the point that they wrinkle alot just rolling along.

Winter riding pressures are really dependant on the conditions of the trail too. Softer (or slipperyer) trail = softer tire. I like to go with the idea that you can always take some more out on the trail even when it's really cold. I also don't usually adjust based on the first bit of trail or a small ice patch.

I would start around 20 or 25 (at outside temp.) and sneak down from there.