Winter Tyres

Raboa

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AndyBike

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I think that for me, winter tyres would be a waste of money... until I crack the keeping warm puzzle,
Sounds like you already have ;)
" 9 miles of a bus journey "
 

guerney

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AndyBike

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Im sure at some point ive seen undergarments for motorcyclists that you plug into the bike that provide heat. If not adaptable there might be something available for ice climbers, hunters, or other extreme outdoor activities etc, that do the same thing.
 

guerney

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Fitted my schwalbe ice tyres this morning. There were questions about the spikes and tool (with a spike in the tip), here you go...

View attachment 49793
Aha! It's easier to find searching with the alternative spelling for tyre, but it's likely cheaper elsewhere:

 

AndyBike

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Fitted my schwalbe ice tyres this morning. There were questions about the spikes and tool (with a spike in the tip), here you go...

View attachment 49793
What model did you go for ?.
I'm just waiting on a pair of Schwalbe ice spiker pro's(29x2.25), currently held up in the post.
Had a pair(forget the name) years ago but stupidly sold them. I like the ice spiker over the marathon winter because we often get deepish snow over black ice,and the chunky tread is going to grip better.
Schwalbe-Ice-Spiker-Pro-Winter-Tyre-RaceGuard-MTB-Off-Road-Tyres-Black-NotSet-11100937.jpg
 
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WheezyRider

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What model did you go for ?.
I'm just waiting on a pair of Schwalbe ice spiker pro's(29x2.25), currently held up in the post.
Had a pair(forget the name) years ago but stupidly sold them. I like the ice spiker over the marathon winter because we often get deepish snow over black ice,and the chunky tread is going to grip better.
View attachment 49797
They look great, although I don't think they have the same level of puncture resistance as the Marathon Winter Plus. Sadly they wouldn't fit my bike. What you say is right about certain snow conditions. I've found when you've got snow on top of salted roads it makes this slippery paste and while the Winter Plus is better than the summer tyre, it still squirms around a lot on such surfaces.
 

Nealh

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I had spiked schwalbes a few years ago now , they were ok. I found they needed to be mounted at all times whether on the bike or on spare rims. One of them went out of shape and never fitted or sat on the rim again as did a non spiked schwalbe , after that I gave up on the brand and have used equally as good tyres of other brands.
My current all weather tyre is a small block panaracer XC tyre that handles well on the slippery stuff, imv there is to much ott hype with the schwalbe brand.
 
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AndyBike

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although I don't think they have the same level of puncture resistance as the Marathon Winter Plus.
See to be honest, I dont think ive ever ridden over anything that could cause a puncture.
Maybe 40 years ago glass shards might have been a problem, but not so much these days. And in winter theres pretty much nothing there on roads that could cause issue.
 

guerney

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I doubt those will produce enough heat in the right places for long, at least, not for me. A 50W 12V electric blanket is 4.17A - I have about 7A to spare while cycling for a heating system, and I mostly need heating of my calf muscles and feet, because my circulation is poor. If I do end up making a 50W GuerneyWarmerator™ Motivotional™ Lite using cheap bits and bobs, I'll be able to repair it with the same commonly and cheaply available or similar. I much prefer easily and cheaply repairable stuff, and charging one big powerful long lasting battery instead of endlessly forgetting to charge lots of tiny puny ones.
 
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WheezyRider

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I doubt those will produce enough heat in the right places for long, at least, not for me. A 50W 12V electric blanket is 4.17A - I have about 7A to spare while cycling for a heating system, and I mostly need heating of my calf muscles and feet, because my circulation is poor. If I do end up making a 50W GuerneyWarmerator™ Motivotional™ Lite using cheap bits and bobs, I'll be able to repair it with the same commonly and cheaply available or similar. I much prefer easily and cheaply repairable stuff, and charging one big powerful long lasting battery instead of endlessly forgetting to charge lots of tiny puny ones.
7A at what voltage?

If you have a mid drive, maybe you can rig up a liquid cooling system for the motor that you are plumbed into to keep you warm :)
 

guerney

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7A at what voltage?
My 19.2ah battery is 36V. With a converter it'll be 12V, so less than 84W is available. I think.

If you have a mid drive, maybe you can rig up a liquid cooling system for the motor that you are plumbed into to keep you warm :)
I doubt mine will ever get quite that hot, plus I'd end up colder when it leaks. I'd rather an electrical puzzle, than a plumbing one.
 

guerney

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someone swerved in front of me without looking.
Day or night? What occurred exactly? Do you have video for us to scrutinise intensely, comment upon, and argue hotly at length about?
 
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WheezyRider

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Day or night? What occurred exactly? Do you have video for us to scrutinise intensely, comment upon, and argue hotly at length about?
Unfortunately not, I was on a cycle path, not expecting to need my camera.

However, I can set the scene...

It was a cold night, below freezing and I was riding on thin ice. I was progressing rather rapidly along the cycle lane as I was running late. The offending cyclist was on the road, going comparatively slowly. Just as I was about to overtake them, they suddenly swerved from the road into the cycle path right in front of me without the slightest look behind them. Hence slamming on of anchors, skidding and somehow avoiding the person oblivious to what was going on behind them until I turned the air an even darker hue of blue with a few choice words.

Fault shared all round, luckily no one hurt, although perhaps a few studs left in the tarmac.
 

guerney

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Unfortunately not, I was on a cycle path, not expecting to need my camera.
That could have been an insurance related incident - I'm never without my camera when cycling, and wish I could use it as a pedestrian to capture some of the madness I see every day. But it's too big :(

It was a cold night, below freezing and I was riding on thin ice. I was progressing rather rapidly along the cycle lane as I was running late. The offending cyclist was on the road, going comparatively slowly. Just as I was about to overtake them, they suddenly swerved from the road into the cycle path right in front of me without the slightest look behind them. Hence slamming on of anchors, skidding and somehow avoiding the person oblivious to what was going on behind them until I turned the air an even darker hue of blue with a few choice words.

Fault shared all round, luckily no one hurt, although perhaps a few studs left in the tarmac.
Would your bike sporting a sufficiently bright or bright flashing headlight or two, have alerted a pre-offending cyclist to your bike's presence on the cycle path? I keep my 2 X 1800 lumen headlights on day and night, because they help me avoid collisions. They're both set to flashing during the day, as is the ever flashing red 1800 lumen rear light.

below freezing
These lights are also handy hand warmers.


 
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WheezyRider

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That could have been an insurance related incident - I'm never without my camera when cycling, and wish I could use it as a pedestrian to capture some of the madness I see every day. But it's too big :(



Would your bike sporting a sufficiently bright or bright flashing headlight or two, have alerted a pre-offending cyclist to your bike's presence on the cycle path? I keep my 2 X 1800 lumen headlights on day and night, because they help me avoid collisions. They're both set to flashing during the day, as is the ever flashing red 1800 lumen rear light.



These lights are also handy hand warmers.



Probably should run the camera all the time regardless, but it gets tedious having to keep reviewing the footage, making sure the SD card isn't full and keeping the batteries charged.

I have a bright flashing front light, which often induces pedestrians to look round when they see fluctuating light around them.

In terms of temps, I am used to riding down to about -15 C, which isn't usually a big deal if you are putting in effort. Knees are the biggest issue, exposed to windchill and little blood supply. If you are not putting in any effort your hands and feet will get cold. The other problem can be riding through snow, where the front wheel sprays it onto your knees and legs. It then melts and pulls the heat away very rapidly. Having water proofs helps, but you still have to stop quite often to stop the snow building up.

Have you tried sodium acetate gel packs for warming?

Weather has got warm again now though, so maybe not needed.
 

guerney

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Probably should run the camera all the time regardless, but it gets tedious having to keep reviewing the footage, making sure the SD card isn't full and keeping the batteries charged.
I charge three cheapo batteries before going out for a ride, but I can charge on the go using my potentially dangerous powerbank which I'd left in heavy rain for three weeks and dried out slowly, or in a pinch via the port on the Bafang display. Faster to simply swap batteries...

If nothing has happened of note that I can remember, I simply format the card without viewing anything. I edit and export out smaller files; anything useful or interesting for reference... unless it's something serious, in which case I copy the entire (up tp) 3.5gb video file. Do wish my cheapo camera had a setting for recording smaller video sections in terms of time.

I have a bright flashing front light, which often induces pedestrians to look round when they see fluctuating light around them.
You might need a brighter one to induce cyclists on the road already illuminated by lights around them, to look round?

Have you tried sodium acetate gel packs for warming?

Weather has got warm again now though, so maybe not needed.
Hmmm... I've bookmarked a couple of those on ebay, cheers! I'm going to try two hot water bottles; for the short term, carrying hot water in Thermos flasks until needed for return journey feet pre-heating. I'll always need feet warming - I was woken up by both calf muscles and front shins going into agonising spasm suddenly last night, after walking 5 miles yesterday doing my Xmas shopping. Usually it's just the calf muscles, which means after a stretch using a wall, they can be unlocked. But with the fronts spasming aswell, it took ages for them to settle down on their own. It was so bad I couldn't get onto my feet for ages, but when I did the spasms unlocked eventually, as gravity moved more blood where needed. Maybe I just need to do more walking - something I haven't been doing largely at all, since I converted my bike to E in 2020. Before I got the bike converted and started using it (bike was in the loft for over a decade), walking (sometimes) 10+ miles a day was no problem at all