Thanks for the replies! I'll start by saying I wasn't as clear as I should have been with my post.
I'm an hour outside Toronto. While we get snow, and they salt, etc., I've been riding in the winter for close to 20 years and I pick my moments. I do not commute; it's purely for fun. I watch the weather like a hawk. I try and ride outside 2-3x a week in the winter, but when the going gets tough, I may miss a whole week of riding outside. Even though I have studded tires, those are for select days. Our winters usually go like this: in November, hardly any snow and I can ride outside as normal, all but a few days at worst. In December, we do get snow, and they may salt, but within days that's all gone and it's just cold, sometimes mild (pour on the riding). January/February are the worst, maybe 10x a month, some for just 45 minutes and I drive my bike in the car to where I know the roads are good. Roads may be wet when I ride, and the studded tires are for safety (black ice; or when a think layer of snow). If roads are dry, 43mm GKSS or similar are great. And gravel roads a 20 minute drive from where I live, they plough them but there is always a think layer of snow, no salt, those are great for studded tires (I'll ride those Sat/Sun, when I have time). I'm not riding (by choice) in deep snow, slush, or lots of visible salt. I think the key is that when I get home on a 'wet' day, I spend up to 20 minutes cleaning the bike really well. For example, when I left my house this morning with the Roadini, roads were dry and they said no snow for 2 hours. Flurries started 15 minutes later, I pushed on, and after 1.5 hr ride the bike was a disaster (snowy roads for the last 20 minutes). I pulled out the garden sprayer, filled with warm water, cleaned it, dried it multiple times, lubed the chain, tri-flow a bunch of moving parts, and now it looks new. The inside might have some 'residue' in there (I've seen it when pulling out seat posts), but after a day like this, the bike always gets cleaned, and that's worked for 20 years. This post was about comfort. Roadini is most comfortable bike I've ever owned. I want a bike no less comfortable (why ride in discomfort?), with full fenders, two wheel sets, one with studded tires. I've went years trying to make a second bike work in the winter, always fighting fit issues, no more I say! P.S. I do like disc brakes in winter, but even today with a snowy ride home, the salmon pads stopped fine and I clean everything after so now I'm thinking, rim brakes can work for me in the winter. P.S.S. Good to know Canti over mini-V should I got with a Hillborne, fenders, and 40mm (ish) tires. I continue to investigate. May not happen this winter, but maybe next run of Hillborne's. On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 7:39:56 PM UTC-5 Ted Durant wrote: > On Friday, December 5, 2025 at 8:58:47 PM UTC-6 Jay wrote: > > I like my Roadini a lot. I would like a bike for winter / wet weather / > touring that is as close to the Roadini from a fit perspective, with drop > bars, but with a bit more clearance so I can run fenders nearly full time, > with perhaps a 38-45 studded tire in winter, and something in that range > the rest of the year. The new Hillborne looks good. Not sure what works > best with fenders in terms of mini-v (for drop bars), canti's or maybe > something else. Goals with the brakes would be: short pull for use with > levers like Tektro RRL Ergo, clearance for fenders and as big of a tire as > I can fit, and ease of adjustment. I wouldn't be removing the wheels > often, mainly when switching tires for winter vs. rest of the year, and > seldomly rest of the year. > > > I have been able to get a dialed-in fit that I like on my 3 Sams, much > like my Rivendell Road and Heron Road bikes and my new Chapman light > touring bike. I don't find that the Sams significantly slow me down > compared to my "faster" bikes. I have been able to fit Herse 48mm tires, > just barely, into my Sams, but the knobby version of those tires is a > no-go. My guess is that 42mm tires with fenders would be about it, and not > sure if you could put knobby 42s under fenders. I have a strong preference > for cantilever brakes, especially the Shimano CX-50 brakes with upgraded > salmon brake pads. > > Here in SE Wisconsin I commuted for decades on a variety of bikes and > found that skinnier tires work way better than fatter tires in > snow-or-slush-on-pavement. Studded snow tires 32-35mm wide were fabulous. > As for the effects of salt, yeah, my Heron Road prototype (which was my > commuter for many years) got itself a repaint a couple of years ago, and > the area under the front derailer clamp was a mess. But it came out fine, > and if you use an oversized derailer clamp on a plastic shim, you > significantly limit that problem area. The biggest winter wear items, in my > experience, are chains/cogs/chainrings and rims. As noted elsewhere, disc > brakes solve the rim wear problem, if it's much of a problem (it never has > been a big deal for me). I also commuted on a Quickbeam for many years, and > I agree with others that a fixed gear is a pretty nice thing for snow > riding on reasonably flat terrain. I ran 35mm studded snow tires on that > bike under fenders. > > I have a Breadwinner G-Road that I recently set up for winter road riding. > It currently has 48mm knobby tires under fenders, with plenty of clearance. > All the bosses have been greased and filled with bolts, regardless of > whether they have anything attached. Disc brakes are nice stoppers, but > hella loud when it's damp, which it pretty much always is in the winter. > I'd rather have good rim brakes, honestly. > > Ted Durant > Milwaukee, WI USA > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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