I ride in Minneapolis/St. Paul in the winter, and I have two winter beaters: an '86 Trek 620 and a 98 kona fire mountain. I had the kona before I found Riv's, and rode it in the winter to begin with, so it stays in the winter beater category. It's the one bike that sports studded tires. When I got my Saluki in 2006, the kona felt like an old Econoline van and lay fallow in the basement. So winter comes and I wasn't excited about riding the kona but I didn't want to be so hard on my Saluki, so I found the Trek. I was ideal because it had seen a lot of use and had been converted to a single. Singles are great in urban snow/winter. Then I fell in love with single speeds (it's endless, isn't it?) and got a proto bleriot that I made into a single. At this point, all of these bikes have seen snow and salt and grime. The bleriot comes out for those very cold days when the roads are mostly dry even though there's snow. The Trek does duty on the regular old salty grimey slushy roads. The kona, with its with studded tires, comes out for the saltiest grimiest ruttiest conditions. The Saluki goes into hibernation, but sometimes gets caught in an early/late snow.
For me, much of it is about tire choice. Unless I need them, I don't like knobbies and I really don't like studs. That said, I am not immune to slipping and falling on ruts—this is probably one of the biggest dangers winter bikers here talk about. (Just ask Jim Thill!) So I grab the most sure-footed for the conditions. This helps keep both me and the bike from getting bent and broken. And yes, the salt and slush are very hard on the bikes if you don't get it wiped down after a ride. And I love seeing photos of Rivs in snow!!!! Liesl -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/kjCVcrcjCIcJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
