[jason cassidy]

Is a ss any harder to ride in the slippery stuff? I thought maybe that on hills since the rider is torqing harder to pedal it break tractio easier.

 

[AZ]

All bikes can be harder to ride in the "slippery stuff" soooooooooooooooo yes S.S. can be harder ............................. unless it is S.S specific snow .

 

[kylebooth]

It depends how slippery. I find that going up hills is a little tough on a S.S because you tend to spin your tires abit more than you would on a geared bike in a low gear.

 

[Velobike]

My bike walks at heel nicely on deep snowy hills

 

[TheBikeMechanic]

It is when the snow temp and humidity are in the -6 to -8 degrees celsius range with a humidity of 65% to 70%.... it doesn't make snowballs but it does stick to itself (and your tires) but not enough to stay stuck there for long. So when I pull my myself uphill with my 24speed I am glad that I have those to use. I've tried the SS thing during the winter and stopped in Febuary because of the snow quality (as mentioned above) stayed the same for weeks....

 

[pinkrobe]

The lower the gear, the greater the torque, the greater the chance of spinning out. If you're a standing climber, a higher gear might help reduce the chances of slipping the rear wheel. I run an 82" gear all winter for commuting, partially because at 65" I was spinning out on slick spots even with studded tires. My knees didn't like me for the first two weeks, but they're getting better.

 

[Velobike]

Deep snow makes me contemplate the advantages of a gearing system on a bike. About time Sturmey-Archer came up with a 3 speed for mountainbikes.

 

[perttime]

All snow is not equal...

- today, my commute was a bit harder than usual: mainly less than an inch of new, slightly tacky, snow with footprints in it. A little more effort but the footprints made it unpredictable.

- on the best days on trails, I could run a little taller gearing than usual: when the snow gets packed between the roots and rocks the trail actually gets faster and easier.

 

[Philrob]

I don't even wanna think about snow. Here we only really get enough of it to turn the streets into ice rinks when they've been walked on enough. And I live on a steep hill as well. I generally have to walk to the bottom holding on to the front of houses for dear life. :-x 29er Kenda Kinetics and I had about as much traction as a greased snowboard when I stepped out of my front door.

 

[LIV2RYD]

Its definitely tougher to ride a SS in the snow but there are some good reasons to trust your SS this time of year.

- Easy trails become good training rides
- Tougher trails, when rideable, make you feel like Hans Rey
- No gearbox issues to deal with when ice/crap gets frozen in your cogs
- If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger

 

[TheBikeMechanic]

Preachin' to the choir my friend!!!

 

[anno]

Did my first SS snow commute a couple weeks ago. I thought it was easier in the snow than geared. I didn't seem to spin the wheels starting out as much. Of course, the 29x2.1 tires might have been a factor...